A major international event Stretch Further will be held at Oulu as a part of OuDance Festival at 7.-13.9.2026
Tale Næss is a playwright, dramaturg, and researcher with a PhD in stage text from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. She works across many disciplines and has published drama, poetry, and prose. Currently, she leads ArtLab at Davvi — Centre for Performing Arts in Tromsø.
Leena Kela is a performance artist, artistic director of the New Performance Turku Biennale, director of the Saari Residence maintained by the Kone Foundation, and a doctoral researcher at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki. Her works and research examine the interaction of corporeality and materiality in performance art. She makes performances and video works that twist and play with our relationship to everyday objects and phenomena. She has performed in numerous contexts in Finland and internationally at performance art festivals and exhibitions on all continents of the world except Antarctica. She has a PhD in Fine Arts.
Eva Svaneblom (she/her) is a Tornedalian dance artist, based in Tromsø, Norway. Eva’s work takes many forms: from performances in gallery spaces or outdoors, to short videos on social media, and full-length productions in black box theatres. She works both solo and collaboratively, often across disciplines.
Eva’s artistic practice revolves around the situated body—how the body is shaped through encounters with its physical and sociocultural environments. She often works by playing with and reshaping stereotypes, where her Tornedalian background meets her queer identity. Aesthetics are a central part of Eva’s work, in choreography and performance, as well as in visual elements such as costume and scenography. She frequently uses popcultural references and seeks expressions that can speak to a wide audience. A common thread in Eva’s practice is collectivity and community— she explores how art can create shared spaces and foster understanding across different experiences.
Katrín Gunnarsdóttir is an Icelandic choreographer and a professor at Iceland University of the Arts where she is program director of BA in Contemporary Dance Practices. Her work focuses on soft encounters, using embodied listening and affective labour of the dancer to create intricate choreographic landscapes. Katrín has choreographed for Iceland Dance Company, FWD Youth Company and has worked as a movement director at The National Theatre of Iceland, The Icelandic Opera, Theatre Republique in Copenhagen and Toneelgroep Amsterdam. Katrín´s works and collaborations have been awarded the Icelandic Performing Arts Award (Gríman) and been selected by international platforms such as Ice Hot Nordic Dance Platform and Aerowaves.
