Mikko Niemistö is a choreographer and performer based in Helsinki, Finland. He creates stage pieces where different forms of art engage in dialogue, often with a special focus on sound and music. He graduated as a Master of Fine Arts in Choreography from Stockholm University of the Arts in 2017. In his works, Niemistö explores the formulation of the self through silent knowledge and accumulations of bodily memories. His interests lie in the shattered realities of contemporary culture and things that linger in the background, like noise and the flow of consciousness. He currently focuses on the shadow zones of everyday reality, like dreaming, protesting and the supernatural.
Niemistö's works have been shown at e.g. Zodiak (FI), Moving in November festival (FI), Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (FI) Inkonst (SE), far° festival (CH), CCN de Caen (FR) and ImPulsTanz festival (AT), where his solo work Odd Meters received the jury’s special mention in the [8:tension], young choreographer’s series in 2022.
Glass Eyes is an upcoming stage piece by choreographer Mikko Niemistö. In collaboration with spatial and lighting designer Sofia Palillo, dancer Marika Peura and violinist Elias Riipinen, the piece unfolds a distorted human experiment where medicine and mysticism intertwine.
Glass Eyes delves into imagery referencing healthcare, mortality and exorcism, often obscuring who and what acts as the initiator of movement. Drawing inspiration from a time before and beyond the dominance of Western medicine, Glass Eyes channels the sterility of hospitals alongside traditional healing practices and spells.
By opening portals to mysticism, Glass Eyes challenges the idea of the human body as something solely explainable through science. Its corporeality shifts between the clinical detachment of the medical gaze and surreal, dreamlike states. At times, the piece ventures into the imagery of popular culture and horror films, with the performers moving as if possessed – manipulated by unseen forces and one another.
Glass Eyes will be premiered in May 2025 on Zodiak Stage.
