The Current Perspectives of Contemporary Dance in Finland

In Finland, we now have a few choreographers that work more internationally than domestically, for instance choreographers like Tero Saarinen, Susanna Leinonen and Jyrki Karttunen work mostly within international contexts. But what is behind the story of a country like Finland, where the number of audiences in contemporary dance equal to almost 10% of the entire population?

Contemporary dance has played a strong role in Finnish art scene since 1960s it has also always been an international art form. Finnish dance has been influenced by both East and West. Earlier, the influence of St Petersburg was obvious in the development of ballet in Finland. German Dance Theatre had deep influence in the development of Finnish modern dance before the II World War. In the 1960s, American modern dance came to Finland. Later, Japanese Butoh as well as contact and release techniques have contributed to Finnish Dance. Nevertheless, Finnish Contemporary Dance has preserved its own quality, which is aesthetically unique and exceptionally visual.

Finnish dance artists have always found colleagues from other art fields that could contribute to their art. Lighting design has become a strong part of Finnish Contemporary Dance. The Theatre Academy in Finland educates visual designers for theatre and dance, especially specialized in lighting and visual design. The concept of visual design in dance in Finland includes also the use of new media and technology. Choreographers have widened up the idea of new technology into a part of choreography, where the dancers do not need to appear in blood and flesh on stage, but they can also be virtual characters. A good examples of the use of new technology as an integral part of the choreography are Jyrki Karttunen's Keiju (Fairy) and Tero Saarinen's Hunt.

An essential part of the flourishment of Finnish Contemporary Dance is the construction of the structures for art, and also dance. An important step was the establishing of National Council of Dance in 1983, which began its work as the arm's length body for dance within the Finnish state bureaucracy and funding. The National Council for Dance works under the umbrella of the Arts Council of Finland, which works under the budgeting and supervision of Ministry of Education. The dance field itself had been organised already then for a long period, since the Union of Finnish Dance artists was founded already in 1937.

In line with the state funding of dance, the higher education for dance was established. Theatre Academy, the University of Performing Arts in Helsinki, started a dance department that has educated dancers, choreographers and dance teachers with Master's degree since 1983. An important factor of the growth of dance has also been the establishing of Finnish Dance Information Centre and TANSSI (Dance) Magazine in the beginning of the 80s. The Finnish Dance Information Centre provides information on Finnish Dance. For instance, it publishes Finnish Dance in Focus Magazine in English, which is directed for international markets. The centre has also established Finnish Dance Data Base, which gathers information on all professional dance artists and their works in the web (www.danceinfo.fi).

In the beginning of 1990's, a theatre and orchestra law was established in Finland. The purpose of this law was to construct a model for a permanent state support for orchestras, theatres and dance groups in Finland. To become one of the dance groups or theatres to be subsidised by this law, a theatre must show a certain level of employment within few years. The level of the subsidy is related to the number of working hours performed within that theatre per an employee per year, and the number is checked every year. Today, eleven dance groups, theatres or centres in Finland work within the context of this law.

In addition to the law subsidised dance theatres, there are two dozens of independent dance groups. Ten of them enjoy state support that has to be applied annually, but the rest of them work project-based. Approximately 70% of our dance artists work as independent, professional free-lance choreographers or dancers. Also, the dance life is very capital centred at the moment - about 65% of our dance artists live within Helsinki, the capital, region.

Most of the internationally renowned choreographers work as free lancers; therefore, the independent dance scene in Finland is productive and interesting, although, the financial situation of these artists is not stable. There are exceptions to that, too. Tero Saarinen Company is a good example of law subsidised dance group that works 80% abroad. Also, the free lance scene is starting to get structure once new models for production organisations are established. For instance, Nomadi Productions works as a production office for four dance artists converging financial and productive resources by employing two producers. The Nomadi choreographers can also work artistically together creating for instance double-bill nights involving a work from two Nomadi choreographers. The model enables more effective international marketing than produced for just one choreographer.

At the moment, the biggest challenges in Finnish Contemporary Dance are in the field of funding. Dance is still a tiny moment within the Finnish state budget: Dance receives about one percent of all the public funding for the arts. Also, some new schemes have been created to support the infrastructure for dance art in Finland.

The regional dance centres have now been created with the state support in Finland. The first phase started in November 2004, and now three centres are starting to work in the context of a regional dance centre. The model has been borrowed to Finnish reality from UK and Central Europe. The purposes of these centres are to provide working possibilities for the dance artists all over the Finland, to create a touring structure for dance, and first of all, to widen up the availability of dance art to Finnish people. The first dance centres are situated in Helsinki, Kuopio and North Finland, the lattest working as a satellite centre with four different cities.

The dance festival scene in Finland is rich; although, there are only few festivals that can invite foreign groups to perform in Finland. The oldest and biggest of the festivals is Kuopio Dance Festival, which is also the biggest dance festival in the Nordic Countries. Moving in November Festival has a twenty-year history presenting Finnish and international dance in Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The youngest of the three major dance festivals is Full Moon Dance Festival situated in a town of 6000 inhabitants in the middle of Finland. Still, the festival puts up some of the most fantastic stages in Finland for a week of mid-night sun, Finnish sauna and the lake - in this atmosphere you are invited to watch Finnish and international dance programme. Full Moon Dance Festival has become a pilgrimage festival for many foreign dance professionals, producers, festival directors and journalists. In addition to the three major dance festivals, there are also a dozen of other dance festivals produced by theatres or dance centres. One of the most popular festivals is the URB Festival for Urban Dance produced by Kiasma Theatre - a theatre situated in Kiasma - Contemporary Art Museum in Helsinki.

One future agenda in Finnish Dance is the strengthening of the international work, especially international marketing and co-operation. An export scheme for Finnish Contemporary Dance is created, and the organisations leading this work are Finnish Dance Information Centre and Dance Arena, a festival organisation producing three dance festivals in Helsinki with five member associations in the field of dance. Cultural export is one of the goals in the state strategy for Finland that aims at being a country that counts on creativity. In the lead of Nokia, the Finnish aim is that 40% of our working population earns its income from the creative professions. Quite a goal, but the Finnish dance field aims to be at the foremost on this road.

Author: Pirjetta Mulari
Project Manager, Internation Affairs of Finnish Dance Information Centre
http://www.danceinfo.fi/english/