Tiia Kasurinen: ONSTAGE – The Concert

ONSTAGE – The Concert draws inspiration from pop stars, club concerts and stage alter egos – and especially from the femmes of the music industry who have harnessed the audience’s gaze.

ONSTAGE – The Concert, a choreographic work premiering in Fall 2023, explores alter ego bodies and stage presences in the context of live music. What emerges when contemporary choreography and visual transformation meet the practices of making and performing music?

The work will be based on the electronic pop band formed by Tiia Kasurinen (concept, choreography, performance) and Olli Lautiola (sound design, composition), and an EP-record of the band, which Kasurinen and Lautiola have composed and written the lyrics to during 2021–2023. The protagonist of the performance is an alter ego character embodied by Kasurinen. The working group also includes vogue performance duo Amanda & Lydia, who are joining the piece as performers alongside the band.

The performance is interested in spontaneous and pre-planned choreographies of the concert context. The work observes the themes of gaze and charisma, and is influenced by artists such as Nadia Tehran, Grimes, Madonna, Lizzo, Arca1000000, Ariana Grande, Whitney Houston, Donna Missal, Billie Eilish and FKA Twigs.

“When seeing concerts, I find myself being highly inspired by the movement qualities, postures and instant choreographies made by artists; especially by solo femme artists, inhabiting bodies and postures out of the ordinary catalogue. I find concerts as a highly kinetic space: just like in a dance theatre, movement can be equally touching to the observer. What happens when a club concert is placed in the dance context?”