ART
GOOD EVERYDAY LIFE
HANNA BROTHERUS
Dancer, director and choreographer Hanna Brotherus is without a doubt one of the top names in contemporary Finnish dance. She is a strong, original, artistically uncompromising and exceptionally versatile artist whose work is characterised by awareness of current societal issues and insight into them.
Brotherus is a pioneer in community and social dramatic art and has an extraordinary ability to unite different groups of people and collaborators. Her collaborators have included the Finnish National Opera, the Helsinki City Theatre, the Tampere Worker’s Theatre TTT and the Finnish National Theatre. In her work, Brotherus has successfully and boldly involved performers from cutting-edge professional artists to recovering addicts, preschoolers and the elderly.
She has a phenomenal ability to harness her strong professionalism to serve aspects of art that promote wellbeing and empowerment and can even be therapeutic. She has dealt with wellbeing in her art long before projects that bring together art and social services were introduced in Finland. For Brotherus, this approach is a natural choice: her themes draw from the world around us and her teams comprise people from various backgrounds and age groups. Hence the authenticity and stage presence of the performers is always tangible and the art always distinctive. Delicate, fragile and powerful, all at the same time.
“The essence of my work is about meeting the other person. My passion is to bring together different people from different backgrounds and of different ages. I believe in intuition, in the power of touch and presence.”
Mission
My work is a defence of human compassion, being acknowledged and authenticity.
In addition to the dramatic works that address political and societal issues, I am an expert in bodywork. I also work together with doctors to develop methods that use embodiment.
In my work as a writer, I reach into my inner world to find what is true. I search for meaning behind the silence and fears. Through writing, I want to connect with others by understanding history, sensitising myself to embodied memory and focusing my gaze away from myself.
Vision
My efforts in humanistic and prominently bodily work is recognized and renowned both nationally and internationally. The lifespans of my stage productions are long, and they leave a permanent mark on both performers and spectators. My work touches people deeply and changes the world, while still maintaining artistic credibility.
Values
Embodiment
For me the body and embodiment are the foundation of all things, and therefore at the heart of my work. I think everything in life begins and ends with the body. After all, the body is our only home. I also believe that we are all the best experts on ourselves.
Passion
My work is driven by a profound passion for dance, embodiment and human compassion. As an artist I am ambitious and constantly move forward, fearless in creating art through genuine encounters between people.
Authenticity
Authenticity is the starting point for my works and my artistic practice. I choose subjects that matter to me personally, but that also resonate with the private lives of the performers and their way of existing in the world. Humanity, compassion and sincerity are always present in my work.
Beauty
I see beauty everywhere. I want to present different kinds of bodies, stories and histories to reveal the fragile beauty they conceal. I want to create art that celebrates humanity in its countless forms.
Equality
The members of my team are equal, and to me it is important to see diversity as a strength. Equality is also an important value for me in a societal sense and the themes I deal with support human rights.