Johanna Nuutinen +Collaborators: Élixir de Mer
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Date
25.9-27.9.2025
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Duration
1 H (no intermission)
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Venue
Pannu Hall
Performance times
Thu 25.9.2025 at 18.00
Fri 26.9.2025 at 14.00
Fri 26.9.2025 at 18.00
Sat 27.9.2025 at 14.00
Sat 27.9.2025 at 18.00
Obs.
A few carefully selected scents are used in the performance. The performance includes occasional loud music.
Introduction
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.
Organizer: Johanna Nuutinen +Collaborators
Audience discussions
After the evening performances, audience discussions will be held 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.
Thursday, Sept 25. Guest: Ari Turunen
After the evening show at 19.00 in Pannu Hall.
Ari Turunen (Lic.Soc.Sc.) is a nonfiction author and the editor-in-chief of the Finnish edition of Le Monde diplomatique. He works as a communications designer for the ELIXIR life science infrastructure and has written numerous articles on molecular medicine and natural cosmetics. Turunen also serves as the vice-chair of the Finnish association Turvallinen aromaterapia ry (an association dedicated to safe aromatherapy). He has published 15 nonfiction books, which have been translated into 13 languages. One of his major works is Tuoksujen atlas, which has also been translated into Dutch. In this nearly 300-page full-color book, Turunen presents 65 raw materials used in perfumes from around the world.
Friday, Sept 26. Guest: Mari Sandell
After the evening show at 19.00 in Pannu Hall.
Mari Sandell is a professor in sensory food science at the Department of Food and Nutrition and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry at the University of Helsinki. Sandell leads the Senses and Food research team in Finland, also known as the Sandell lab. Her career includes various positions and projects at the University of Turku and at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. Sandell works in an international research environment and is inspired by interdisciplinary work, especially the individuality of sensory experiences, multisensory perception, and how these shape our everyday lives. She has received the Polak Young Investigator Award (USA, 2006), the Research Council of Finland Award for social impact (2012), and the Docent of the Year recognition (University of Turku & Åbo Akademi, 2017).
Saturday, Sept 27. Guest: the working group
After the evening show at 19.00 in Dance House Helsinki Lobby.
Photos
Credits
Direction: Johanna Nuutinen
Dance: Clémentine Herveux, Manon Andral
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
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.
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.
Manon Andral
French dancer Manon Andral trained in jazz, ballet, and theater before joining Atelier Rudra Béjart in 2010, where she worked with Béjart Ballet Lausanne. After freelancing, she danced with Delattre Dance Company (2014–2017) and Hessisches Staatsballett (2017–2023), performing works by Xie Xin, Damien Jalet, Ohad Naharin, Bryan Arias, Edward Clug, Jeroen Verbruggen, and Tim Plegge, and others.
During this time, she also created choreographies, co-founded the charity project Move to Reach, and developed various side projects. Since 2023, she has worked as a freelance artist, combining performance, choreography, teaching, and studies in mixed media art at the Sorbonne. In 2024, she collaborated with Ate9 and Danielle Agami, as well as with fellow artists Isidora Markovic and Matthias Vaucher. In 2025, she created choreography for the opera Hänsel and Gretel, and was later invited as a guest dancer at Tanz Kassel, performing works by Noah Zuck, Ohad Fishof, and Andre Peña, while continuing her collaborative artistic projects.