Author Archives: Esther

Milla Koistinen

Milla Koistinen is a Finnish choreographer based between Berlin and Helsinki. She has graduated from the Theatre Academy in Helsinki with MA in dance and from HZT Berlin with MA in choreography. She has worked among others with Kristian Smeds, Hiroaki Umeda, Peter Verhelst, Christine Gaigg and Cie Heddy Maalem. Since 2008 she tours her own work internationally and teaches in various contexts. In 2020-2024 Milla Koistinen’s work was supported by apap – FEMINIST FUTURES – a project co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. In 2025-2027 she is working with the support of Arts Promotion Centre Finland.

SWEAT (anthem)

Milla Koistinen & Dance On Ensemble

Concept, choreography and direction: Milla Koistinen
Creation and performance: Ty Boomershine, Gesine Moog, Alba Barrel Fernández, Javier Arozena, Tim Persent (Dance On Ensemble) and Jin Lee, Emma Sofie Gautestad, Raul Aranha, Victor Aaron Bolzmann, Milla Koistinen
Sound design: Paul Valikoski and Grégoire Simon
Light design: Martin Beeretz
Dramaturgy: Synne Behrndt
Costumes: Jin Lee and Jihun Choi
Production Director: Anastasia Luck (Dance On Ensemble) and Jana Lüthje (M.i.C.A.)

SWEAT (anthem) moves through the terrains of resilience and endurance where determination and persistence become a quiet form of protest.

Endurance is not only stamina and sustained effort, it is also a radical gesture to stay alive, alert and hopeful amidst fatigue, fracture and exhaustion. Between tension, release and play, the performance celebrates the courage to keep dancing and turn exhaustion into a collective rhythm; an anthem of defiance and joy.

Following GRIT (for what it’s worth), the work continues to explore the languages of sport and dance and how resilience and the demands made on the body and performer intersect with culture and societal events.

SWEAT (anthem) highlights the tension between vulnerability and strength, singular ambition and collectivity, asking how to persevere, remain emphatic and keep moving in times of unrest.

Created with the Dance On Ensemble and four emerging dancers, the performance celebrates the ensemble’s long and compelling careers and the combined strength of a multigenerational collective.

Premiere: December 18, 2025, Tanzfabrik Berlin BÜHNE in Uferstudios 14

Production: DANCE ON / Bureau Ritter
Co-Funded by the Europeans Union’s Horizon Europe programme for research and innovation in the frame of DanceMap.

Co-production: Milla Koistinen, SPRING Performing Arts Festival (The Netherlands), Tanzfabrik Berlin BÜHNE

Supported by Bora Bora Residency Centre, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Finnland-Institut. With thanks to Dance House Helsinki and the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux. 

DANCE ON is a project by BUREAU RITTER gUG, funded by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.