Susanna Leinonen Company: Mozart Mozart
Show times
Wed 10.6. at 19.00
Thu 11.6. at 19.00
Fri 12.6. at 19.00
Sat 13.6. at 14.00 & 18.00
Erkko Hall
Duration: 1 h, no intermission
Introduction
Mozart Mozart, a work by Susanna Leinonen Company’s guest choreographer Luca Signoretti, takes the audience into the contradictory universe of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The piece premiered on April 30, 2022, at the Regensburg Theatre in Germany. At Dance House Helsinki, the work will get a new life performed by eight dancers from Susanna Leinonen Company.
Dynamic and highly physical movement language of Signoretti, rooted in classical ballet, surprises with its playfulness. The choreography develops like a crescendo, growing from small and delicate elements toward something larger than life — much like Mozart’s music itself.
SUSANNA LEINONEN COMPANY is one of the most internationally renowned Finnish contemporary dance companies. The company is maintained by the Association for Advanced Contemporary Dance and Ballet, whose mission is to strengthen the position of Finnish contemporary dance both domestically and internationally. Founded in 2001, the company is known for Susanna Leinonen’s distinctive, physical, and precise movement language, combined with carefully crafted visuality. Works by Susanna Leinonen Company have been performed in nearly 30 countries. Susanna Leinonen Company celebrates 25th anniversary in 2026.
Credits
Choreography Luca Signoretti
Assistant Choreographer Filippo Buonamassa
Music W.A. Mozart
Lighting Design Teemu Nurmelin
Costume Design Sari Nuttunen
Dancers Vilhelm Bjerser, Rebekka Guðmundsdóttir, Katariina Luukas, Kasperi Kolehmainen, Joanna Salmikannas, Marie da Silva, Sam Vaherlehto, Waltteri Voitila
Premiere 30 April 2022, Regensburg Theatre
Photography Mirkku Merimaa
Duration Approximately 1 hour
Our work is supported by the City of Helsinki and the Ministry of Education and Culture. Thank you!
Our warmest thanks to the Italian Cultural Institute for its support and collaboration. Grazie mille!
Biographies
Luca Signoretti
Luca Signoretti is an Italian choreographer who graduated with a master’s degree from the Zurich University of the Arts in 2021. He has created commissioned works for the Regensburg Theatre, the National Theatre Mannheim, Lucerne Theatre, MN Dance Company, KKL Luzern Culture and Convention Centre, and Verve Dance Company. Signoretti received the Pretty Creatives Award in 2016. In 2020, his short dance film was nominated for the Student Academy Awards in Hollywood. Before pursuing his career as a choreographer, Signoretti worked as a dancer with Ballet Junior de Genève.
Filippo Buonamassa
Filippo Buonamassa is an Italian dancer, choreographer, and educator. After graduating from ArtEZ University of the Arts in the Netherlands in 2020, Buonamassa began his professional career at the Regensburg Theatre in Germany, later performing with companies including Theatre Münster and WDTanzTheatre.
Since 2023, he has been working as a dancer with GöteborgsOperans Danskompani in Sweden. As an assistant choreographer, Buonamassa has collaborated with Georg Reischl and Luca Signoretti. Alongside his work as a dancer, he has also worked as a choreographer for the Regensburg Theatre and GöteborgsOperans Danskompani.
Teemu Nurmelin
Teemu Nurmelin is a lighting designer with extensive international experience in the performing arts. He has worked with the Finnish National Theatre in Finland and internationally in France, Sweden, Luxembourg, Georgia, Denmark, Italy, and Slovenia.
Sari Nuttunen
Sari Nuttunen is a costume designer, makeup artist, and wig master. She graduated in stage and film design from Stockholm’s Dramatiska Institutet. Following her graduation, Nuttunen joined the Royal Swedish Opera and later worked at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. Since 2023, she has served as the head of the costume and makeup department at Uppsala City Theatre. Nuttunen is currently pursuing a degree in CSRD Sustainability Reporting within Textiles at the Nordic Textile Academy and has a qualification in Sustainable and Circular Textile Design.
Vilhelm Bjerser
Vilhelm Bjerser is a Swedish dancer and graduate of Ellison Ballet and the dance programme at Schillerska Gymnasium. He has worked as a dancer with the Finnish National Ballet and has also performed internationally in the United States and Russia.
Rebekka Guðmundsdóttir
Rebekka Guðmundsdóttir is an Icelandic dancer who graduated from the Iceland National Ballet School, Codarts University of the Arts, and the University of Iceland in 2025. She has collaborated with renowned choreographers such as Sasha Waltz, Joseph Simon, Halla Ólafsdóttir, Rósa Ómarsdóttir, and completed an internship under the direction of Philip Berlin. In Finland, she has performed in Susanna Leinonen’s work Pain Killer.
Katariina Luukas
Katariina Luukas is a dancer who began her professional career at the Finnish National Ballet. Since 2021, she has worked as a freelance artist in both contemporary dance and ballet. Luukas has performed in works by Susanna Leinonen, Johanna Nuutinen, Emrecan Tanis, and Minna Tervamäki, as well as in productions of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet. She has performed internationally in the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United States. Alongside her career as a dancer, Luukas works as a choreographer, assistant choreographer, and dance teacher. Most recently, she choreographed a piece for Isac Elliot’s arena concert.
Kasperi Kolehmainen
Kasperi Kolehmainen is a dancer and graduate of the Ballet School of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet. He currently performs with Susanna Leinonen Company, Pori Dance Company, and Tanssiteatteri Glims & Gloms. Kolehmainen has worked with choreographers including Jorma Uotinen, Reija Wäre, and Carl Knif. He has also appeared in music videos, television productions, and other commercial projects. In addition to his career as a dancer, he works as a choreographer in dance schools, creating works for dance students and enthusiasts of all ages.
Joanna Salmikannas
Joanna Salmikannas is a dancer who undertook a special training programme at Helsinki Dance Institute and later attended the DART DSP intensive programme in Berlin. During her studies, she participated in several dance competitions and worked with choreographers including Susanna Leinonen and Kristian Lever. Between 2023 and 2024, she performed in works by Anton Lachky and Joy Alpuerto Ritter. Since 2024, Salmikannas has been an apprentice with the dance company of Theater Plauen-Zwickau, performing in works by Sergei Vanaev and Lóránd Zachár.
Marie da Silva
Marie da Silva is a German-Portuguese dancer who graduated from the Zurich University of the Arts and has worked in numerous productions across Europe, among others at Theater Basel, MN Dance Company, Tanzhaus Basel, The Place London, and Biennale College Danza by Studio Wayne McGregor. In Finland, she has performed in Susanna Leinonen’s works Pain Killer and Trickle, Green Oak.
Sam Vaherlehto
Sam Vaherlehto is a dancer, choreographer, and educator. He graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is currently pursuing further studies in dance pedagogy. As the first-ever winner of So You Think You Can Dance Finland, he launched a professional career that has taken him around the world, working in dance, performing arts, and education. He has danced with the Finnish National Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre and has collaborated with internationally acclaimed contemporary dance companies, most recently Company Wayne McGregor.
Waltteri Voitila
Waltteri Voitila is a dancer and graduate of the Royal Swedish Ballet School. Between 2023 and 2025, he was a member of the Finnish National Ballet Youth Company. As a freelance dancer, Voitila has worked in both ballet and contemporary dance, including performing in Susanna Leinonen Company’s production Pain Killer.
FINNISH BAROQUE ORCHESTRA
IRMA NISKANEN is an internationally performing baroque violinist known for her profound understanding of historical performance practices and her curiosity for new artistic directions. She has performed with several leading baroque orchestras, including Il Pomo d’Oro, EUBO, Arte dei Suonatori, Les Ambassadeurs, Orkester Nord, Wiener Akademie, the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra. Niskanen is also a founding member of the Guts! String Quartet, which specializes in historically informed performance. She has lived in Vienna for over a decade and she taught baroque violin at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (MdW) from 2021 to 2024. In 2025, she began as Artistic Planner of the Finnish Baroque Orchestra.
HANNA PAKKALA is an internationally active and versatile violist. She performs as principal viola with both the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, as a violist of the Guts! String Quartet, and as a teacher and educator, including at the Sibelius Academy. From 2016 to 2023, she served as principal violist of the Keski-Pohjanmaan Kamariorkesteri and as violist of the Kokkola Quartet. Pakkala’s recordings of Hans Gál’s Music for Viola have received widespread critical acclaim. Today, her stylistically informed and highly expressive artistic work increasingly focuses on interdisciplinary projects and meditative Bach concerts.
JUULI HOLMA is a cellist particularly renowned for her versatility and passion as a chamber musician. Her path has led from the Sibelius Academy and concert stages across Europe and North America to the position of principal cello of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra in 2013, a role she continues to hold. As a musician, Holma feels equally at home with contemporary music and baroque repertoire. In recent years, her continual search for new perspectives has led her to discover fresh inspiration and artistic enrichment through historical performance practice, and she is a member of the Guts! String Quartet. Teaching runs in her family heritage, and she is also the director of the Soinillinen Festival, which combines music and gastronomy.
Related Events
WEDNESDAY 10 June
Pre-Talk with choreographer Luca Signoretti and artistic director Susanna Leinonen in the lobby at 18.15.
THURSDAY 11 June
Following the performance of Mozart Mozart, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra (FiBO) will perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Divertimento for String Trio in E-flat Major, K. 563. The concert will begin after the intermission at approximately 20.20.
Duration 45 minutes
Irma Niskanen, violin
Hanna Pakkala, viola
Juuli Holma, cello
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Divertimento for String Trio in E-flat Major, K. 563
1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Menuetto: Allegretto–Trio
4. Andante
5. Menuetto: Allegretto – Trio I – Trio II
6. Allegro
FINNISH BAROQUE ORCHESTRA
Founded in 1989, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra (FiBO) has been a pioneer in many ways throughout its history. Renowned both in Finland and internationally, the orchestra is celebrated for its outstanding performances and imaginative programming. FiBO has received numerous awards, including Music Achievement of the Year and Record of the Year.
FRIDAY 12 June
As part of Helsinki Day, an open dance class for everyone with choreographer Susanna Leinonen from 16.30 to 17.30, Rehearsal studio, Dance House Helsinki
Audience discussion after the performance. Duration: 30 min.
AFTERPARTY
You are warmly invited to the Mozart Mozart afterparty on Wednesday June 10 and Saturday June 13 from 20.30 to midnight at the atmospheric Uusi Sauna. Dance the night away to the music of DJ Timo Kalliokoski.
Address: Välimerenkatu 10.
SUSANNA LEINONEN COMPANY
