Pro Stage Dancers 2023

DuoDancingDivas is a dance duo from the Helsinki Metropolitan area, founded by two versatile dancers, Emmi Luoto and Salla Tallgren.The dancers and choreographers of the duo are also good friends. DuoDancingDivas perform in many different events all over Finland.

The dancers, Emmi and Salla, are constantly trying to develop themselves and experiment with new dance styles to enrich their choreographic work. The duo's strength lies in their dance versatility, as they are able to perform both artistic and more commercial dances.

Jayethe is a street dancer from Lahti, who deals with both personal and socially significant themes within dance works. Jayethe has performed as a solo dancer at several events in Gulf in recent years and was awarded as the Young Dancer of 2022 in Päijät-Häme. Jayethe can be found on Instagram under the username @jayethe.

Helsinki Dance Festival's Pro Stage will feature Jayethe's latest work 'War'. "War" deals with the cycle of violence and war that humanity is caught in and how, despite all its horror, this cycle just goes on and on.

Sointu Toiskallio is a contemporary dancer with a street dance background, who is particularly interested in floor technique. Sointu has been actively practicing dance for 15 years, the first years of which were spent in various street dance competition groups. After that, Toiskallio started training Siéva, through which a shift into contemporary and show dance took place. Toiskallio was taken by the diverse movement language possibilities of contemporary dance. Over the last few years Sointu has kept learning more about contemporary dance and performing arts with a minor in dance at the University of Poitiers in France, working with the Finnish National Opera and Ballet, training in intensive groups and creating personal solo works.

"Tulikärpäsen ulkoilutus is a contemporary dance solo work inspired by the years I spent in South America and the various small bugs and creatures I saw there.

Photo by Petri Kekkonen