Western Uusimaa Dance Institute Hurja Piruetti receives international dance exchange students from Sri Lanka!
Hurja Piruetti is piloting a new exchange project, in the frame of which international dance students will get to know the Finnish basic education in the art of dance together with Hurja Piruetti’s teachers and students during the next two months. The project is carried out in Hurja Piruetti´s collaboration with Derana TV (Sri Lanka) and Lärkkulla Folk Academy (Raseborg, Finland).
The participating Sri Lankan dancers were chosen from City of Dance TV dance competition. Hurja Piruetti’s dancers will visit Sri Lanka as guests of Derana TV next autumn.
During their stay, the visiting young dancers get to know western dance art in the form of basic education in the arts. Basic education in the arts is a unique Finnish form of education. The curriculum followed at Western Uusimaa Dance Institute Hurja Piruetti is along the guidelines given by the Finnish National Agency for education, and has been approved by the local education and culture committee.
In addition to basic education in the arts, the culture exchange aims to form a firm collaboration with the local Lärkkulla Folk Academy. During daytime, the young guests will participate in English language classes at the academy, where they will also be accommodated. The dance education and projects will take place during the evenings.
”Lärkkulla has previous history of collaboration with Hurja Piruetti, mainly through its ‘Lärkkulla Musical’ course, but now also ‘Lärkkulla Languages’ is in the picture. We have observed Hurja Piruetti’s growth for a good while, and we are glad to be part of it. The Sri Lankan dance teachers will live, eat, and study English at Lärkkulla. We can teach them a lot, and we can learn a lot from them, too. Lärkkulla is and will always be interested in international collaboration. Previously, we have had some individual students from Sri Lanka, but never a group. This project is exciting and interesting also from Lärkkulla’s part.”
Juhani Jäntti, principal of Lärkkulla Folk Academy
The project’s goal is to produce a dance piece together with the young dancers. Hurja Piruetti’s own dancers and the visiting youth have been preparing the co-production since last autumn, rehearsing apart from each other. During the visit, the production will be made whole and the piece will be performed at Kajaani Dance Festival 31.1.-2.2.2020. Hurja Piruetti’s teachers Sathis Hettithantri and Katja Köngäs act as the directors of the project. Other participating parties are Derana TV’s producer Pathirannahalage Keerthi Nandana and Hurja Piruetti’s cinematographer Linus Westerlund.
”This is a fantastic and interesting continuation for Hurja Piruetti’s international journey. What makes this an especially great endeavour is the local collaboration with Lärkkulla Folk Academy, which provides a new kind of opportunity to combine language and dance studies. Basic education in arts does not only aim to study one form of art, instead, it should provide the youth with a possibility to an extensive expansion of cultural understanding. By watching, listening, experiencing and communicating. Via movement, if a common language is otherwise missing. Combining language, dance and communication has been a strong theme during the current academic year at Hurja Piruetti. Several school projects, dance-and-language projects and vast collaborations speak volumes about the local operators’ active and spry work in the culture scene. I think that here in Raseborg we are large-scale cultural busy bees”, Katja Köngäs, principal of Western Uusimaa Dance Institute Hurja Piruetti
Pic Maria Knaapinen
Would you like to start a new dance hobby? Or would you like to add classes to your own schedule? Welcome and dance with us again from 7th January 2020. We offer affordable dance classes from beginners to advance level in contemporary dance, ballet, dance hll reggae, hip hop, circur and popping classes. Register via https://www.polkka.fi/hurjapiruetti
Welcome!
Hurja Piruetti is part of the international network and representing basic art education in dance and young dancers in this project together with young dancers from Listaskoli RO - Iceland.
"DanceMe UP is a project based on audience development via digital means which aims to build an international production-oriented network of ten innovative European organizations based in Italy, Germany, Finland, France and Iceland (plus one Associated Partner from Switzerland).
The word “UP” refers to the digital instrument of the APP of DanceMe which represents the important evolution of the web site danceme.org; DanceMe represents a virtual space where artists present their own research to the audience, discuss and debate with each other by using texts, images, videos and music, helping the artists working with greater ease and more speed towards the creation of the final live performance. And to broaden UP the EU cultural scenario (“UP for Europe!”) deepening the levels of engagement between artists, cultural organizations and audiences in Europe both on line (by using the App) and off line (by specific workshops, the residencies and the live shows).
Partners involved:
Perypezye Urbane - Italy
Turku University of Applied Sciences - Finland
Hurja Piruetti - Finland
Listaskoli RO - Iceland
Synesthesies - France
Boris in Berlin GmbH - Germany
Mediagrammi e.V. - Germany
Associazione Wam! - Italy
Associazione Muxarte - Italy
Associazione C.I.M.D. - Italy
Co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union and Finnish National Agency of Education.
Hurja Piruetti´s Christmas show at Kiilan school (Hindersinkatu 19, Karjaa) saturday 30th November (10-15) and Christmas show at Kulttuuritalo Karelia (Erottajankatu 11, Tammisaari) at sunday 1st December 12:00 & 14:30.
Tickets to Tammisaari (6€) from Kulttuuritalo Karelia.
Welcome to our Christmas show!
Go and check the video clip in youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtmwokX3UfI
Coming together from the edges of the world. The meeting of three countries and three youth dance companies in the unique milieu of Tasmania. The goal of this project was to provide a platform for young dancers to explore issues important to them and their community. Stompin Company hosted this dance adventure on the East Coast of Tasmania for the visiting dancers from Finland and Denmark. Alongside Stompin Company the participants were immersed in a camp style program of dance classes and choreographic development with focus on cultural exchange and sitespecific movement and choreography. We hope that this project will be the start of a continued exchange and long-lasting dance network.
Film: Kalle Ranta Dance collaborators: Dansbryggeriet (DK), Hurja Piruetti (FI), Stompin Company (TAS)
Artictic direction: Gabriel Comerford, Katja Köngäs, Metter Overgaard, Caitlin Comerford
Music: Osipov Production
Sounds: Hanbaal, Tbhicba, Glaneur de sons, John Grzinich
In collaboration with The Finnish Youth Association, Svenska Kulturfonden