Photographer: Aleksi Kokora – Editor: Sems Erik
Creativity emerges from blending talent and an extraordinary artistic personality together, which has undoubtedly inspired many lovers of the opera and the arts.
As the dancing butterfly, she flies with her talent, weaving her exquisite wings between many dancing styles and becoming a source of endless fascination. Especially with her last performance at Eurovision this year, it feels like the right moment for us to briefly share the story about this remarkably talented young woman.
Sofia is a 21-year-old Finnish woman with Thailand roots, who works as a freelance dancer and choreographer and lives in Helsinki. From that moment in 2015, when she began her dance journey in Kuopio, she has continuously explored the field of movement and art.
Step one
It all started to get real in 2017 when I had an opportunity to leave my hometown to study dance in Helsinki. At that moment, I was only fourteen years old with two years of experience in dance and a background in the visual arts. Back then, I was very focused on studying drawing, especially because I’ve had a huge passion for anime and comic drawing since I was old enough to hold a pen. Nowadays, I can see it as a way of planning scenes, understanding composition, and a personal way of catching the main focus when I create something. Drawing is essentially a huge scene to dive in, just like movement. I’m grateful that there is capacity for both passions to live alongside, supporting each other. As I go along my journey, I let them live and change their forms of being. I think techniques are always something what people can and should study to educate themselves but the inner will to express themselves should be free and not in total control.
And now back to the story line! In the summer of 2017, I had decided to audition for an intensive training program hosted by the FNO (Finnish National Ballet), where I was instead offered a place as a student at their school. I immediately accepted the offer, and with the help of many people, I found a place where I could stay to start my adventure towards dancing professionally. For one year, I practiced ballet like there was nothing else in the whole universe, trying to catch up in a class of five and filling myself with new important information. Somehow, it got me a place to continue in the school, and between 2018 and 2021, I had the privilege to study classical ballet in The Finnish National Opera & Ballet’s vocational program. I graduated as a professional dancer in the spring of 2021 with my main subjects being classical ballet and Pas De Deux, which is partnering in ballet terminology.
Chronologically, that would be a long story short towards the moment where I’m right now. Never could have I guessed half of the things I’ve experienced after graduating as a ballet dancer!
Photographer: Aleksi Kokora – Editor: Sems Erik
My journey as a Dancer
My shift from ballet school to the multi-layered freelance scene of Finland happened quite quickly and started during the spring of graduation while I was still studying. Once I hopped into my first freelance project, it didn’t take a lot of time for me to realize that I liked the fact these projects were very different from each other, and from the style I had recently been trained into. All these projects held different kinds of responsibilities in communication and offered very special trust in a freshman.
To share a bit of the range, I created choreography for Sony Music Finland’s artists Wil & Joe L and Suomen Kulttuurigaala, and performed in Finnish Live TV at the Emma-gaala (the Finnish Grammy Awards) for Sanni. On top of that, I also shot a collection as a model for UHANA, and worked as a production assistant and social media manager for Valtteri Raekallio’s company Raekallio Corp. As a side track, I also got to practice performance recording with Lumikinos Production, and I really enjoyed working with moving the dolly-camera horizontally as well! Basically, that’s about how I spent the spare time I had outside of ballet and high school when I wasn’t taking dance classes.
Moving towards the end of summer, I had my first experiences as a company dancer with Compania Kaari & Roni Martin in the dance installation ”Bakteeri” and with Tero Saarinen Company in their new creation ”Transit,” which had its Finnish premiere at Helsinki Festival in August 2021. Not only is it the longest dance piece that I have ever performed without going off-stage, but it’s also a performance that I have had the opportunity to revisit more than twice. It’s a very dear one to me.
Putting it all together after the first full year of running, I was sure that freelancing would be something I wanted to give a try until I started to crave something else. Today, I’m still fully living for the freelancer life! It’s a continuous journey of learning from the lived experiences and the irreplaceable colleagues that surround me.
My own inspiration
I find the most inspiration in people. In books, they’ve written stories that have been told from one to another through time. I love to dive into fiction and work through characters or the text to understand what I should feel. I also love to find the most boring things in one’s daily life and go from there. More than anything, I trust my passion in the visual arts, which I’ve been drawn into since I was a child.
Me & the game awards
Last year, I worked as a choreographer and movement director in Alan Wake 2, a video game that launched its world premiere in October. For the game, we created a small musical scene called ”Herald of Darkness,” performed by the Poets of The Fall band. In the musical, there were actors Ilkka Villi, Matthew Porretta, David Harewood, and of course, the game writer himself, Sam Lake, who also works as a creative director at Remedy Entertainment.
The Game Awards is an event where they give prizes for creative and technical excellence in the global video industry. After AW2 got nominated for eight different categories, I received a call from Sam Lake and the executive producer of the show, Kimmie Kim, about performing the original musical scene at the TGA gala in L.A. in two weeks. I immediately agreed that we should make it happen with the help of local dancers and choreographer Marguerite Derricks. The day after, we had a Zoom call with the crew and Marquerite Derricks, who helped us to transfer the choreography for the dancers in L.A. In the end, AW2 won the Best Art Direction, Best Narrative, and Best Game Direction prizes. The performance went well and ”Herald of Darkness” ended up on a big stage!
Me & trendy stars
Last autumn, I had the opportunity to perform in the UMK24 (The Contest for New Music) music videos for Sexmane and Windows95man, who is now heading to Eurovision to present Finland. A big thanks to Jasmir Vesander, who worked as a choreographer for all the videos and had me dancing together with a wonderful group of dancers. This year, I was involved in making the music videos, although I have also performed in the live production back in 2022. Back then, I was a part of Blind Channel’s opening number as a flaming ballerina and in the halftime show with JVG. Both of the choreographies were created by UMK’s stage director-choreographer Reija Wäre.
Coming from a world where people train daily to dance in symbiosis with live music performed by a classical pianist, it’s been just wonderful to dive into the world of pop music, TV, and even commercial making. I often get asked about the differences between these two worlds. Except for the dance techniques, I personally find that one comes up with similar questions when they wonder what the main task is. As a human, I feel that one of the most important things would be understanding what the surrounding themes are, how they resonate with my inner self, or what kind of impact they are built for and to whom – and the most obvious question, how can I work with them as a performer and be a part of a bigger picture? In action, they could come up from the storylines of a classical ballet, different roles/characters and their emotions, the song lyrics, or a message that an artist stands for. After digging a bit deeper, in the end, it has a lot of similarity in the way of thinking, at least for me.
And of course, it’s a different perspective to work for a dancer if you’re in contact with the cameras or performing in arenas compared to theaters or the Opera house. From the performer’s side, there are technical differences using focus and the space around you, but some of the most varied factors for me would be the energy and manners of the audience during a performance. I have gotten my first ‘once in a life time’ experience from performing in Antti Tuisku’s ”Bailantai” in front of 84,000 screaming people at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in September 2022. There’s really nothing that can prepare you for that kind of sound wave. Later in that autumn, I worked as an assistant for stage director Reija Wäre and together, we co-choreographed for the ”Mestarit” arena tour, presenting the work of artists Jenni Vartiainen, Kaija Koo, Paula Vesala, and Ellinoora. We toured in six cities throughout Finland and I also danced in the show. Very special lessons were learned from that production, and I would love to go back to practice a similar kind of work!
I feel extremely grateful for all the opportunities to work with so many beautiful humans and talented artists presenting different genres of music, and ways of being and moving. They have also given me the space to learn new things and to be who I am. Never could I have even dreamed of projects like this when I first entered the ballet school in 2017. It’s always an honor and a joy to meet such a diverse group of people sharing the talents and passions towards performing. It’s something I never take as granted! In Finland, I have had the privilege to perform for artists, such as The Rasmus, JVG, Blind Channel, Antti Tuisku, Poets of the Fall, Jenni Vartiainen, Ellinoora, Kaija Koo, Paula Vesala, Sanni, Malla Malmivaara, Windows95man, Sexmane, Sonata Arctica, composer Marko Nyberg, Wil & Joe L, and ANI.
Behind my art
I believe this is a topic that will come back to everyone who makes art from time to time. I don’t mean it in a way how one finds meaning when creating a performance but in life, why one makes art and not something else.
Right now, the meaning of me making art during this phase of my dancing journey is about softly introducing the thought that through art, you can be whatever and whoever you want to be.
The Slush
Yes! In December 2023, I performed in Slush’s opening show in front of 13,000 people. With streaming by Helsingin Sanomat and Yle, it was my first time performing anything in the air haha! A very special audience gathered from all around the world for this show, which was all about combining AI, nature, and a living human experience with a massive amount of lasers and blinding visuals. I really loved building the show together with professionals from Sun Effects Oy, such as Janne Ahola and Sakke Soini, Head of design Tomi Flyckt, and Karoliina Pärnanen from the Slush team.
Modern dance & Ballet concept
If counted by years, I have the most experience in ballet and different styles of contemporary and jazz dance. In school, we had plenty of side subjects, such as character dance, flamenco, Matt Mattox, and technique classes with David Scarantino, who teaches the Tero Technique, the movement vocabulary of Tero Saarinen.
During my studies, but especially after for the past three years, I have consciously started to widen my knowledge about movement. I have also actively taken classes from different choreographers/teachers and styles – anything that feels interesting or what I’d like to learn about! Those classes cover a wide range between pole dance, commercial, street styles, acrobatics, and circus. Any kind of movement, really – and it doesn’t even have to be dancing for me. It’s about learning to know what I like and what my body can do or likes to do.
I have also gotten opportunities to learn steps or certain styles of movements through choreographic processes from hand to hand, and from people to people. From my experience, it’s always the most valuable way to share one’s movement and understanding in dance.
Being unique by being myself
If there is something that one can do without coincidentally being in the right place at the right time or having the right contact, it’s to be a hard-working and nice colleague. It’s very simple advice, but in the end, I think it’s connected to different actions depending on the meaning. For me, it could be showing up at events that are important to you, practicing some specific skills, speaking up when you need to, and being mindful with what you put your mind up to.
I have no answers for many questions, but I think being unique is about being yourself.
“ Never forgetting the moments when I have received help and been brave enough to ask for it. “
Photographer: Aleksi Kokora – Editor: Sems Erik
Proud moments
Hmm. I feel like there were so many beautiful moments of connections and realizations of what I actually dream of that it’s challenging to name only three. At this moment, I’d say that the first proud moment is choreographing for dancers and actors in the Alan Wake 2 videogame. There was a big opportunity to learn new skills through sharing clear visions and figuring out how we could make them come true. I have full hearts for the amazing dancers, actors, and the Remedy Entertainment team!
The second one would be performing in Snow Queen the Ice Ballet, which combines different dance styles, character work – and of course, the most obvious – skaters and dancing on ice. We had a wonderful multi-talented group of people involved in the production. As a performer, it really inspired me to start training to become even more versatile with the range of movements and styles one could execute. For me, the Snow Queen Ice Ballet was one of the first sparks that ignited my training in circus.
The last one would be assisting Reija Wäre in re-rehearsing her choreography ”Frame” with the vocational students of the Finnish National Ballet School. The original version of Frame was created during the pandemic in the spring of 2021. It was my graduation year at that time, and I was dancing in it as well. A special one for sure! This was the first time for me to work as a rehearsal director for someone else’s work, and I found the whole process to be very insightful and thought-provoking on how to separate the steps of the process before the choreography goes onto the stage. It was something I really enjoyed to study. The work itself was all about being responsible for learning the choreography, transferring it to the students, scheduling the rehearsals, and of course, seeing the work from the outside to understand all the themes and how they should be reflective to the students.
Modeling for famous brands
I have never done modeling as a full-time job, but it is something I find myself enjoying as a way of expressing myself and creating illusions. Professionally, I have done some works for Forum, UHANA, Antti Tapani, Fredrikson, Sami Eskelinen, Mad et Len, Aava Medical Centre, and Helsingin Sanomat. On top of that, I’m always up to some crazy projects during my free time with good company. The best memories!
And then, although I’m not speaking about art exactly, when we come down to the most meaningful thing in modeling and speaking through my own body, it’s working with an autoimmune disease called Alopecia Areata. It’s a disease that makes one’s immune system attack hair follicles, and it causes hair loss mostly on the head and facial area but also in other body parts. It’s not contagious or dangerous for one’s health at all. Personally, it’s a sign that there is a silent and slow acceptance for more unique looks, whether it’s modeling or the dance industry. It’s not every day like that at all for sure, but I receive less daily or profession-related critique than six years ago when I first got the diagnosis. It’s a topic that I’m always very open to speak about when someone asks or when I work with a client/agent.
Some days, life is about having only one eyebrow and I think it means nothing. If it breaks your world, it’s not the eyebrow.
