RIIKKA LAKEA
dance artist
I have been educated as a dance artist in Copenhagen (The Danish National School of Performing Arts) and Helsinki (Uniarts Helsinki's Theater Academy). At the core of my artistic practice are creating performer- and site-specific pieces, using improvisation as a work and performance tool and continuously researching for more sustainable and equal working structures. In my work the roles of performer, choreographer, film maker, facilitator and producer intertwine and are in constant dialogue. My work is guided by an ecological, intersectional, and feminist worldview, that perceives different agents and phenomena as deeply relational and interconnected.
My artistic work builds on collective, dialogical, and low-hierarchical group work. Currently, I am working on a new solo piece Another Hybrid, that is a celebration of queer animals and hybrid bodies. My latest direction work is the film and performance project Aanimals in Aarhus, Denmark, focusing on local animal stories. My earlier choreographic works include e.g. the ongoing research on the improvisation practice dancing music in collaboration with dance artist Vincent Jonsson (2019-) and the process-oriented musical short film With a little help from my friends (2017). I am part of the Helsinki-based performance group Ollab, that creates pieces about human animality and our relationship to other spieces. My work has been performed around Northern Europe in multiple cities and at festivals like Works at Work in Copenhagen, NEUNOW in Amsterdam and UrbanApa in Helsinki.
I have performed as a dancer and performer in others' work in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and the UK in various works by independent choreographers, e.g. Eli Lewis & Joe Garbett (UK), Lea Moro (CH), Liz Kinoshita (CA/BE), Rebecca Hilton (AU/SE), Thomas Eisenhardt (DK), and Sonya Lindfors (FI), among others.
In addition to my artistic work, I teach dance technique and produce and mentor other artists' work in the performing arts. I have worked as a producer for i.a. choreographers Valtteri Raekallio and Sonya Lindfors, Moving in November festival and as the managing director of performing arts platform Circus Maximus.


Photos by Sonia Sanchez Lopez