During Liisa Risu's course, we attune to our personal and collectively shared dance through various exercises focusing on bodily articulation and compositional awareness.
Working method in this course is based on exercises that Risu developed in her works Dark (Tumma) and Soiva/WKL in collaboration with her dancers. In these exercises, the body of one dancer can be seen as an entire orchestra, or, on the other hand, a group of dancers can form one collectively shared body. We focus on developing articulation and a sense of form in improvised dance and in the dancers' interconnected creative composition. The exercises are based on multi-directional tasks that observe corporeality and compositionality. Despite their multilayered nature, the aim of these tasks is to liberate a moment for new insights and experiences of shared space, time and energy – a moment for choreographing and dancing together. Some of the exercises involve physical contact, varying the intention and interpretation of touch. The classes are accompanied by music.
Choreographer Liisa Risu (b. 1966) has worked extensively in dance, circus and theatre. In addition to her most well-known dance works presented at Zodiak, such as Fail (2012), Dark (2009) and Meter (2004), she has worked as a performer, choreographer, screenwriter and director in numerous successful Winter Circuses of Dance Theatre Hurjaruuth – most recently as the director of Winter Circus Joy in 2022.
Risu’s two most recent dance works, Soiva/WKL (2013) and Heavy Light (2015), focused on transposing musical notation into dance and choreography. Her most notable works for children include Dance Theatre Hurjaruuth’s Thumbelina (2015).
Risu's choreographies have also been presented and produced by Helsinki Dance Company and Helsinki Festival, the Theatre Academy Dance Collective TaDac, and Pori Dance Company.
Risu has taught improvisation and composition and worked as a guest teacher for choreography students at the University of the Arts Helsinki's Theatre Academy. She was also the artistic director of Dance Theatre Hurjaruuth from 2019 to 2023.
Liisa Risu is passionately enthusiastic about acclaimed choreographers and dancers characterised by systemic thinking, such as Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, Thomas Hauert&ZOO, and Noa Eshkol.
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.