Residence week 13 & 14 / 2024

Venla Niitemaa and Laura Wiklund are both part of the Finnish dance collective Tarinoita Utopiasta. This week they are together in residence at DansiT / Svartlamon and will explore non-binary gender expressions, queer jazz and pop star status with a wind machine.

The name Tarinoita Utopiasta can be translated both as stories from a utopia or stories about a utopia. Based on the idea of ​​a utopia, the collective indulges in queer dreamscapes. They research the personal nature of queerness and this a basis for connecting with others. Queerness is expressed individually by everyone, and for Niitemaa and Wiklund it is important to allow the research to accommodate these differences.

As two non-binary artists, they want to challenge notions that gender “should be” either feminine or masculine. Which material lies in the space between the masculine and the feminine, and how can one stretch and play with this space? By playing with gender expectations, can they confound the gender binary?

Niitemaa and Wiklund invites to an open work in progress showing on Thursday 4th of April at 10:30 am at DansiT / Svartlamon. Please let creative producer Betty know by email betty@dansit.no or phone 92435225 if you are coming.

About the artists

Venla Niitemaa is a dance artist from Finland, who moved to Trondheim as a 15-year-old. Venla is educated at the London Contemporary Dance School and at KHiO (graduated in 2021). Venla has worked both as a performer and co-creator with Therese Slob, Maryam Bagheri Nessami and Haugen Produksjoner. Developed their own work in collaboration with the Finnish dance collective “Tarinoita Utopiasta”, where they work with queer utopias and dreamscapes.

Venla also works with interdisciplinary themes in various collaborative projects. Here the focus is on the body in relation to other materials. How can different materials such as text, video or ceramics contribute to providing other opportunities for movement? Venla’s practice also focuses from a queer and feminist perspective, and what this means in different situations. The interest lies in interpersonal relationships, as well as the opportunity dance has to create meeting points between different people.

Laura Wiklund is a performing artist and choreographer from Helsinki, Finland. They have studied dance pedagogy at TUAS Arts Academy and did their Erasmus+ exchange at Falmouth University to study dance and choreography. In their artistic work, they are interested in queer themes, soft spaces and popular culture. Visuality and pleasure are usually at the center of their work. Laura also has a background in theater as an actor, director and choreographer.