Johanna Nuutinen +Collaborators: Élixir de Mer
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Date
30.9-3.10.2026
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Duration
1 H (no intermission)
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Venue
Pannu Hall
Show times
Wed 30.9. at 18.30
Thu 1.10. at 18.30
Fri 2.10. at 18.30
Sat 3.10. at 15
Please note
Includes occasional loud music.
A few carefully selected scents are used in the performance. Please arrive fragrance-free.
The performance includes moving stage set. If you wish to leave the auditorium during the performance, please raise your hand. A member of our staff will assist you.
In addition
Artist discussions after the performances.
Introduction
Critically acclaimed Élixir de Mer invites the audience into a corporeal ritual where experiences of different senses interlace into a physical tapestry.
The work draws inspiration from the sense of smell and its ability to awaken embodied memories, as well as from the refined techniques of perfume-making — the ritualistic devotion of extracting elixirs.
Perfumes were already used in ancient Egypt for seduction and as symbols of power. Scents also offered a means to connect with divine figures, opening communication between heaven and earth. Beyond pleasure, the sense of smell carries social taboos, for the experience of scent brings another body close; it opens a space of shared intimacy.
In our world dominated by sight, the physicality of odors tunes our bodies to vibrate, and Élixir de Mer explores their resonance through dance, sound, and space. It seeks the layered harmonies of scents that remain within us for weeks, months, years.
Élixir de Mer is the fourth part of choreographer Johanna Nuutinen’s series of works exploring the senses.
A few carefully selected scents are used in the performance. Please arrive fragrance-free.
Organizer: Johanna Nuutinen +Collaborators
Audience discussions
Audience discussions will be held after each performance to explore the themes of the work together with choreographer Johanna Nuutinen and guest experts.The discussions are open to audience questions and interpretations. The discussions will take place right after the performance.
Scent as a Layer of the Art Experience
Wednesday, Sept 30 at 19:30, Pannu Hall | Guest: Katia Los | Language: English
Katia Los is a curator, art director and creative producer based in Finland, with 20+ years of experience in contemporary art, design and cultural production. She is the co-founder and art curator of Smell the Art, a multisensory exhibition concept pairing visual art with perfumery, created together with scent curator Adriana Knispel, Creative Director of Helsinki Perfume Club. Katia is also co-founder and creative producer of the Blue Verve Gallery, and creative producer and Head of Gallery at ODDfest. Her latest projects include Smell the Art at Amos Rex in June 2026 and an interactive exhibition at Epicenter Helsinki in September 2026, created for a business summit.
Scent as Tool, Material and Experience
Thursday, Oct 1 at 19:30, Pannu Hall | Guest: the Working Group | Language: English
Choreographer Johanna Nuutinen together with the dancers Clémentine Herveux and Andrea Martin.
Towards Multisensory Virtual Reality
Friday, Oct 2 at 19.30, Pannu Hall | Guest: Veikko Surakka
Veikko Surakka is a Professor of Interactive Technology from the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences at Tampere University. Surakka is the head of the research group for Emotions, Sociality, and Computing. The research group works with and develops various technologies for human technology interaction. For example, multisensory virtual reality interaction, functional electrical stimulation for facial paralysis, tactile interaction and digital scent technology.
For more than ten years the group has studied technologies that can digitize scents
using electronic noses. They have developed several different types of olfactory display technologies that can be used to synthesize and print odors for human perception, for example in virtual reality. Also, the group has developed self-learning multichannel olfactory display technology which combines electronic nose measurements and reproduction of scents on the basis of electronic nose measurements.
The Language, Corporeality, and Landscape of Smell
Saturday, Oct 3 at 16:00, Dance House lobby | Guest: Eeva-Liisa Puhakka
Eeva-Liisa Puhakka (MFA, DI) is a multidisciplinary visual artist. Her ongoing two-year scent art project is divided into three parts – human scent, forest scent, and the language of scent – and examines how climate change and pollution are altering the olfactory landscapes of our environment, as well as how smell is intertwined with corporeality, shame, and structural inequality. The project's aim is to use artistic means to develop language and vocabulary for smells that our culture has traditionally undervalued, and to help both the artist and the public sense and reflect on the significance of the sense of smell in a new way.
Puhakka served as the City Artist of Kouvola from 2020 to 2022 and was a founding member of the Scent Club Berlin collective (2015–2020). Her works have been shown at, among others, the WRO Media Art Biennale in Poland, KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, the Seoul Museum of Art in South Korea, and the Nakanojo Biennale in Japan. Puhakka has also curated numerous exhibitions and is currently pursuing a Master of Research degree in Hybrid Arts at the Ionian University.
Photos
Credits
Direction: Johanna Nuutinen
Dance: Andrea Martín, Clémentine Herveux
Choreography: Johanna Nuutinen in collaboration with the dancers
Dramaturg: Riikka Laakso
Sound Design & Composition: Ville Kabrell
Lighting Design & Technical Production: Lauri Lundahl
Spatial Design: Lauri Lundahl, Johanna Nuutinen
Costume Design and realization: Joona Huotari
Stage technicians: Ville Tolvanen, Viljami Lehtonen
Scents provided by: Eero Niskanen / Sevende Aromas
Set Construction: Mika Kortesmaa / Juholat Oy
Promo pictures and video: Maisa Immonen
Performance recording: Teemu Kyytinen
Performance pictures: Kai Kuusisto
Production: Aurora Millasnoore, Johanna Nuutinen (Johanna Nuutinen +Collaborators)
Supporters: Finnish Cultural Foundation, Kone Foundation, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, City of HelsinkI
Special thanks to everyone we had the chance to interview in connection with the theme of the work, to the staff of Tanssin talo, and to the funders and art lovers who generously support our activities!
Meet the Creative Team
Johanna Nuutinen
Johanna Nuutinen has created stage and cinema productions at the crossroads of visual and performing arts since 2011. Her work has been presented at more than 40 international film festivals and several dance festivals in Finland and abroad. Nuutinen has created commissioned works for the Finnish National Ballet, the West Australian Ballet, Dance Company Osnabrück, Skånes Dansteater, and Tero Saarinen Company.
Before embarking on a freelance career in 2017, she was a dancer at the Finnish National Ballet. In 2016, the contemporary dance company Johanna Nuutinen +Collaborators was formed to support the artistic work Nuutinen creates with a team of highly visionary sound, light, and costume designers as well as dancers and dramaturgs.
Nuutinen is interested in evoking inner journeys that stir up emotions, awaken kinesthetic empathy, create space for reflection, and allow us to question our surroundings in a new light. Some of her latest works include OPIA (2021), Hz (2022), SURGE (2022), ZERO-ZERO (2022), and SKIN HUNGER (2023).
Riikka Laakso
Riikka Laakso is a researcher, writer, and dramaturge working in the field of dance. She holds a Doctorate in Performing Arts from the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. Laakso has collaborated extensively with choreographer Marina Mascarell on international projects presented at venues such as GöteborgsOperan, Skånes Dansteater, Mercat de les Flors in Barcelona, Korzo Theatre, and Dance Forum Taipei. In addition, she has explored the poetics and methods of Sanna Kekäläinen through essay writing.
Laakso teaches performance analysis in dance at the Institut del Teatre de Barcelona and has also lectured at the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki and at Zodiak – Center for New Dance on the diverse expressions of contemporary dance. Her areas of interest include the politics of the body, embodied thinking, and dramaturgical tools in dance art.
Ville Kabrell
Ville Kabrell is a Helsinki-based sound designer and composer. Over the past few years, Kabrell's artistic output has focused on creating scores for contemporary dance performances. Kabrell’s music has always been about exploring the outer edges of sound with a visceral approach, aiming to be simultaneously fragile and striking. Mutating between ambient cascades and techno dreams, Kabrell is constantly searching for a connection to the body and the world through sound.
Lauri Lundahl
Lauri Lundahl is a freelance lighting designer known for his site-specific and immersive dance and theatre works. Lundahl graduated from the Theatre Academy and has worked in the performing arts and event production since 2009, across large stages, festival arenas, and found spaces. In addition to his collaboration with Johanna Nuutinen, he has worked with Raekallio Corp., Susanna Leinonen, and 00100 Ensemble, as well as in numerous theatres both in Finland and abroad.
As an artist, Lundahl is interested in the relationship between space and light, light architecture, landscape, perception, and the creation of worlds. His work often emphasizes geometry and harmony that transform environments and create captivating landscapes.
Joona Huotari
Joona Huotari is a costume designer and artist who has worked on a wide range of projects since 2010. His work has reached diverse audiences through music videos, television, events, fashion, theatre, circus, and opera. Huotari graduated from Pirkanmaa Vocational College as an artisan in the clothing industry in 2008 and went on to study costume design at Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture in 2013.
Huotari specializes in material processing and has mastered the use of recycled and reused materials. In his designs, he strives to approach costuming in a modern and fresh way — this is evident both in cohesive large-scale productions and in unique, wearable works of art. In addition to costume design, Huotari has also worked as a performance artist, graphic designer, and scenographer.
Huotari’s recent works include Dance Theatre Hurjaruuth’s Winter Circus Joy (2022) and Winter Circus BAU (2019), KOM-teatteri’s ReeaRuu (2022), Opera BOX and Opera Skaala’s Akhnaten (2021), Opera BOX’s Turandot (2020), FOX’s Kymppitonni (2020), and Emma Salokoski’s Body Positive (2019). Other achievements include designing for Krista Siegfrids’ Marry Me, Finland’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest (2013), and the infamous short music film I’ve Only Just Begun. Huotari is also a member of the unique art collective House of Disappointments. Their work was featured in the WEAR(E)ART costume exhibition as part of the Kiasma Theatre URB Festival in the summer of 2020 at the Cultural Center Caisa in Helsinki.
Andrea Martín
Andrea Martín is a Barcelona-born dancer, teacher, and choreographer. She began her dance training at the age of 10 at Institut del Teatre, where she graduated in ballet studies. Early in her career, she danced with the ITDansa youth company, touring nationally and internationally. She then worked with Zfin Malta (2019–2021) and Theater Bielefeld (2021–2025), the last years under the direction of Felix Landerer. In 2025, Martín began working as an international freelance artist and started creating her own works for festivals and theatres.
As a performer, she has worked with choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Jirí Kylián, Sidi Larbi, Alexander Ekman, Lali Aguadé, Sharon Fridman, Felix Landerer, Paloma Muñoz, Jacopo Godani, Rafael Bonachella, Crystal Pite and Johannes Wieland, among others. Alongside her artistic career, she studies Psychology and uses this knowledge in her work as a mentor and advisor for dancers, students, and institutions, focusing on group dynamics and power structures within the performing arts field.
Clémentine Herveux
Born in Metz, France, Clémentine Herveux studied at the Central School of Ballet in London, and worked as a company dancer from 2008 to 2019. She performed with institutions such as the Hessisches Staatsballett, Landesbühnen Sachsen, Tanzkompagnie Giessen, and Ballet Theater Hagen, dancing and creating repertoire by choreographers including Ohad Naharin, Damien Jalet, Hofesh Shechter, Sita Ostheimer, Jeroen Verbruggen, Alexander Ekman, and others.
Since then, she has been working as a freelance artist, collaborating and exploring with various collectives and choreographers, including Cocoon Dance Company with Rafaele Giovanola, Socompany with Sita Ostheimer, Liliana Barros, Jeroen Verbruggen, IVONA Company with Pablo Girolami, Snorkel Rabbit with Alba Castillo and Bryan Arias, as well as Gustavo Gomes.