Dancer and choreographer Marika Peura featured in the spotlight of the Finnish Dance in Focus magazine in 2020. Her expression is rooted in the world of street dance and freestyle training with friends.
Text: Emma Vainio.
“For me, freestyle hip hop brings together music, friends and movement born in the moment,” says Marika Peura, a dancer and choreographer. “The movement vocabulary and grooves are in the dancer’s body, while pre-planned movement phrases take away the crispness of the freestyle moment.”
Peura’s dance expression is rooted in the world of street dance and freestyle training with friends. She has learned from inspiring dancers and pioneers in the field, e.g. in New York, Berlin, Osaka, Seoul and locally. Entering competitions has been a big part of the lifestyle. “Of the street dance styles, freestyle hip hop is the one closest to my heart.”
In 2011, Peura participated for the first time in a contemporary dance project at Kiasma’s URB festival. That’s when she became interested in dance, performance and choreography created for stage. Peura later graduated as a dancer and choreographer from Helsinki Theatre Academy.
“Although hip hop culture and street dance are global phenomena today it is important to acknowledge that they were created by black and poc communities in a particular socio-political climate of the early 70s in the U.S. Drawing from these diverse terrains is fruitful for me but careful reflection of my position is a must, as structural hierarchies prevail between them.”
At the time of writing this portrait in 2020, Peura was working on a new choreography in collaboration with Kaisa Nieminen and Suvi Kemppainen. The work called and then they left will had its premier in Zodiak – Center for New Dance in December 2020. “I find collective working essential!”
Marika Peura was also one of the founders of Cleva Crew, a dance group formed in 2009. The group members promote street dance culture in Finland and organise the Nordic Soul festival.
Apart from involvement in hip-hop circles and stage productions, Peura teaches dance and has performed and worked as a choreographer in e.g. music videos, adverts and on television.