Kai Lehikoinen

Job description

University Researcher

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Education, University College of Dance, Dance Pedagogy, Tukholma, 1989.

Master of Arts in Dance Studies (with Distinction), University of Surrey, Dance Studies, Guildford, 1996.

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Surrey, Dance Studies, Guildford, 2004.

Artistic activities

Kai has worked as a regional artist for the Arts Council of Southwest Finland (2005–2006 and 1991–1995) and as a freelance dance artist (1986 – 2009). His artistic production includes choreographies such as Lainattuja lauseita ja painojälkiä (2009), BI 4U a life… (1996), Cut along a dotted line (1996), Seiniä (1994), Kerttu (1991), Untitled (1990), Mysteeri (1990), Boksi (1986), and Kirje (1986). Kai has created two dance works for Dance Theatre ERI: Seiniä (1994) and Oppimiskokemuksia (1990). He has also created Kaleidoskooppi (1988), Peli (1987), and Päätöksiä (1986) for the Dance Association of Turku Region. In addition, Kai has worked as a choreographer in the musical Little Shop of Horrors (1990) at the Åbo Svenska Theater and in a music theatre version of John Steinbeck’s play The Grapes of Wrath at the Turku City Theater (1994).

As a dancer, Kai performed in Dance Theatre ERI’s Soldier’s Tale, Jeanne D’Arc, Harlequins of the Night and, Little Match Girl. He also toured with the Avodah Dance Ensemble, based in New Jersey, USA, and performed with Claire Parsons Co., based in Stockholm, Sweden. He has also appeared in Barker Theatre’s production Dance with the Fairies and the musicals Little Shop of Horrors and La Cage Aux Folles at the Åbo Svenska Teater in Turku, Finland.

Research and publications

Kai’s research interests include social inclusion, identity, and expanding professionalism in the arts and dance pedagogy. He is also interested in the interpretation of performances, cultural well-being, and impacts of arts in society. Kai is particularly interested in artistic, artistic-pedagogical, and arts-based research practices as regards artistic interventions, cultural well-being, and the realization of cultural rights. His most recent publications include:

• the artist’s expertise in artistic interventions in organisations and cultural work in elderly care
• the links between participation in the arts, health, and well-being, and the conditions of and barriers to cultural well-being from the perspectives of equality and capabilities
• the debate on the impact of art in the Western art discourse, and in particular in the debate on the autonomy and diversity of art
• the expanding professionalism in the arts in relation to the wider social and political debate on social inclusion and the end of the Nordic welfare state expansion
• challenges of masculinity in dance education and coping strategies for male dance students
• verbalization of dance and intertextual interpretation of performances.

Key publications:

Lehikoinen, K. In print. Sosiaalisesti osallistava taide terveys- ja sosiaalialan ympäristöissä: näkökulmia kulttuurihyvinvointiin. Synteesi. 

Lehikoinen, K. & Turpeinen, I. 2022. Fear, Coping and Peer Support in Male Dance Students’ Reflections. In D. Risner & B. Watson (Eds.). Masculinity, Intersectionality & Identity: Why Boys (Don’t) Dance. Palgrave Macmillan, Ch. 10.

Ilmola-Sheppard, L., Rautiainen, P. Westerlund, H., Lehikoinen, K., Karttunen, S., Juntunen, M-L., Anttila, E. 2021. ArtsEqual: Tasa-arvo taiteen ja taidekasvatuksen palveluiden suuntana. ArtsEqual.

Westerlund, H., Karttunen, S., Lehikoinen, K., Laes, T., Väkevä, L., & Anttila, E. 2021. Expanding professional responsibility in arts education: Social innovations paving the way for systems reflexivity. International Journal of Education & the Arts 22(8).

Lehikoinen, K. Pässilä, A. & Owens, A. 2021. Conflicting professional identities for artists in transprofessional contexts: Insights from a pilot programme initiating artistic interventions in organisations. In H. Westerlund & H. Gaunt (Eds.). Expanding professionalism in music and higher music education – A changing game. Routledge, pp. 74–88.

Lehikoinen, K. 2021. Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin kulttuurisista ulottuvuuksista. In R. Tuomi & J. Jokelin (Eds.). Uudenmaan tulevaisuuskirja. Polkuja vuoteen 2050. Helsinki: Uudenmaan liitto, pp. 15-19.

Kauppila, H. & Lehikoinen, K. (Eds.). 2020. Toiminnasta sanoiksi: Puheenvuoroja oman työn kehittämisestä taidealojen yliopistopedagogisessa koulutuksessa. Kokos 8. Helsinki: Taideyliopiston Teatterikorkeakoulu.

Lehikoinen, K. Koivisto, T-A., Lapio, P., Lilja-Viherlampi, P. & Salanterä, S. 2020. Taide ja kulttuuritoiminta investointeina terveyteen ja hyvinvointiin sairaala- ja terveyspalveluissa. In S. Seitsalo & I. Taipale (Eds.). Taide vanhin voitehista. Kuvataidetta sairaaloihin. Helsinki : Psykiatrian yhteistyö ry, pp. 172-177.

Lehikoinen, K. 2019. Dance in Elderly Care: Professional Knowledge. Journal of Dance Education 19(3), pp. 108-116.

Lehikoinen, K. 2018. Setting the Context: Expanding Professionalism in the Arts – A Paradigm Shift? In B. Revelli & S. B. Florander (Eds.) Careers in the Arts: Visions for the Future. Amsterdam: ELIA, 16-30.

Lehikoinen, K. 2017. Cultural Rights, Well-being and Democracy in Elderly Care: The Dance Ambassadors as a Case Study. Nordic Journal of Dance 8(2), pp. 30-41.

Lehikoinen, K. 2017. Justifying the Arts in Health and Care in Finland: A Discourse Analytic Inquiry. Cogent Arts & Humanities 4(1), pp. 1-12.

Lehikoinen, K. 2017. Enhancing wellbeing in social welfare and healthcare services by expanding the percent for art principle. ArtsEqual Policy Brief 5, Helsinki: ArtsEqual.

Lehikoinen, K. & Vanhanen, E. (Eds.) 2017. Taide ja hyvinvointi: Katsauksia kansainväliseen tutkimukseen. Kokos 1. Helsinki: Taideyliopisto.

Lehikoinen, K. & Rautiainen, P. 2016. Kulttuuristen oikeuksien toteuttaminen osaksi sote-palveluja. ArtsEqual Policy Brief 1, Helsinki: ArtsEqual. 

Lehikoinen, K., Pässilä, A., Martin, M. & Pulkki, M. (Eds.). 2016. Taiteilija kehittäjänä: taiteelliset interventiot työssä. Kokos 1. Helsinki: Taideyliopiston Teatterikorkeakoulu. 

Lehikoinen, K. 2014. Tanssi sanoiksi: tanssianalyysin perusteita. Kinesis 4. Helsinki: Taideyliopiston Teatterikorkeakoulu.

Lehikoinen, K. 2014. Askeleita tekstuaalisessa labyrintissä: tanssin kielellistäminen, intertekstuaalisuus ja tulkinta. In H. Järvinen & L. Rouhiainen (Eds.). Tanssiva tutkimus. Nivel 3, Helsinki: Taideyliopiston Teatterikorkeakoulu, pp. 27-44.

Lehikoinen, K. 2014. Taide muuttuvien kertomusten mosaiikissa: taiteilijan identiteetti muutoksessa. In P. Korhonen (Ed.). Hyvä Hankaus 2. Kokos 3. Taideyliopiston Teatterikorkeakoulu, pp. 31-44.

Lehikoinen, K. 2014. Näkökulmia hyvinvointiin ja hyvinvointipalveluihin kulttuuri-, liikunta ja nuorisoaloilla: selvitys hyvinvoinnin diskursseista kolmannen sektorin palvelutoiminnassa. Kolmas Lähde. Helsinki: Aalto University.

Lehikoinen, K. 2014. Artistic Interventions as a Strand of Artistic Research. In A. Arlander (Ed.). The Impact of Performance as Research. Proceedings of CARPA 3. Nivel 2. Helsinki: Taideyliopiston Teatterikorkeakoulu, Ch. 7.

Lehikoinen, K. 2013. Training Artists for Innovation: Guidelines for Curriculum Development. In J. Heinsius & K. Lehikoinen (Eds.). Training Artists for Innovation: Competencies for New Contexts. Kokos 2. Helsinki: Taideyliopiston Teatterikorkeakoulu, pp. 65-83.

Heinsius, J. & Lehikoinen, K. (Eds.) 2013. Training Artists for Innovation: Competencies for New Contexts. Kokos 2. Helsinki: Taideyliopiston Teatterikorkeakoulu.

Lehikoinen, K. 2012. Taiteelliset interventiot ja taiteen soveltava käyttö työyhteisöissä: ajatuksia tutkimustarpeista ja tietopohjan vahvistamisesta. In S-M. Korhonen & P. Rantala (Eds.). Uutta osaamista luomassa – Työelämän kehittäminen taiteen keinoin. Lapin yliopiston yhteiskuntatieteellisiä julkaisuja B. Tutkimusraportteja ja selvityksiä 61. Rovaniemi: Lapin yliopisto, pp. 18–23. 

Lehikoinen, K. 2010. Identities Performed and Transformed: Dialogical Choreography as Artistic Research – Intertextuality of Self-narratives. In A. Arlander (Ed.) Proceedings of the 1st Colloquium on Artistic Research in Performing Arts. Helsinki: Teatterikorkeakoulu, pp. 19–31.

Lehikoinen, K. (Ed.). 2008. Business Bodies. Proceedings of the 1st International Business Bodies Conference. Helsinki: IADE.

Lehikoinen, K. 2006. Stepping Queerly? Discourses in Dance Education for Boys in Late 20th-Century Finland. Oxford: Peter Lang.

Lehikoinen, K. 2005. Choreographies for Boys: Masculinism in Finnish Dance Education. In I. Björnsdóttir (Ed.). Dance Heritage: Crossing Academia and Physicality. Proceedings, 7th NOFOD Conference, Reykjavik, April 15 – 18 2004. Nordisk forum för dansforskning, pp. 138-145.

Current

Currently, Kai investigates the training of artists for socially engaged practices with young adults in precarious life in the Artwork-project funded by Erasmus+ (2021–2023), the training of nursing staff for cultural well-being in the Creative Person-centred Nursing Art-project funded by Svenska kulturfonden and Konstsamfundet (2021–2024), and the future scenarios of higher arts education in FAST45-project funded by Erasmus+ (2021–2023). Kai represents Uniarts Helsinki in the Representative Board of ELIA (European League of Institutes of the Arts). In addition, he is the Topic Editor of Frontiers in Psychology – Health Psychology for a special edition on a critical appraisal of research in arts, health, and well-being, Co-editor of the book series Critical Studies in Dance Leadership and Inclusion for Palgrave Macmillan, and Advisory Board Member for Nordic Journal for Arts, Culture and Health. 

Expertise

• arts and wellbeing
• artsequal
• arts education
• dance pedagogy
• dance analysis
• gender studies
• masculinities
• artistic interventions in organisations
• expanding professionalism in the arts
• working life skills
• qualitative research
• discourse analysis
• intertextuality
• performing arts
• creativity