Welcome to OuDance Festival on 9.-13.9.2026!
Friday 11.9. at 11:30-13:00, Valve Dance Studio 1
Friday 11.9. at approximately 18:00-18:30 – Open dance session for everyone as part of the OuDance Goes Afterwork event at Valve’s Paljetti cafeteria.
Saturday 12.9. at 10:00-12:30, Valve Dance Studio 1
The Dance Band workshop centres around the joy, rhythm, and sense of community that emerge in the moment. Through dance, participants practise embodied listening in relation to music, themselves, one another, and the surrounding space. Like members of a band, we “play” the music we hear with our movements, exploring its rhythms, instruments, and musical details.
We incorporate lip-sync into dancing and experiment with ways of creating shared movement “beats” as a group. Inspired and supported by the music, participants are invited to dance their inner worlds through exercises that encourage playfulness, presence, self-expression, and dancing together.
We also explore the dance traditions associated with celebration that participants bring with them and discover how these different traditions can be connected. This exploration takes place through dialogue, with respect for different cultures and lived experiences.
Drawing on the exercises developed during the workshop, instructor Wilma Seppälä will facilitate an open dance session as part of the OuDance Goes Afterwork event. Open to everyone, the session is designed to help create a welcoming atmosphere and provide a guided framework for joining others on the dance floor.
This course is intended for adults interested in dance, from enthusiastic beginners and recreational dancers to experienced professionals.
In the Instructor’s Own Words:
“These times call for joy and for people coming together. Through the Dance Band workshop, I want to create a playful and community-oriented dance environment where we can all learn from one another. In my teaching, I strive to create a space where it feels safe and enjoyable to immerse yourself in dance from wherever you are in that moment, and where everyone’s voice and body can be seen, heard, and valued.”
Photo: Wilma Maunula
Wilma Seppälä is a dance artist whose practice moves between performance, choreography, and dance pedagogy. At the heart of her artistic work are vitality, joy, and community, guided by an overarching question: How do we dance together in a time of change and crisis? Wilma is committed to creating accessible and courageous embodied spaces where dance can take place and meaningful encounters can emerge. Working both in Finland and internationally, she has performed in Silja Tuovinen’s choreographic film Avalanche, Katrín Gunnarsdóttir’s dance installation ALDA, and Wilhelmina Ojanen’s works Matters of Care and becoming-with. She has also taught dance at the Outokumpu Dance Education Programme and Tampere Conservatory.
Photo: Laura Malmivaara
Price 40€ and price for members 25€. Prices alv 0%.
The membership price is for those who have paid the JoJo membership fee. We will check the membership at the time of purchase. In cases of illness, we will refund the participation fee against a medical certificate.
You can activate the membership discount in the shopping cart by entering: WILMA15E and clicking the Accept code button.
Saturday 12.9. at 16:30-17:30, Valve Dance Studio 3
In the instructors’s own words:
“I broke my leg for the second time in the spring of 2025. Unfortunately, my dance season came to an abrupt end, along with several competitions I had planned to enter. While sitting on a kitchen chair, however, it occurred to me that none of the competition rulebooks actually forbid dancing from a chair.
That thought became the starting point for a dance through which I expressed the anxiety and frustration I experienced that spring, while also demonstrating that everyone deserves the opportunity to step onto the stage on their own terms. I began exploring the movement possibilities available from a seated position, using my hands and upper body while telling the story of how I was feeling.
After the Run was created to portray both the mental race of pursuing one’s dreams and the very real race against time that led to my broken leg. In the process, I discovered that sometimes stopping can help you reach your dreams faster than you could ever imagine.
Following a short solo performance, the workshop invites participants to explore the possibilities of movement as a tool for storytelling. Everyone is welcome to participate on their own terms—standing, sitting, or lying down.
Participants will create choreography to a piece of music using everyday gestures as well as their own experiences as creative material. The workshop concludes with a group discussion reflecting on questions such as: What is dance? When and how do we experience dance? And can every body dance?”
Workshop Structure and Content:
1. Solo Performance: After the Run
The workshop begins with a short solo performance, lasting a few minutes, which I perform while seated on a chair. The choreography draws inspiration from the song lyrics and the feelings of frustration I experienced during my recovery from injury. The performance aims to create a warm, welcoming, and relatable atmosphere, encouraging participants to recognize the possibilities of dance within their own bodies.
2. Collaborative Choreographic Exploration
After the performance, participants will create a short choreography to a different piece of music with my guidance. We begin with a gentle movement warm-up, such as a moment of focusing on the breath and becoming aware of the body.
The choreography is developed using:
Everyone is encouraged to participate in the way that feels most appropriate for them—whether sitting, standing, or lying down.
3. Discussion and Reflection
The workshop concludes with a shared discussion centred around questions such as:
If participants find writing more comfortable than speaking, part of the reflection can instead be completed as a written exercise.
For further information: mira.kolanen@jojo.fi
Price 30€ and price for members 20€. Prices alv 0%.
The membership price is for those who have paid the JoJo membership fee. We will check the membership at the time of purchase. In cases of illness, we will refund the participation fee against a medical certificate.
You can activate the membership discount in the shopping cart by entering: INKA10Eand clicking the Accept code button.
Friday 11.9. at 10:00-11:20, Valve Dance Studio 1
During this class, we will explore the connections between the body and its internal and external environments, investigating the ongoing dialogue that exists among the body and the world.
From there, we will delve deeper into the relationship between the body and Earth’s gravity — exploring weight, support and grounding — before broadening our focus to the interaction between joints, trajectories of movement and spatial directions, allowing the choreography to emerge in the flow of the present moment.
We will then turn our attention to the relationship between the dancer and their own movement, examining how choreography takes shape through awareness, intention and presence. From this perspective, we will explore the intersection of choreography and observation, ultimately arriving at the dynamic relationship between performer and audience.
Creating and receiving movement, composing in real time, and leaving a unique choreographic imprint on the atmosphere of a space are among the themes that will guide our compositional practices.
For further information: mira.kolanen@jojo.fi
Notice. The workshop is aimed at dance professionals, vocational students and advanced enthusiasts. The course will be taught in english.
Originally from Italy, Paolo is a dancer specialising in instant composition and improvised dance. His training is based on over 25 years of study and practice with internationally renowned teachers such as Julyen Hamilton, Steve Paxton, Lisa Nelson, Nancy Stark Smith, Kirstie Simson, David Zambrano, Ruth Zapora and Daniel Lepkoff. Since 2012, he has been a member of Allen’s Line, Julyen Hamilton’s company. Allen’s Line has performed extensively in Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Norway and the Czech Republic. Paolo is also dedicated to the study of Taiji Quan, having followed the traditional method of the Chinese Master Dao Gong-Wu of Rome for over 30 years. As a dancer and choreographer, he performed extensively across various European countries from 2003 to 2026. As a teacher, he has developed a personal technique resulting from the combination of TaiJi with the principles of contemporary dance. Since 2010, he has been teaching at schools, universities and dance festivals in Italy and across Europe.
Price 30€ and price for members 20€. Prices alv 0%.
The membership price is for those who have paid the JoJo membership fee. We will check the membership at the time of purchase. In cases of illness, we will refund the participation fee against a medical certificate.
You can activate the membership discount in the shopping cart by entering: PAOLO10E and clicking the Accept code button.
