The dance piece, which draws on courtship dances and show wrestling, plays with the rituals of masculinity
Choreographer Tiia Kasurinen’s Birds of Paradise examines power and stereotypical masculinity by colliding the courtship dances of birds of paradise, show wrestling, club culture and contemporary dance. The physical and playful work shows how both birds and humans build choreographies to be noticed, accepted and chosen. The work, which will be completed at the Helsinki City Theatre’s Contemporary Performance Stage’s summer residency, will premiere on 6 August at Studio Pasila.
“I got the initial spark for the work from the courtship dances of colourful male birds, familiar from nature documentaries. Through the courtship rituals of birds, I wanted to focus on humans and gender norms. How do we meet each other? How do we seek love and acceptance? I’m curious to look at people through courtship with humour and gentleness, without shying away from weighty themes such as power, consent and extreme masculinity,” says Tiia Kasurinen , who is responsible for the concept and choreography.
On stage, we will see four utopian birds of paradise, whose costumes are from costume designer Leevi Ikäheimo’s No Pain No Glamour collection, which explores hypermasculinity.
The dancers in the work are Tiia Kasurinen, Kaisu Koittola and Lauri Lohi. The costume design is by Leevi Ikäheimo. The music is composed by Tiikka Drama. Mikko Kaukonen is responsible for the lighting design. Aino Koski is responsible for the set design.
An early version of Birds of Paradise attracted international interest as early as 2024, when it was selected for the finals of the Danse Élargie choreography competition in Paris – the first Finnish work in the history of the competition. After the Helsinki City Theatre’s performance season, Birds of Paradise will also be seen elsewhere in the Nordic countries.
Kasurinen graduated from the Stockholm University of the Arts in 2017 with a degree in dance. Her choreographies have been performed at Dance Base in Yokohama, Japan, One Dance Festival in Bulgaria, Inkonst in Sweden, Helsinki Festival and Zodiak – Center for New Dance.
The Contemporary Performance Stage in Studio Pasila brings new forms of performing arts into the Helsinki City Theatre’s repertoire. The purpose of the contemporary performance stage is to create diverse contemporary performances for larger stages and wider audiences, as well as to create unique encounters between a fixed professional theatre and independent operators.
Birds of Paradise premiere 6.8.2026 and performances until 19.8.2026 at Studio Pasila (Ratamestarinkatu 5). Tickets: basic ticket €25 and student ticket €12.50 (Mon-Thu) #birdsofparadise @hktfi #nykyesityksennäyttämö
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Press release photo: Jessica North
Further information, media ticket reservations and interview requests:
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Communications Coordinator Heta Tuppurainen, heta.tuppurainen@hkt.fi, 050 475 7563 (20.–31.7.2026)
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