Virpi Pahkinen Special
Multiple award-winning choreographer Virpi Pahkinen has toured her work to over 132 cities in 48 countries on six continents. In her dual role as choreographer and dancer, she has performed at the Library of Alexandria as well as the Nobel celebration at Stockholm City Hall.
Pahkinen has been commissioned by companies and institutions such as the Vietnam National Ballet, North 59°, Skånes Dansteater and Ballet Poznanski. Her latest work Deep Time was performed at Dansens Hus in autumn 2017.
Pahkinen's long career includes collaborations with choreographers and dancers all over the world, as well as transcendent collaborations with players in all fields of the arts, including Japanese koto player and composer Chieko Mori and director and playwright Ingmar Bergman.
Virpi Pahkinen has also created a number of dance films that have been broadcast on Swedish national television and shown at dance film festivals around the world. The film The seventh salt premiered on SVT1 in autumn 2016. In 2013, her debut novel The Snake Carrier published by MBM Publishing.
In 2011, Pahkinen received the Swedish Royal Medal Litteris et Artibus. She also received the City of Stockholm's Cullberg Prize in 2014.
Virpi Pahkinen at Dansens Hus
Iridium, ...and the angels began to screa
In dialogue with the red mountain, The Wave of the Empty Lake
At the Heaven nightclub in New York, two cosmic orbits crossed paths - those of Shen Wei and Virpi Pahkinen - and...
Kalagni & Il freddo dell´aqua
In the new solo 'Kalagni', the destructive fire of the goddess of death Kali, Virpi Pahkinen enlists the help of another distinctive artist....
Suite 303
She dances with the light - or is it the light that dances with her? You can't know for sure, because Virpi...
Zefirum, Silence of the Trembling Hands, Meretseger
Virpi Pahkinen is the dancer who has been enchanting audiences with her magical dance skills for over a decade. Her mesmerising choreography and...
Sal Mirabile
Sal Mirabile is a duet for Pahkinen and Pontus Sundset, but both dance solo alongside each other.
Morpho Z
Virpi Pahkinen is one of Sweden's most exciting choreographers and dancers and has captivated audiences and press worldwide with...
Scarab
With impressive agility, profound expression and intense stage presence, one of the Nordic region's most original dancers and choreographers is back at Stora...
Deep Time24-26 November 2017
Pooh-pooh
Black Rainbow (autumn 2020)
In mid-November 2020, Virpi Pahkinen's work 'Black Rainbow' was to have premiered on the main stage of Dansens Hus. The pandemic decided otherwise and the piece was performed without an audience. But we managed to talk to Virpi about her artistry and specifically about how "Black Rainbow" came about in a full Q&A with clips from both the rehearsal and the performance.
Choreographing dance for film (2020)
Virpi Pahkinen talks about the differences between creating choreography for the stage and the screen, the importance of seconds, and the realisation that while honing the almost invisible details, you can become blind to the obvious.The masterclass was recorded during Dansfilmlabbet 2020, which was produced by Kulturakademin in collaboration with Atalante, Danscentrum Väst, Dansalliansen, Danskompaniet Spinn and Nätverkstans medieverkstad, Redrental by Maan AB, Music A Matic.
SVT documentary: Anna Järvinen and the women (2017)
Anna Järvinen meets world-renowned choreographer Virpi Pahkinen, who does everything she can to avoid being stuck at home in front of the stove, preferring to travel or go to raves. Singer Anna Järvinen meets five women who, like her, all have roots in Finland.
Danspodden Isadora (2016)
Virpi Pahkinen shares both practical advice and secrets.
Summer & Winter in P1 (2013)
Solo dancers Virpi Pahkinen's Summer in P1 takes listeners on a magical journey from a frozen lake in Finland to the Amazon jungle. She takes us on a circling tram ride in real-life Helsinki, hears the story of Erland Josephson snoring during a drama rehearsal, and shares exotic food experiences with dishes such as "the sugar crystals cook the double snow" and "the chanting of no death and birth".
Fall (2016)
A dance film by Virpi Pahkinen from 2016. A gigantic root ball forms the backdrop for the dancing couple, whose twisted bodies seem to be organic parts of primeval nature. Stretching invisibly towards the sky and seeking a foothold in viable soil, they are encapsulated in an earthly paradise of decay and new beginnings. Roots link them to layers of the evolutionary process. Time lapse and recurrence. Synapses shimmer in a cycle of life and death.
The Seventh Salt (2016)
In the rose-coloured desert, dancer Fredrik Quiñones struggles in a strong wind and is drawn into an initiation rite. The film was shot in a dramatic setting in Argentine Patagonia and premiered on SVT.
Where do our bodies end? (2013)
During Almedalen 2013, Virpi Pahkinen gave an exciting lecture on our bodies.
The Snake Carrier
"The Snake Carrier" is Virpi Pahkinen's story of a passionate dancer's life during the intense years 2000-2007, performing in more than 40 countries on four continents. During this time she went from the role of the Milkmaid in the Ghost Sonata to great artistic success as a solo dancer and choreographer.With her unique voice and profound sense of humour, Pahkinen leads the reader towards the primal sources that give strength to both professional life and sensual pleasure. The Snake Carrier is her fictional debut.