In this course, Laura Jantunen guides us to move from tangible sensations of the body to fantasies born of imagination.
Laura’s course introduce us to her Somagics practice. Somagics focuses on cultivating an intimate, detailed and living relationship with one’s sensory perception by concentrating on bodily sensations and the chains of sensations that form from them. Here, a ‘sensation’ refers to the part of the experience that has not yet been articulated into a recognisable feeling or experience. Somagics develops the dancer’s kinaesthetic intelligence, the precision of movement, the playful aspect of dance, and the ability to recognise how different body positions feel and what kind of associations they evoke.
In these Somagics dance classes, we work individually with everyone performing the exercises simultaneously and keeping their eyes open. During some of the exercises, you will be given verbal instructions from the teacher on where to focus on your body. You will also be asked to move by listening to the sensations in your body. All tasks are given verbally, and you are encouraged to ask clarifying questions. The exercises are rarely accompanied by music. After dancing, we will discuss the experiences arisen from the exercises either together or in small groups. The aim of these discussions is to articulate the sensations that are difficult to verbalise and to make visible the dancer’s internal observation and thinking.
Laura Jantunen (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist with an MA in Choreography from the University of the Arts Helsinki. She has worked as a choreographer, dancer and textile artist since 2011. In her artistic work, Laura is fascinated by odd everyday events, becoming aware of the unconscious, not-knowing, and the feel of getting lost. Her thinking is characterised by the oscillation between extremes, such as the recognisable and the unrecognisable, or the possible and the impossible. Laura aims to perceive things and situations on a spectrum, acknowledging contrasts while actively probing them. Laura’s latest works include Talvi (eng. Winter, Zodiak 2019) and Kesä (eng. Summer, Forest in Viikki 2021) from the Neljä vuodenaikaa (eng. The Four Seasons) series, the solo work The Idiot Gardener (2022–present), and the artistic thesis Outoliini (eng. Oddling, The University of the Arts Helsinki 2023). Her Finnish ryijy rugs have been exhibited in galleries such as Titanik and Poriginal and as part of the Solar Noon group exhibition.
Indulge the Movement – Contemporary Dance for All courses are mainly instructed by the choreographers and performers of Zodiak's previous, current and upcoming season's performances. Indulge the Movement courses are suitable for everyone, and you can join even without any prior dance experience. The classes focus on motion and movement while also offering an opportunity to explore various dance practices through alternating instructors.
All you need are comfortable clothes suitable for movement and a water bottle. During the classes, we dance barefoot or with socks. The courses are held in Finnish and/or English according to the needs of the participants.
