Anne-Linn Akselsen (Norway) & Silja Puranen (Finland) & Adrián Minkowicz (Argentina) & “Aura” Dance Theatre (Lithuania) “I See Myself Falling From Your Dream”

Choreography: Anne-Linn Akselsen

Visual artwork: Silja Puranen

Dramaturgy/text: Adrián Minkowicz

Dancers: Karina, Liza Baliasnaja, Gotautė Kalmatavičiūtė, Rūta Lelyte Marius Pinigis, Andrius Stakelė

Scenography: Adrián Minkowicz, Silja Puranen

Premiere: 23rd of September, 2011

This performance is a result of the collaboration between the visual artist Silja Puranen, the choreographer Anne-Linn Akselsen and the theatre artist Adrián Minkowicz. The projects starting point lies in the meeting between the artists, taking common points of reference in each other’s work. In her recent works Silja Puranen is dealing with freaks in the contexts of circus imagery and freak show. Restless souls who do not fulfil the expectations of conventionality and fail in their attempts to pursue general acceptance. Using the particular atmosphere and some of the characters of Silja Puranens` work, Anne-Linn Akselsen proposes a physical language, the baroque idea of folding, using the surface of the body as a fabric that can be folded and unfolded endlessly. The dancers fold each other, alternately taking on roles of power or submission in their dancing with each other. Adrian Minkowicz links the works together, bringing them into one amalgamated expression weaving the images and choreography along. Together they are creating new stories in the interface between the different media, the directness of the visual, the presence of instant decision-making in movement and the associative power of the spoken word.

Silja Puranen is a textile artist based in Tuusula, Finland. She received her education from Kuopio Institute of Art and Design and later studied aesthetics in University of Helsinki. The author of more than 20 personal exhibitions and participant of more than 100 group exhibitions at home and abroad, in her works she focuses on the unforeseen process of life and the contrast between reality and the commonly accepted ideals in life. “What do we (or others) expect our life to be and what are the chances of those who do not meet the norms? What happens when we lose control?” – these are the central questions of Silja Puranens work. Her works combine contemporary technology with traditional slow handicraft. Silja is a honorary member of World Crafts Council in Europe and a member of Finnish Association of Textile Artists (TEXO), Artists O and Finish Painters Association. She has been a jury member in Kaunas Art Biennial, WCC Europe Contemporary Craft Award, Northen Fibre among others. In 2009 Silja Puranen was awarded with the biggest prize in the Nordic countries, The Nordic Award in Textiles. The Jury stated: “She processes her carefully chosen textile materials in combinations of old and new expressions and techniques which gives a distinctive “Puranenish” intimacy and unquestionable might to her artistic voice.”

Anne-Linn Akselsen is a Norwegian dance artist, based in Brussels. She is a graduate from the Royal Swedish Ballet School in Stockholm and P.A.R.T.S. (Performing Arts Research and Training Studios) in Brussels, under the direction of Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker. As a dancer, she worked with internationally renown choreographers such as Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker/ Rosas, Jean Luc Ducourt, Salva Sanchis and Heine Røsdal Avdal and she has danced and toured works by William Forsythe and Trisha Brown. As a choreographer she has created several works, among which her solo ”Sing me, for your life, in a Portuguese folia, the reason for your happiness” (2008) won 1st prize at the Baltic Movement Contest in 2010. In 2009 she co-founded the company Human Works with the theatre artist Adrián Minkowicz, and they have since premiered three performances together, notably “Dry Act Corpse Aroma” as the first part of the Dry Act Trilogy. Anne-Linn is a sought after teacher and workshop-holder in her field. She is a recipient of the Norwegian Governments Artists Grant.

Adrián Minkowicz is a multifaceted artist from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a director, playwright and actor. Adrián founded in 2009, together with Anne-Linn Akselsen, the company “Human Works” which premiered it’s first performance “Dry Act #1: Corpse Aroma” in Brussels. As an actor he has studied at the “Bova Actors Workshop” and the “Lee Strasberg Institute” in New York and has been directed by renowned directors in Buenos Aires. Adrián has written several theatre and dance- theatre plays and has directed some of them. He has also written comedy scripts for radio and newspapers. He is a professional tango dancer and has been dancing and teaching for several years in Buenos Aires and in cities around Europe. He is also a lawyer and he holds a Master in “Law & Economics”. Currently Adrián is touring the second production of his company in Europe. He is also touring a one man comedy show of his own creation in cities like Madrid, New York and Buenos Aires.