Elina Pirinen (FIN)
Ghosts of Rosegarden
30-31 October 2026
Programme
Large-scale, physical, wild and rhythmic!
TicketsDuration
60 minutes
30 Oct
19:00
31 Oct
19:00
From Igor Stravinsky's iconic Rite of Spring, a ritual stage space emerges where ancestral memories and new identities meet in body, rhythm and live music with Avanti! chamber orchestra live on stage.
Ghosts of Rosegarden is a grand all-arts work for eight dancers and five musicians, bringing together dance, live music and live film. As a playful starting point for the work, a dialogue is conducted between classical musical works and stories in which women and girls are sacrificed, murdered, enchanted into fairy-tale creatures, imprisoned or abducted - and in various ways meet brutal and unjust fates.
But no woman is sacrificed here. Instead, these women and girls return again and again in new guises: as dance, music, story, free alter egos, symbols of life and new icons.
On stage, body, voice and rhythm meet in a work where dance and music develop in close interaction. Ville Kabrell's music for strings, bassoon, bells and electronics is performed live by the chamber orchestra Avanti!, and the show also uses live film to create a living cinematic stage space where the performers themselves shape the image and action.
In a game of physical and vocal transformations, the ensemble works with phantasmatic traces of ancestors, characteristics and affects. Generations and cultures are woven together as they give birth to their longed-for and unwanted ancestors and are reborn as wild mothers and inner children from the past, present and future.
“As an artist in these times I work for the feministic and maternal paradigm change by reinforcing the value and meaning of the inner child to create life and liveliness around. I want to bring the body of the folk back to the inner-child's visions, spirit and rite where the subconscious is a place of the brightest light and life force existing.”
- Elina Pirinen
ABOUT ELINA PIRINEN
Elina Pirinen is one of Finland's most sought-after choreographers at the moment. Her work is at the intersection of choreography, dance, music-making and experimental writing, as well as pedagogy and curating. Her work explores scenic, performative, sonic and linguistic forms that address the registers of the subconscious, the primary emotions of the body and the intelligence that resides in them.
Her artistic practice revolves around fantasy, romance, darkness, obsession, nightmares, daydreams, taboos and dark humour, as well as sadness, desire, despair, joy, suffering, silence, horror, contentment, shame, alienation, comfort and hope. Pirinen has deep Karelian roots and lives in Helsinki and on Lake Kalliojärvi.
In Finland, Pirinen has worked closely with Zodiak - Center for New Dance, Kiasma Theatre at Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Mad House Performance Art Stage, Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki, Helsinki Dance Company and Dansens hus in Helsinki. Internationally she has worked with Iceland Dance Company, Carte Blanche in Norway, Spring Festival in Utrecht, Arsenic in Lausanne, Hellerau in Dresden, Buda in Kortrijk, New York Live Arts, ImPulsTanz, Seoul Performing Arts Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Ice Hot Nordic Dance Platform, Norrlandsoperan, BIT Teatergarasjen and Lithuanian Music and Theatre Academy.
Her works - including Mortal Tropical Dances, Personal Symphonic Moment, Meadow, meadow, meadow, Concerto under Waterlilies, Brume de Mer, La Beaute du Coeur and Lover of the Pianist - have toured internationally.
Elina Pirinen works with a Finnish State Artist Grant for the period 2017-2028. She was awarded the Finnish State Art Prize in 2022 and the Antonia Prize in 2025. She has also received the Prix Jardin d'Europe at ImPulsTanz in Vienna in 2015 and the Finnish Critics’ Association's Critics' Spurs award in 2014. Pirinen is represented by Plan B - Creative Agency for Performing Arts.
Artistic direction, choreographic practice, libretto:
Elina Pirinen
Composition, sound design:
Ville Kabrell
Lighting and stage design:
Mr Mateus Manninen
Dramaturg:
Ami Karvonen
Costume design:
Antrea Kantakoski
Concept and direction for live camera:
Mr Jakob Öhrman
Dancers:
Simone Benini, Elias Berglund, Karolina Ginman, Age Linkmann, Arolin Raudva, Felix Urbina, Julia Mäkelä, Elina Pirinen
Participating dancers in process:
Alina Pilecka
Artistic sounding board:
Heidi Väätänen & Carmen Mehnert
Producer:
Tommi Kokkonen
Administration:
Outi Järvinen / Arts Management Helsinki
Photo:
Venla Helenius
Video teaser:
Mr Mateus Manninen
Avanti! chamber orchestra:
Violin:
Terhi Paldanius
Violin
Reeta Maalismaa
Viola:
Hanna Hohti
Cello:
Joasia Cieslak
Bassoon:
Antti Salovaara
Distribution:
Zodiak - Centre for New Dance, Plan B - Creative office for Performing Arts
Partnerships and funding:
Maija Eränen
Co-production:
Zodiak - Centre for New Dance (Finland), Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava (Estonia), Dansens Hus (Sweden), BIT Bergen Internasjonale Teater (Norway), Libidian Wonders (Finland), Avanti! chamber orchestra (Finland)
Residency:
English Estonian Embassy in Helsinki, Estonian Ministry of Culture
Supported by:
Arts Council Finland, Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, New Classics Fund, Erasmus+, Nordic Culture Point