ALIEN
ALIEN is a large-scale moving and living statue. Meditative and timeless, it is a tribute to anyone who has ever felt like a stranger - an outsider – an “other”.
ALIEN is an abstract and ritualistic action that combines movement language from clubbing culture and traditional folk dance. Whether dancing alone in a club or as part of a long chain of folk dance, both dances connect the individual to a larger, collective wave of movement.
Free from traditional narratives, ALIEN is a powerful physical and visual experience. It is a testament to our human need for connection and community, and a moving reflection on longing and belonging.
ALIEN is a transformative work of art performed by various professional communities of dance around the world. The structure of the work is an ongoing organic development between the piece previously performed in other countries and the current country it is being created in.
ALIEN is created as a Big Pulse Dance Alliance coproduction, coproduced by New Baltic Dance (Lithuania) and Dublin Dance Festival (Ireland), co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
ALIEN is a pop-up dance piece directed by Taneli Törmä. Since 2019, it has been developed with local dancers in five different countries. Each edition is inspired by the previous ones. The most recent version was created in Kuopio, Finland for the dancers of Dance Theatre Minimi, who performed the work 13 times in various public spaces around Kuopio in the fall of 2025. Performance was created to honor of city of Kuopio 250th anniversary and it was part of the M_itä? Contemporary Art Biennial.
ALIEN – Kuopio is an ode to dance and honors the courage to dance for oneself in public spaces. What do different movement qualities and moving alone or together at the same or different speeds trigger in us, both as individuals and in a group? And how will the people who pass by react to it? Is it really so alien to dance in public?
These questions drive the creation of ALIEN, which is why the choreography has been influenced by various communal dances, such as club dancing and traditional circle dances. Both have something non-spectacular yet shared: they are danced for one’s own enjoyment and not intended to be performed for an audience. To experience and move for oneself, or together with others.
Whether you dance for yourself (for example, in clubs) or are part of a circle dance, you are part of a shared wave of movement—a chain. ALIEN draws inspiration from this; whether the movement is individual or in unison, it seeks to strengthen community and collective experience. In this way, a moment of dancing in public space becomes a moving and vibrant artwork—an abstract and ritualistic act for the people with whom we share the moment and the public space.
The ALIEN concept was developed as part of a Big Pulse Dance Alliance co-production, produced by New Baltic Dance in Lithuania and the Dublin Dance Festival in Ireland, and co-funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe program.
ALIEN - Kazan Russia (WORK IN PROGRESS) - 2019
Presented: Smena Gallery
Choreography: Taneli Törmä
Dancers: Nurbak Batulla, Marcel Nuriev, Anastasia Fattakhova, Maria Nurieva and Anna Korobova.
Sound Designer: Erkin Makaveev
Duration: 30min
Supported by: Dance Info Finland & Finnish Embassy of Finland in Moscow (Finnish - Russian Dance Exchange Program.)
ALIEN - Odense Denmark (Danish Premiere) - 2021
Presented: Kunstbygningen Filosoffen Gallery
Choreography: Taneli Törmä
Dancers: Louise Mochia, Tina Damborg, Sofie Hub, Cecilie Schyth Kjær, Cirkeline Dahl Bondesen, Chris-Paschal Englund Braun, Mikaël Vivien Orozco Madsen, Marie Keiser-Nielsen and Sarah Pini.
Involved in the creation process: Marlene Bonnesen, Annamaija Rolff-Petersen, and Amalie Sabrine Laudikos.
Music: Steve Reich : 'Music for 18 Musicians', Innova Recordings, GVSU New Music Ensemble, Bill Ryan. Performed with the permission of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Limited.
Light designer: Kenneth Danielsen
Duration: 60min
Production: Danish Arts Foundation, Odense Kommunen and Big Pulse Dance Alliance.
ALIEN - Oulu Finland (Finnish Premiere) - 2022
Presented: Culture Centre Valve
Choreography: Taneli Törmä
Dancers: Annukka Hirvonen , Milla Keskitalo, Antti-Pekka Pudas , Paula Puumalainen, Alina Sakko, Jutta Sulkala, Milla Toppi and Silja Tuovinen.
Music: Steve Reich: 'Music for 18 Musicians', Innova Recordings, GVSU New Music Ensemble, Bill Ryan. Performed with the permission of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Limited.
Duration: 60min
Production: JoJo – Oulu Dance Centre, Location X and Big Pulse Dance Alliance.
ALIEN - Ukmergė, Žagarė and Vilnius Lithuania (Lithuanian Premiere) - 2023
Presented: New Baltic Dance Festival
Choreography: Taneli Törmä
Composer: Esa Mattila
Dancers: Adrian Carlo Bibiano, Gabrielle Emily Aidulis, Sigita Juraškaitė, Vaiva Paukštė, Eivinas Dziena, Ema Senkuvienė, Ugnė Kavaliauskaitė and Ieva Navickaitė.
Duration: 30min
Production: New Baltic Dance and Big Pulse Dance Alliance.
ALIEN - Dublin Ireland (Irish Premiere) - 2023
Presented: Dublin Dance Festival
Choreography: Taneli Törmä
Composer: Esa Mattila
Dancers: Laura Allis, Rima Baransi, Inez Berdychowska, Wuxun Du, Aphra Hartmann, Jiating Li, Samica Mehta,
Aoibhinn O’Dea and Kaini Zhao from the Dance Performance MA, Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick.
Duration: 30min
Production: Dublin City Council, Dublin Dance Festival, Big Pulse Dance Alliance
ALIEN - Kuopio Finland - 2025
Presented: The M_itä? Biennale of Contemporary Art and city of Kuopio 250th anniversary program
Choreography: Taneli Törmä
Composer: Esa Mattila
Dancers: Virva Torkko-Muñoz, Katja Mustonen and Mimmi Herd
Duration: 40-120min
Production: Dance Theatre Minimi
Performances were organized in collaboration with KUMMA / M_itä? Contemporary Art Biennale, Café-Restaurant Salacavala, Original Sokos Hotel Puijonsarvi, Kuopio Museum, Kuopio Quarter Museum, Tahko – Luontofest, Palad Showroom, Muuruvesi Church, Karttula Library, and Kuopio City Theatre
(https://vimeo.com/1132721499?fl=pl&fe=sh)
PERFORMANCES
Smena Gallery, Kazan Russia
28th of November 2019 (Work in progress)
Birca - Bækkelund international Residency Centre for Artists, Bornholm Denmark
31th of July 2021 (Work in progress)
Kunstbygningen Filosoffen, Odense Denmark
12-20th of November 2021 (Danish Premiere)
Cultural Centre Valve, Oulu Finland
2-5th of November 2022 (Finnish Premiere)
New Baltic Dance Festival, Vilnius Lithuania
May 2023 (Lithuanian Premiere)
Dublin Dance Festival, Dublin Ireland
26-27th of May 2023 (Irish Premiere)
Dance Theatre Minimi / The M_itä? Biennale of Contemporary Art, Kuopio, Finland
19th of September - 16th of November 2025 (Kuopio Premiere)
REVIEW
"Once again, it is proven that strangeness and otherness are essential parts of being human."
Kaleva.fi
