| Niina Airaksinen Dance Productions | Turku 2011- European Capital of Culture |
Performance "CatB"（Photo: LUFTZUG / Yutaka Endo）
SOJIKU4 is the 4th part of SOJIKU-series by Niina Airaksinen exploring Japanese phenomena, aesthetics and mentality. For the 4th part Airaksinen invited Yuzo Ishiyama, a Japanese performance media artist and choreographer, to create a counter piece for the double-bill evening mirroring Finnish and Japanese phenomena from each others' cultural but subjective perspective.
The SOJIKU4-evenings started with various lectures concerning Japanese culture and technology. Then two contemporary dance works were performed: "Sansui - Flowing Stone" by Airaksinen and "CatB" by Ishiyama. Each evening was concluded by a public discussion about the themes and impressions of the evening. In the interval sushi, champagne and Sencha Tea were served. In the lobby there was dance photography on display (former works by Airaksinen and Ishiyama) and Japan-inspired ceramics and origami on sale.
The Japanese-Finnish team worked closely together for about 3 months to create this collaborative evening. The process was greatly fruitful, enjoyable and mind opening and received enthusiastic comments from audiences and critics. In future, pieces CatB and Sansui will be sold both together and separately to festivals around the globe. One important goal is to organize a collaborative tour in Japan in 2012.
Ishiyama integrates sound, installation, visual images and dance. He has collaborated with international artists as a choreographer/director or a performer. With his dynamic works being highly acclaimed, he has been invited to many performance festivals and art centers such as "dance" (Munich), KIASMA (Helsinki), and "Julidans" (Amsterdam). 2006 Ishiyama founded the artist collective "Yuzo Ishiyama / A.P.I." which has kept on developing new "body movement language/expression" which reflects vividly the world of today.
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Since her graduation from London Contemporary Dance School (1988-91) Airaksinen has performed in Finland, Britain, Italy, Germany, USA and Russia, in fields of contemporary dance, musical and Argentinean tango. Airaksinen started more serious choreographic work 2006, her style being characterized as intensive, architectonic and of wide dynamic range. Airaksinen also does photography and video work, which she studied at the Turku Polytechnic, Business and Media -department (2000-05).
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produces freelance-based international contemporary dance productions in Turku Finland. Airaksinen explores new worlds by diving into foreign cultures or time-travelling in history, and transforms their phenomena into movement on stage, photography and video. 2006-08 the synthesis of medieval music and contemporary dance was explored. 2009-2011 NADP is producing a 4-part series "SOJIKU" exploring Japanese phenomena, aesthetics and mentality. 2012- NADP will dive into the history of Vikings and other Nordic nations.
