​​​​Tuija Lappalainen (she/they) is a choreographer, performer and multidisciplinary artist working primarily in the Helsinki and Turku regions of Finland. Her artistic practice moves within and between the fields of choreography, new dance, contemporary performance and theatre.
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In her artistic practice as a performance maker – choreographer & dramaturg-director – she works with choreography, corporeality, text, multi-material connections of stage components and layered dramaturgy. Drawing from her background in visual arts, she also engages with spatial, scenographic, and visual design as integral parts of the creative process. Her work explores questions of ecological entanglement, agency, desire and otherness. She interested in the themes of incomprehensible, uncontrollable connections and formation of meanings.
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As a performer – dancer, actor – she has worked in various performance venues and festivals, including Zodiak – Center for New Dance, Side Step Festival, Ice Hot Helsinki – Dance House Helsinki, Spring Roll Festival – Ehkä-production and Contemporary Art Space Kutomo, ITAK-stage, Joensuu City Theatre and immersive theatre productions by Theatre Vertigo on various stages. Most recently she has performed in the works of choreographers Anna Torkel, Jenni-Elina von Bagh, Sara Grotenfelt and Lindon Shimizu and collaborated as an actor with London-based theatre director Ishwar Maharaj.
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Her choreographic works have been presented at venues such as Dance Currents Tampere Festival (Hällä Stage), Barker Theatre – Stage for Independent Art in Turku, New Performance Turku Biennale, Tehdas Theatre, Halle2 in Kassel, Sanskar Virtual Performance Festival, Näyttämö Theatre in Joensuu, and as part of the large-scale immersive theatre production Huoneiden Kirja.
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She holds a Master’s degree in Dance Performance (MA, 2023) from the University of the Arts Helsinki, Theatre Academy. She has also completed postgraduate studies in choreography and artistic research through the Postgraduate Residency Studios and Performance Research Studies (PReS) at SOZO – VIM in Kassel (2020). Additionally, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts (Art and Media, Tampere University of Applied Sciences, 2012) and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, completed through flexible studies at the Arts Academy of Turku University of Applied Sciences.
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