the pier – an amphibious dance carrier
An installation and series of events that explores the ecological poetics of dance and choreographic writing / speech.
Choreographic, sculptural, and amphibious, The Pier both floats on bodies of water and stands on its wooden legs on solid ground in human-built environments. Its modular design makes it portable and allows for various configurations and positions in relation to its surroundings.
Artist Veli Lehtovaara uses the pier as a structure for choreographic fieldwork and environmentally oriented dance practice when working on bodies of water, lakes and ponds. It affords the sensing and moving bodies immediate access to the different spheres of the environment—water, air, and land. It can also take off from the shore and drift on the water’s surface as a kinesthetic research vessel.
The Pier suggests a place for coming together – it comprises performative gestures, participatory practices, and conversations with invited guests. The artistic working group convened by Lehtovaara includes Jani Hietanen (sound), Jani-Matti Salo (lighting), and Pauliina Syrjälä (kantele, Finnish zither).
The Pier is the second examined part of Lehtovaara’s doctoral research project Nature Untitled | Ecological Poetics in Dance and Choreographic Writing. The project cultivates embodied ecological awareness through the poetics of dance and choreographic writing, in relation to specific habitats and their physical circumstances. Lehtovaara is particularly interested in developing choreographic writing and speech as ecologically informed research methods.
Working group
- Research, choreography, concept and design: Veli Lehtovaara
- Sound: Jani Hietanen
- Light: Jani-Matti Salo
- Finnish zither (music): Pauliina Syrjälä
- Production: Lisa Kalkowski & Entirely Moved – Kaikki Liikkuu
- Texts: Veli Lehtovaara, if not mentioned otherwise
- Woodwork: Saku Koistinen, Veli Lehtovaara, Jaakko Lehtovaara
- Metalwork: Jussi Niemelä
- Technical drawings: Juho Lindström, Heikki Rosti (1. version)
In collaboration with: Moving in November festival (2026), The University of the Arts Helsinki – Theater Academy and Research Institute, 6th Research Pavillion, Idiorrhythmic Imagineries exhibition (2025)
Tukijat: City of Helsinki, The Finnish Art and Culture Agency, Uniarts Research Institute
Recidencies: Bioart Society / Ars Bioarctica – Kilpisjärvi Biological Station / University of Helsinki, Mustarinda (Hyrynsalmi)
Performing weeks: 44, 45, 46, 47
Choreographic, sculptural, and amphibious, The Pier both floats on bodies of water and stands on its wooden legs on solid ground in human-built environments. Its modular design makes it portable and allows for various configurations and positions in relation to its surroundings.
Artist Veli Lehtovaara uses the pier as a structure for choreographic fieldwork and environmentally oriented dance practice when working on bodies of water, lakes and ponds. It affords the sensing and moving bodies immediate access to the different spheres of the environment—water, air, and land. It can also take off from the shore and drift on the water’s surface as a kinesthetic research vessel.
The Pier suggests a place for coming together – it comprises performative gestures, participatory practices, and conversations with invited guests. The artistic working group convened by Lehtovaara includes Jani Hietanen (sound), Jani-Matti Salo (lighting), and Pauliina Syrjälä (kantele, Finnish zither).
The Pier is the second examined part of Lehtovaara’s doctoral research project Nature Untitled | Ecological Poetics in Dance and Choreographic Writing. The project cultivates embodied ecological awareness through the poetics of dance and choreographic writing, in relation to specific habitats and their physical circumstances. Lehtovaara is particularly interested in developing choreographic writing and speech as ecologically informed research methods.
Working group
- Research, choreography, concept and design: Veli Lehtovaara
- Sound: Jani Hietanen
- Light: Jani-Matti Salo
- Finnish zither (music): Pauliina Syrjälä
- Production: Lisa Kalkowski & Entirely Moved – Kaikki Liikkuu
- Texts: Veli Lehtovaara, if not mentioned otherwise
- Woodwork: Saku Koistinen, Veli Lehtovaara, Jaakko Lehtovaara
- Metalwork: Jussi Niemelä
- Technical drawings: Juho Lindström, Heikki Rosti (1. version)
In collaboration with: Moving in November festival (2026), The University of the Arts Helsinki – Theater Academy and Research Institute, 6th Research Pavillion, Idiorrhythmic Imagineries exhibition (2025)
Tukijat: City of Helsinki, The Finnish Art and Culture Agency, Uniarts Research Institute
Recidencies: Bioart Society / Ars Bioarctica – Kilpisjärvi Biological Station / University of Helsinki, Mustarinda (Hyrynsalmi)
Performing weeks: 44, 45, 46, 47