The dance performance “2 x 2” by the Ihanat Company is built around two duets, each inspired by encountering the other dancer through movement and dancing together.

Goofing around.
A skull. It felt cute.
I looked like a princess.
A bit awkward.
When we danced, I braided your hair.
Why am I looking? What catches my attention?
Doing what you enjoy.
I don’t know, I don’t know… frustration. Ugh! Oh, come on.
When I am inside, I have power.
This turned into a black wolf character.
To have time to think.
It’s nice to do things together. A surprising connection.
But how do I feel about this? Annoying.
Zombie, an evil dance. I could write a new story.
No need to know why one stops.
When the fish watch.
I liked everything.
Hey, by the way, we’re at work now!
Can I bring my headphones and the pink thingie to rehearsal?
I don’t have to be creating all the time. We have time.
I am tired.
Embarrassing.
Letting your desires show.
Oh, what a creative choice!
A cosy sleeping nest.
What is our dancing together, right here, right now?

– A collection of the artists’ sayings from the rehearsals in the autumn of 2024

In the choreographic process, the experience of dancing together has been explored through a variation of mirror exercises, touch, and working with various fabric materials. The long-term process has given rise to two unique, improvisation-based duets that, in “2 x 2,” are layered side by side, intertwined, and overlapping. The choreography takes shape anew, in part, with each performance event.

“2 x 2” is the first artistic component of Riina Hannuksela’s doctoral research. The performance serves as a space for the company to share their experiences from nearly a year of collaboration and dancing together.

The performance event welcomes a diverse audience of dance. There is a possibility to explore the performance space with guided access about 30 minutes before the start of the performance. If you would like to familiarise yourself with the performance space in advance or have other accessibility-related questions, please contact Caisa’s staff (email and phone number). The audio description is not available in the performance.

Detailed information regarding the accessibility of the performance event will be updated on this page closer to the performance dates.

Working Group: Sofia Johansson, Iiris Laisi, Elisa Lejeune, Vappu Virkkula, Riina Hannuksela, Aarne Riikonen, Riitta Röpelinen, Virva Talonen, Ina Niemelä.

Ihanat Company is an inclusive dance company based in Helsinki that has gradually developed into a professional company. In 2023, Ihanat Company and dance film director Kati Kallio premiered a dance film trilogy, Gen Z, which diversifies conceptions of one generation by featuring dancers with Down syndrome as main characters—individuals rarely seen as representatives of their generation. Additionally, dancers of Ihanat have performed in works such as Sari Palmgren’s Fenced Dreams (2017, 2018) and have created several original small performances.