Helsinki Dance Company’s spring premiere DREAMER is a firework of the imagination – Choreographed by an internationally acclaimed artist couple

“DREAMER was born in close collaboration with dancers and designers, and we have enjoyed the collaboration immensely. The title of the work has allowed us to work freely. We spend half of our lives asleep or inside our subconscious, and in this work we try to be between the conscious and subconscious worlds. It’s a really vulnerable, but brave space to be,” choreographer duo Annamari Keskinen and Ryan Mason say. “We’ve been working together since 2017 and working in the same playful way all this time. We are interested in what is behind the movement and what the dancers’ inner landscape is like. We have a 5-year-old child together and we have also been inspired by how children experience the world. The child knows that he is playing, but still believes that he is inside playing. The audience arriving at Studio Pasila can expect a vibrant and enigmatic space, and we hope that viewers will surrender to the events in the space without having to analyse every detail,” they continue. The expressive dancers Sofia Hilli, Jyrki Kasper, Aksinja Lommi, Pekka Louhio, Mikko Paloniemi, Justus Pienmunne, Inka Tiitinen and Anna Virkkunen lead the audience on a journey into the deep currents of the subconscious, where hidden fears, hopes, and pleasures become tangible – flesh and movement. “Working with DREAMER has been refreshing. The movement material of the work has been worked on through both structural and free improvisation and tasks that are layered to the point of impossibilities. DREAMER rejects compartmentalization into dance techniques and tries to bring to light the upheavals of each dancer’s unique inner experience. We all have an incredibly rich and complex inner world, the visibility of which is often hindered by the rigid framework of everyday reality. Now you can use it with a permit. Harnessing the imagination as part of the dancing body has been really inspiring, and at times it has felt like the brain has danced more than the body!”, says dancer Justus Pienmunne. DREAMER is the first piece that Valtteri Raekallio, who started as the director of Helsinki Dance Company in August 2024, has chosen for the dance company. “I invited Annamari Keskinen and Ryan Mason to create a new work for Helsinki Dance Company because I wanted to offer middle-generation choreographers working in Finland the opportunity to work with our experienced dance company using the resources of our large theatre. I have followed their artistic work for almost a decade and I feel that they are determined to develop their own aesthetics and open-mindedly seek new forms of choreographic expression. I also believe that they offer our dancers an interesting challenge with their associative and imaginative work. I’m looking forward to what kind of world they will create together,” says Valtteri Raekallio.  William Iles is responsible for the set and lighting design of the work. The costumes are designed by Elina Kolehmainen and the camouflage by Ronja Nylund. The sound design is by Timo Tikka, who has also composed the music for the work together with Saara Viikka. Annamari Keskinen (1985, Finland) is a dancer and choreographer. For the past 20 years, she has worked internationally in dance companies and as a freelancer. Ryan Mason (1980, USA) is an artist, performer and teacher. She graduated as a choreographer from the University of the Arts Helsinki in 2023 and received her Bachelor of Arts (BFA) degree in dance from the California Institute of the Arts in 2007. In 2018, Keskinen and Mason founded Thar Be Dragons, which focuses on dance theatre, teaching and performance. The choreographer duo has become known for their unique, strongly physical and often cinematic, internationally acclaimed stage works. Helsinki Dance Company is a contemporary dance company founded in 1973 in connection with the Helsinki City Theatre. Helsinki Dance Company has worked with several renowned artists over the years and has also had a significant impact on the professionalization of dance art in Finland. In addition to independent dance productions, dancers have performed extensively in theatre productions from plays to musicals, as well as worked in choreographic tasks. The company is known for its charismatic and expressive dancers, as well as its visually polished and movement-strong works. At the moment, the group produces two premieres a year, one in the autumn season and one in the spring season. In August 2024, dancer and choreographer Valtteri Raekallio started as the leader of the dance group.  DREAMER premieres on 20.3.2025 at the Helsinki City Theatre’s studio in Pasila (Ratamestarinkatu 5). Tickets: student ticket 18 € (Mon-Thu), pensioner ticket 33 € (Mon-Thu), basic ticket 36 € #dreamer @hktfi @helsinkidancecompany Helsinki City Theatre ticket sales and customer service by phone (09) 3940 22 Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ticket offices First Line 2, Mon-Fri 12-17, Eläintarhantie 5, Sat (on performance days) 11-18.30 and one hour before the performance and Lippu.fi, Mon-Sat 9-21, Sun 10-16, tel. 0600 900 900 (2 €/from min+local network charge) www.hkt.fiPress release photo: Kai Kuusisto  Further information, media ticket reservations and interview requests: Communications Manager Kaisa Pelkonen, kaisa.pelkonen@hkt.fi, 040 552 3788Helsinki City Theatre, Ensi linja 2, 00530 Helsinki