Photograph: Jussi Virkkumaa | Saari Residency
Veli Lehtovaara (b. 1982, Jyväskylä, Finland)
Choreographer, performer, doctoral-researcher and artistic director. Lives and works in Helsinki.
Lehtovaara’s artistic practice is focused on interstices for choreographic writing, ecological thinking and diversity of corporealities. Lehtovaara often works in a collaborative manner and brings together elements from different artistic disciplines in his choreographic practice. His creations vary from stage work to film and performance-installations.
Lehtovaara's stage and film works have toured successfully in Europe and also in North- and South-America on venues and festivals such as: Sadler’s Wells (London), Festival d’Automne (Paris), Festival d’Avignon, NEXT Arts Festival (Belgium), Springdance Festival (Utrecht), Dança em Foco (Brasil), Joyce SoHo (New York). Lehtovaara worked in close collaboration with Zodiak -Center for New Dance (Helsinki) years 2011-18 and he was associated artist of Kunstenwerkplaats Pianofabriek (Brussels) years 2016-18. Lehtovaara was one of the focus artists of Departures and Arrivals [DNA] –network for the years 2014-2018.
In 2021 Lehtovaara founded together with artist Janina Rajakangas and creative producer Ulrika Vilke a production structure Entirely Moved | Kaikki liikkuu ry. The organization produces the artistic works and processes of Lehtovaara and Rajakangas, and it is funded by Finnish government and the city of Helsinki.
Next to choreographic work, Lehtovaara has worked widely as a performer in the field of dance and experimental theatre. Years 2015-17 he worked as a dancer with Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker / Rosas.
Currently Lehtovaara is conducting doctoral research: Ecological Poetics in Dance and Choreographic Writing at the University of the Arts Helsinki, Theater Academy, Performing Arts Research Center. Lehtovaara has also worked as a mentor, teacher, assessor and adviser for the bachelor and master programs in dance art at the Theater Academy.
For years 2024-28 Lehtovaara is appointed as the artistic director for Jyväskylä Dance Festival - Tanssin Aika.
Lehtovaara holds a BA in dance and MA in choreography from Theatre Academy – University of the Arts Helsinki. He has also graduated from P.A.R.T.S., Brussels and studied in MA program of Philosophy in the University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
Pronouns: he/him or they/them
Contact: velijuhana@gmail.com
Entirely Moved | Kaikki Liikkuu ry is an association founded in 2021, based in Helsinki. The association produces the works and artistic processes of the Janina Rajakangas Project and choreographer Veli Lehtovaara, and acts as a responsible employer for the members of its working groups. Rajakangas and Lehtovaara work as a creative duo, planning and implementing the association’s activities. The association also acts as a production partner, carefully selected, for works by other artists.
The association’s activities are led by a board comprising Veli Lehtovaara, Janina Rajakangas and Ulrika Vilke. Lisa Kalkowski acts as the project-specific producer. Our activities are made possible by our network of partners and funding from a variety of sources. The aim of our work is to create and strengthen the conditions for the dance arts in particular, and the performing arts more generally, within the Finnish arts scene.
Through its ambitious audience engagement work, the association promotes the visibility, availability and accessibility of this art form, as well as its renewal. Through its activities, the association aims to strengthen the social standing and significance of dance.