Theatre Academy Dance Collective TADaC
A collective of second year master's students in dance performance and a platform for their thesis projects.
Introduction
TADaC (Theatre Academy Dance Collective) is a professional production framework that provides Master’s students in Dance Performance with the opportunity to realize their artistic thesis projects. Through the production, students deepen their artistic expertise and professional skills, while strengthening their agency within the field of dance.
The production format is planned together with the student group. The work is most often created in collaboration with a professional choreographer and an artistic team, but it may also emerge from a collective working process. The production takes into account the students’ artistic interests, the objectives of the degree and the production resources available at the time. An essential part of TADaC is also a domestic and international tour, which provides opportunities to perform the work in different venues and contexts and to engage with diverse audiences. At the same time, students gain experience of professional practices and networks in the field of dance, both in Finland and internationally.
DODGY (2026)
- Dodgy is not the word you would use when you expect a weather shift.
- Not exactly was it at dodgy roads that you were wondering about the next day.
- Also not this particular chewing gum that was too sour to keep in your mouth for much longer.
- Dodgy has never been a town, a place for this to happen, nor the name of a brand with a crooked “D” on the sleeve.
- It is for sure not a flavor of a synthetic additive on one of the packages that the wind swirls around.
- It is not written in silver letters on the machine that cracks open the first layer of the street.
- Nor is it the word you would use to describe the difficulty of finding restful sleep while the machine chews on the hard surface.
- It was for sure not used by historians, but everyone knew about the dodgy-times.
DODGY is a dance performance. Choreographed by Hannah Krebs with the graduating MA students in Dance Performance at Theatre Academy Helsinki. Moving between dancing and a sense of dread, the work is presented as part of TADaC, Theatre Academy Dance Collective.
Working group
- Performers: Anniina Dyster, Inari Hulkkonen, Mathilda Kauppila, Paavali Velinpoika Kärkkäinen, Sonjis Laine, Laura Linna, Beatričė Mažintaitė, Julia Mäkelä, Venla Niitemaa & Aurora Suhonen
- Choreography: Hannah Krebs
- Dramaturgy: Kadence Neill
- Costume design: Martin Sieweke
- Sound design: Suzanne Cleerdin
- Lighting design: Alex Hautamäki
- Sound technician: Antero Kemppi
- Outside eye: Vilma Mankonen
Projects and tours
TADaC productions, which are organised every other year, have toured, for instance, in Jojo – Oulu center for dance, Kanuti Gildi Saal in Tallinn, Skånes Dansteater in Malmö and in Arsenic Centre d’Art Scénique Contemporain in Lausanne.
The last Rite of Spring (2025)
Together, choreographer Renan Martins and TADaC dancers reimagine Stravinsky’s iconic composition through the lens of contemporary dance, exploring the delicate balance between success and failure. The dancers, in their final graduation performance, engage in an emotional journey marked by moments of celebration, struggle, and release. Through insidious contact material, their bodies become channels of both unity and tension, as they navigate fluctuating states of expectation and surrender.
- Performers: Inka Auvinen, Altinay Kapsiz, Saila Pönkä, Joma Richter, Sointu Saraste, Marjukka Savolainen, Mathilda Muk
- Choreographer: Renan Martins (guest)
- Choreography and dance assistant: Anette Toiviainen
- Light Designer: June Horton-White (guest)
- Sound Designer: Renan Martins (guest)
- Stylist: Claudia Cifu (guest)
- Sound Operator: Mikael Rantanen (guest)
Tour
- Tanssivirtaa Tampereella, Hällä stage 24.5.2025
- Keski-Suomen Tanssin Keskus, Villa Rana, Jyväskylä 27.5.2025
- Kanuti Gildi Saal, Tallinn 4.6.2025
- Skånes Dansteater, Malmö 10.6.2025
TADaCollective (2023)
Five of the students decided to work collaboratively. They formed a working group with a student from Master’s Degree in Lighting Design, who was then also completing their final artistic thesis within this project frame. The final form the artistic thesis was an evening of performance in three parts. Each part can exist as a stand alone work but together they produce a triptych – which touches, tastes, feels, hears, and sees the world in a particular way.
- Performers: Sonja Karoliina Aaltonen, Jacqueline Aylward, Iris Blauberg, Arttu Halmetoja, Maja Kalafatić (MA in Dance Performance)
- Lighting Design: Lauri Hietala (MA in Lighting Design)
- Costume designer: Kasia Gorniak (guest)
- Sound designer: Lauri Kallio (guest)
Tour
- Järvenpää Culture House 9.5.2023
- Regional Dance Center for Eastern Finland 20.5.2023
- Tanssivirtaa Tampereella festival 30.5.2023
- Ganuti Gildi Saal 6.6.2023
Core (2021)
- Performers: Iiris Laakso, Elisa Lejeune, Verna Nordlund, Veera Snellman, Suvi Kelloniemi, Maria Mäkelä, Terhi Hartikainen
- Choreography: Emmi Venna (Guest)
- Light and space design: Erno Aaltonen (Guest)
- Costume design: Hanne Jurmu (Guest)
- Sound design: Ville Kabrell (Guest)
- In conversation with: Mira Kautto (Guest)
- Images and trailer: Aino Autere (Guest)
- Dance floor: Marja Zilcher ja Erno Aaltonen (Guest)
The original premiere at Zodiak Stage, Helsinki, on 19.1.2021 and the spring tour had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Their Limbs, Their Lungs, Their Legs (2019)
- Performers: Matilda Aaltonen, Taru Aho, Anni Kaila, Ella-Noora Koikkalainen, Riikka Laurilehto, Janna Loukas, Aino Purhonen, Ilona Salonen and Jussi Suomalainen
- Choreography: Lea Moro
- Costume design: Corinna Helenelund
- Sound design: Joonas Pernilä
- Lighting design: Jani-Matti Salo
Tour
- Viljandi, Estonia: Culture Academy 23.4.2019
- Tallinn, Estonia: Kanuti Gildi Saal 25.4.2019
- Lausanne, Switzerland: Théâtre Arsenic 8.-10.6.2019
Kosto I-IX (2017)
- Performers: Krista-Julia Arppo, Jenna Broas, Karoliina Kauhanen, Anni Koskinen, Anna Kupari, Outi Markkula, Pinja Poropudas, Lotta Suomi an Katriina Tavi
- Choreography: Elina Pirinen
- Dramaturgy: Heidi Väätäinen
- Text: performers (guidance by Elina Pirinen and Niko Hallikainen)
- Visual concept: Pirinen & Väätäinen
- Overall visual concept designed by Elina Pirinen and dramaturg Heidi Väätäinen, and consulted and implemented by lighting designer Nadja Räikkä. Technical implementation of recital by sound designer Lauri Malin.
Tour
- Oulu, Finland: Valve-sali 7.–8.4.2017
- Tallinn, Estonia: Kanuti Gildi Saal 24.4.2017
- Viljandi, Estonia: Kulttuuriakatemia 26.4.2017
Human Resources (2015)
- Performers: Maria Autio, Mia Jaatinen, Meeri Lempiäinen, Mikko Makkonen, Viivi Niiniketo, Satu Rinnetmäki, Sini Siipola and Elisa Tuovila
- Concept and direction: Jeremy Wade
- Dramaturgy and scenography: Jaakko Pietiläinen
- Lighting design: Mika Haaranen
- Music: Tian Rotteveel
Tour
- Kuopio, Finland: Itä-Suomen tanssin aluekeskus / Sotku 17.4.2015
- Tallinn, Estonia: Vaba Lava 12.5.2015
- Viljandi, Estonia: Tartu Ülikooli Viljandi Kultuuriakadeemia (University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy) 14.5.2015
- Oulu, Finland: Jojo – Oulun Tanssin Keskus / Valvesali 26.-27.5.
- Tanssivirtaa Tampereella -festival, Finland 19.-24.5.2015
Project name
Theatre Academy Dance Collective TADaC
Find out more
Introduction
TADaC (Theatre Academy Dance Collective) is a professional production framework that provides Master’s students in Dance Performance with the opportunity to realize their artistic thesis projects. Through the production, students deepen their artistic expertise and professional skills, while strengthening their agency within the field of dance.
The production format is planned together with the student group. The work is most often created in collaboration with a professional choreographer and an artistic team, but it may also emerge from a collective working process. The production takes into account the students’ artistic interests, the objectives of the degree and the production resources available at the time. An essential part of TADaC is also a domestic and international tour, which provides opportunities to perform the work in different venues and contexts and to engage with diverse audiences. At the same time, students gain experience of professional practices and networks in the field of dance, both in Finland and internationally.
DODGY (2026)
- Dodgy is not the word you would use when you expect a weather shift.
- Not exactly was it at dodgy roads that you were wondering about the next day.
- Also not this particular chewing gum that was too sour to keep in your mouth for much longer.
- Dodgy has never been a town, a place for this to happen, nor the name of a brand with a crooked “D” on the sleeve.
- It is for sure not a flavor of a synthetic additive on one of the packages that the wind swirls around.
- It is not written in silver letters on the machine that cracks open the first layer of the street.
- Nor is it the word you would use to describe the difficulty of finding restful sleep while the machine chews on the hard surface.
- It was for sure not used by historians, but everyone knew about the dodgy-times.
DODGY is a dance performance. Choreographed by Hannah Krebs with the graduating MA students in Dance Performance at Theatre Academy Helsinki. Moving between dancing and a sense of dread, the work is presented as part of TADaC, Theatre Academy Dance Collective.
Working group
- Performers: Anniina Dyster, Inari Hulkkonen, Mathilda Kauppila, Paavali Velinpoika Kärkkäinen, Sonjis Laine, Laura Linna, Beatričė Mažintaitė, Julia Mäkelä, Venla Niitemaa & Aurora Suhonen
- Choreography: Hannah Krebs
- Dramaturgy: Kadence Neill
- Costume design: Martin Sieweke
- Sound design: Suzanne Cleerdin
- Lighting design: Alex Hautamäki
- Sound technician: Antero Kemppi
- Outside eye: Vilma Mankonen
Projects and tours
TADaC productions, which are organised every other year, have toured, for instance, in Jojo – Oulu center for dance, Kanuti Gildi Saal in Tallinn, Skånes Dansteater in Malmö and in Arsenic Centre d’Art Scénique Contemporain in Lausanne.
The last Rite of Spring (2025)
Together, choreographer Renan Martins and TADaC dancers reimagine Stravinsky’s iconic composition through the lens of contemporary dance, exploring the delicate balance between success and failure. The dancers, in their final graduation performance, engage in an emotional journey marked by moments of celebration, struggle, and release. Through insidious contact material, their bodies become channels of both unity and tension, as they navigate fluctuating states of expectation and surrender.
- Performers: Inka Auvinen, Altinay Kapsiz, Saila Pönkä, Joma Richter, Sointu Saraste, Marjukka Savolainen, Mathilda Muk
- Choreographer: Renan Martins (guest)
- Choreography and dance assistant: Anette Toiviainen
- Light Designer: June Horton-White (guest)
- Sound Designer: Renan Martins (guest)
- Stylist: Claudia Cifu (guest)
- Sound Operator: Mikael Rantanen (guest)
Tour
- Tanssivirtaa Tampereella, Hällä stage 24.5.2025
- Keski-Suomen Tanssin Keskus, Villa Rana, Jyväskylä 27.5.2025
- Kanuti Gildi Saal, Tallinn 4.6.2025
- Skånes Dansteater, Malmö 10.6.2025
TADaCollective (2023)
Five of the students decided to work collaboratively. They formed a working group with a student from Master’s Degree in Lighting Design, who was then also completing their final artistic thesis within this project frame. The final form the artistic thesis was an evening of performance in three parts. Each part can exist as a stand alone work but together they produce a triptych – which touches, tastes, feels, hears, and sees the world in a particular way.
- Performers: Sonja Karoliina Aaltonen, Jacqueline Aylward, Iris Blauberg, Arttu Halmetoja, Maja Kalafatić (MA in Dance Performance)
- Lighting Design: Lauri Hietala (MA in Lighting Design)
- Costume designer: Kasia Gorniak (guest)
- Sound designer: Lauri Kallio (guest)
Tour
- Järvenpää Culture House 9.5.2023
- Regional Dance Center for Eastern Finland 20.5.2023
- Tanssivirtaa Tampereella festival 30.5.2023
- Ganuti Gildi Saal 6.6.2023
Core (2021)
- Performers: Iiris Laakso, Elisa Lejeune, Verna Nordlund, Veera Snellman, Suvi Kelloniemi, Maria Mäkelä, Terhi Hartikainen
- Choreography: Emmi Venna (Guest)
- Light and space design: Erno Aaltonen (Guest)
- Costume design: Hanne Jurmu (Guest)
- Sound design: Ville Kabrell (Guest)
- In conversation with: Mira Kautto (Guest)
- Images and trailer: Aino Autere (Guest)
- Dance floor: Marja Zilcher ja Erno Aaltonen (Guest)
The original premiere at Zodiak Stage, Helsinki, on 19.1.2021 and the spring tour had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Their Limbs, Their Lungs, Their Legs (2019)
- Performers: Matilda Aaltonen, Taru Aho, Anni Kaila, Ella-Noora Koikkalainen, Riikka Laurilehto, Janna Loukas, Aino Purhonen, Ilona Salonen and Jussi Suomalainen
- Choreography: Lea Moro
- Costume design: Corinna Helenelund
- Sound design: Joonas Pernilä
- Lighting design: Jani-Matti Salo
Tour
- Viljandi, Estonia: Culture Academy 23.4.2019
- Tallinn, Estonia: Kanuti Gildi Saal 25.4.2019
- Lausanne, Switzerland: Théâtre Arsenic 8.-10.6.2019
Kosto I-IX (2017)
- Performers: Krista-Julia Arppo, Jenna Broas, Karoliina Kauhanen, Anni Koskinen, Anna Kupari, Outi Markkula, Pinja Poropudas, Lotta Suomi an Katriina Tavi
- Choreography: Elina Pirinen
- Dramaturgy: Heidi Väätäinen
- Text: performers (guidance by Elina Pirinen and Niko Hallikainen)
- Visual concept: Pirinen & Väätäinen
- Overall visual concept designed by Elina Pirinen and dramaturg Heidi Väätäinen, and consulted and implemented by lighting designer Nadja Räikkä. Technical implementation of recital by sound designer Lauri Malin.
Tour
- Oulu, Finland: Valve-sali 7.–8.4.2017
- Tallinn, Estonia: Kanuti Gildi Saal 24.4.2017
- Viljandi, Estonia: Kulttuuriakatemia 26.4.2017
Human Resources (2015)
- Performers: Maria Autio, Mia Jaatinen, Meeri Lempiäinen, Mikko Makkonen, Viivi Niiniketo, Satu Rinnetmäki, Sini Siipola and Elisa Tuovila
- Concept and direction: Jeremy Wade
- Dramaturgy and scenography: Jaakko Pietiläinen
- Lighting design: Mika Haaranen
- Music: Tian Rotteveel
Tour
- Kuopio, Finland: Itä-Suomen tanssin aluekeskus / Sotku 17.4.2015
- Tallinn, Estonia: Vaba Lava 12.5.2015
- Viljandi, Estonia: Tartu Ülikooli Viljandi Kultuuriakadeemia (University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy) 14.5.2015
- Oulu, Finland: Jojo – Oulun Tanssin Keskus / Valvesali 26.-27.5.
- Tanssivirtaa Tampereella -festival, Finland 19.-24.5.2015