Calendar
2025
Embrace
Performance at Children’s Arts Centre Little Aurora (Järvenperäntie 1–3, Espoo):
Note: choose one ticket per child + adult pair.
Dance My Baby Workshop
Workshops as part of the Baby’s Day programme at the Helsinki Music Centre:
No registration needed.
Embrace
Performance at the Kontula Luuppi youth centre (Ostostie 4, Helsinki):
The performance is part of the Community Dance Festival.
Embrace
Performances at Vaippakansan karnevaali (Carnival for the Diaper People) in Malmitalo (Ala-Malmin tori 1, Helsinki):
Note: choose one ticket per child + adult pair.
Embrace
Performances at the Hurraa! festival at Annantalo (Annankatu 30, Helsinki):
Free entry, reservations starting from 3 February via the details links above.
Embrace
Performance during the Skidiviikko event in Tuusula:
Free entry, registration opens on 3 February.
2024
Embrace
Performances at Annantalo (Annankatu 30, Helsinki):
Dance My Baby Workshop
Free workshops for babies and adults at Annantalo (Annankatu 30, Helsinki):
Our activity continues
Our activity continues with workshops for babies and a new dance performance Embrace that premieres on 18 Nov 2024.
HELMIME
HELMIME performance on Helsinki day at Annantalo (Annankatu 30, Helsinki):
The performance is a series of several short mime acts, ranging from comical to touching. This skillful and captivating nonverbal show is suited for people of all ages and language backgrounds. Performers: mime professionals Eliška Kasprzyk and Tomaš Kasprzyk. Duration approx. 40 min.
Dance My Baby Workshop
Free Children’s Culture Week workshops at Annantalo (Annankatu 30, Helsinki):
Activity break
We didn’t receive any operational subsidy this year from Arts Promotion Centre Finland. It means that our budget for this year is about 75% smaller than last year, and many of our planned activities cannot take place. We are still processing this and replanning everything. We are working on this and figuring out how to proceed further.
2023
AINUT
Performances in the Ateneum in Helsinki:
The Why Mix / Remix
Performances at the Festival International de Teatru Pentru Copii festival:
Baby Dance in Kamppi
Päivi Aura directs a gentle and peaceful dance moment for babies and their parents, accompanied by Heli Hartikainen on the clarinet. Duration 30 min.
The events are fully booked.
HELMIME: Mime Workshops
Contemporary mime workshop on the weekend of 10–11 June at TribalDanceCenter in Helsinki. Details on the HELMIME website.
Tuntu
Free performances at Annantalo (Annankatu 30, Helsinki) as part of the X Dance Festival:
Tuntu Dance Workshop
Workshop at Annantalo (Annankatu 30, Helsinki) as part of the X Dance Festival:
Free entry, register to the workshop beforehand.
HELMIME
HELMIME mime tour in Helsinki libraries:
The Why Mix / Remix
Performances at Annantalo in Helsinki:
Free entry to daytime performance on 28 Jan, sign up in advance at the Annantalo site starting from 10 Jan. Free performances on 31 Jan and 2 Feb only for daycare or school groups, sign up in advance at the Annantalo site starting from 2 Jan.
2022
HELMIME
The previous HELMIME Mime Club received great praise and is now returning after a couple years. You will see several spectacular and delightful performances from national and international mime artists on one evening. More details on the HELMIME site.
Whoopsy-Daisy, Where Are You?
Programme change for the Power of Dance festival: instead of Mr. Kookaburra and Kukkaroo, we will perform Whoopsy-Daisy, Where Are You?
Shared event with KATVE [blind spot].
HELMIME: Mime Workshops
Mime workshops on the weekend of 1–2 October at TribalDanceCenter in Helsinki and at TEP39 in Prague. Details on the HELMIME website.
Kati Lehtola performs at University of Helsinki opening of the academic year
Auraco’s Kati Lehtola will perform a new mime étude at the opening ceremony of the academic year at the University of Helsinki on Monday 5 Sep 2022. The ceremony starts at 12:15 and the performance at approx. 13:00, see the event programme. You can also watch the performance live or afterwards on the university YouTube channel.
AINUT
Repeating short performances during 1.5 hours for commuters during the first day of school, as part of the Helsinki Living Streets event.
Whoopsy-Daisy, Where Are You?
Performance at Full Moon Dance Festival in Pyhäsalmi, Finland:
HELMIME
HELMIME mime tour in Helsinki libraries:
AINUT
AINUT takes part in International Dance Day celebration at the Cable Factory in Helsinki, Finland:
Whoopsy-Daisy, Where Are You?
Performances at Children’s Art Center Pessi in Vantaa, Finland:
AINUT
Premiering AINUT, a new site-specific dance and music performance:
2021
The Why Mix / Remix
All of the Why Mix performances for the period of 21–25 Aug are cancelled due to injury of one of the performers.
All ticket buyers can get a refund for their tickets via Tiketti’s return form during the next two months. Tiketti will also contact each buyer individually via e-mail. We apologize for the inconvenience!
HELMIME
HELMIME Home Edition mime video series on Auraco’s social media starting from 17 Feb. A new video is published once a week on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and the HELMIME site.
2020
The Why Mix / Remix
Performances at Annantalo Arts Centre (Annankatu 30, Helsinki, Finland):
The Why Mix performances have been cancelled due to increased Covid-19 restrictions. We follow the orders of administrative agencies, and will announce new dates as soon as possible. We kindly ask those who have already purchased tickets to contact Ticketmaster.
Whoopsy-Daisy, Where Are You?
NOTE: The performances have been postponed until next year due to the coronavirus situation.
HELMIME
HELMIME Club on Fri 28 Feb at 19:00 at Puppet Theatre Sampo in Helsinki. At the club, you will see several Finnish and foreign mimes perform during one night only. More information at HELMIME club.
Moving Forms
Workshops as part of the Kehona exhibition activity day at Cultural Centre for Children and Youth Villa Arttu (Kankurinkatu 4–6, Hyvinkää, Finland) on Saturday 15 Feb at 11:30 and 13:00.
Moving Forms
Small Size Days Family Day workshops for children at Annantalo (Annankatu 30, Helsinki, Finland) on Sunday 2 Feb.
First HELMIME Mime Club in Helsinki on 28 Feb
The first HELMIME Club organised by Auraco takes the stage at Puppet Theatre Sampo on Friday 28 Feb 2020 at 19:00. In addition to Kati Lehtola, the artistic director of HELMIME, performances will be given by Silent Rocco and Miriam Flick from Berlin, Germany, and the Czech-Slovakian mime couple Eliška and Tomáš Kasprzyk. HELMIME events have their own new website at helmime.fi.
2019
HELMIME: Mime Workshops
Two-day beginner and intermediate level mime workshop in Helsinki, Finland on 19–20 October.
Päivi Aura speaks at Stretch Turku
Päivi Aura shares experiences from Auraco’s EU projects at the Stretch Turku event in Turku, Finland, on Thursday 17 October at 15–17 during the EU Creative Europe, in the making info session.
Tuntu
Unfortunately our performances at the Zlata paličica festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia, have been cancelled due to the Adria Airways airline bankruptcy.
Whoopsy-Daisy, Where Are You?
Master inspector detective Whoopsy-Daisy is visiting kindergardens in Helsinki for two weeks in September.
Tuntu Dance Workshop
Workshop at the international festival of theatre and culture for early years Visioni di futuro, visioni di teatro:
Sharing Experiences of Meeting Baby Audiences
Led by Päivi Aura, we discuss the subject “Sharing Experiences of Meeting Baby Audiences” in a Small size days event at Annantalo in Helsinki. More information on the Annantalo website.
2018
Tuntu
Performances at the El Més Petit de Tots festival in Spain:
Tuntu won Jury’s Award at FITC
Tuntu was awarded the Jury’s Award at the FITC - Festivalul Internațional de Teatru pentru Copii festival in Bucharest last week. According to the jury, Tuntu “raises sensorial consciousness and meets the needs of an inclusive audience through extensive research”.
The credit goes to the whole artistic and production team of Tuntu: Päivi Aura, Oskari Turpeinen, Maria Autio, Kati Lehtola, Heli Hartikainen, Sami Zimmermann, Michael Ferrie, Piritta Kämi-Conway, Keanne van de Kreeke, Pasi Pehkonen, Nicolas Salo, Mirkka Saari, Riitta Lahtinen, Katariina Metsälampi and Annantalo.
Whoopsy-Daisy, Where Are You?
The performances were sold out in advance.
Tuntu
As part of The International Theatre Festival for Children “100, 1.000, 1.000.000 stories”:
Mr. Kookaburra and Kukkaroo
Performances at the Ta Daa! festival in Stockholm, Sweden:
Auraco participates in new Creative Europe project
The list of Creative Europe supported projects has been published, and Auraco is a partner organisation in the supported Small Size project “MAPPING – A map on the aesthetics of performing arts for early years”! It continues a long cooperation within European children’s theatre. The project is coordinated by the Italian La Baracca and it involves 17 partners. The four-year MAPPING starts in late 2018.
Mr. Kookaburra and Kukkaroo
Performances in Macau, China:
More information on the Facebook event page.
B Free
Performances as part of the International Arts Carnival 2018 in Hong Kong:
The performances were sold out in advance.
HELMIME: Mime Workshops
Two-day mime workshop in Helsinki, Finland on 14–15 April. Aimed for those who already have some experience in mime.
Tuntu
Tuntu at the Premières Rencontres festival in France:
Little Wonders
The Sprout Theater Project from South Korea, mentored by Auraco, with the Little Wonders performance collection at the Bravo! festival in Finland for 0–2-year-olds:
Whoopsy-Daisy, Where Are You?
Part of the Bravo! festival at Annantalo in Helsinki on 11 March at 11:45 and 12:30.
Päivi Aura speaks at Premières Rencontres festival forum
Choreographer Päivi Aura and audio describer Riitta Lahtinen talk about their cooperation during the preparation of the Tuntu performance at an international forum in Villiers-le-Bel, France on 29 March 2018.
Tuntu
Performances at Baboró Wide Eyes Festival in Galway, Ireland:
Tuntu Dance Workshop
Dance workshop for 2–6-year-olds and their parents at Annantalo on Sat 27 Jan at 13:00–14:00 as part of the international Small Size Days.
Creative Europe Programme
of the European Union
HELMIME: Mime Workshops
Two-day mime workshop for participants of all skill levels in Helsinki, Finland on 20–21 January.
2017
HELMIME: Mime Workshops
Two-day mime workshop for participants of all skill levels in Helsinki, Finland on 25–26 November.
Tuntu Dance Workshop
Dance workshop open for all on 19 Nov at 13:00–14:00 at Annantalo Sunday Date (Annankatu 30, Helsinki).
Toe Toe Heel
Toe Toe Heel is a site specific performance for 2- to 5-year-olds at the Space Invaders festival. Dancers Päivi Aura and Kati Lehtola with musician Minni Ilmonen create the performance together with the audience, in this moment.
Presentation of Tuntu Dance Performance
The Tuntu dance performance (premiering in the autumn) will be presented at the Hurraa! seminar in Helsinki on Saturday 25 March at 10:00–11:30. The seminar is held in Finnish.
Tuntu Dance Workshop
Dance workshop for 0 to 6-year-old visually impaired children and their parents. Held on Sunday 29 Jan 2017 at 14:00–15:00 in the dance classroom (tanssiluokka) at Annantalo (Annankatu 30, Helsinki).
Creative Europe Programme
of the European Union
Picture memories from 10-year journey
2016
Mr. Kookaburra and Kukkaroo
Performances at Guangdong Dance Festival in Guangzhou, China:
Me-Me
Performances at the FITC festival in Bucharest, Romania:
Workshop at FITC festival
Päivi Aura and Kati Lehtola will hold a workshop for artists with the subject “Theatre for Early Years – Performing in Motion” in the National Dance Center in Bucharest, Romania, on Friday 7 Oct at 10:00–12:00. The workshop is part of the international children’s theatre festival FITC, see the festival site for more details.
Me-Me
Ta Daa! Internationell bebisfestival, Stockholm, Sweden:
Me-Me
Young International Dance Festival, Zug, Switzerland:
Päivi Aura’s lecture at Young ID Zug Festival
Päivi Aura gives a lecture at Young ID Zug Festival about “Nonverbal behaviour and children under 6 years”. The lecture takes place on Sep 10 2016 at 11:00, at Siebachsaal in Zug, Switzerland.
Auraco at EARS on Helsinki panel discussion
Our project manager Amigo Yeung is taking part in a panel discussion at EARS on Helsinki about Art for Kids, on Friday August 26 at 13:30–14:30. The event is held at Maria Startup, Lapinlahdenkatu 16, Helsinki.
The panel discusses the following theme: In East Asia, there’s a high focus on education and investing in children’s development – and in performing arts for kids. What works, what doesn’t, and what are the possibilities for international productions?
Travel 1:100
The performance was part of Monologifestari.
European Fair “Growing Up in Europe”
The day’s programme includes workshops, games and conferences on perspectives on early childhood education in various European countries. In Voiron, France, on 2 April at 9:00–17:00.
Growing Up in Europe
Dance, mime and photography workshops as part of the Growing Up in Europe Erasmus+ project in France (Voiron, Saint-Marcellin, Grenoble, Pont de Claix, Echirolles, Vinay) from 21 March to 1 April.
Me-Me
The performances were part of the Small Size days 2016.
Floating Boat
The performances were part of the ASSITEJ Korea Winter Festival in Seoul, South Korea.
Päivi Aura at ASSITEJ Korea Winter Festival
Päivi Aura will participate in a round-table discussion about international cooperation at the ASSITEJ Korea Winter Festival on 8 Jan at 11:00–13:00. The venue is Multipurpose Hall (B2), Marronnier Park.
Päivi will also hold a workshop for teachers and theatre professionals with the theme “movement in silence” on 12 Jan at 16:00–18:00, also in Multipurpose Hall (B2), Marronnier Park.
2015
Travel 1:100
Rosollirock and Stardance
Dance workshop with a Christmas theme at Pikku-Aurora Art House, Espoo on 29 Nov at 11:00–14:00, led by choreographer Päivi Aura and musician Minni Ilmonen.
Auraco at Performing Arts Market in Seoul
Dance Theatre Auraco takes part in Performing Arts Market in Seoul in South-Korea from October 5th to 9th. Auraco is there at the booth of Diverse Arts Management and Dance Info Finland with a group of other Finnish dance companies and artists. See you at PAMS!
Mr. Kookaburra and Kukkaroo
Mr. Kookaburra and Kukkaroo premiere ticket revenue to Unicef
Auraco wants to help the world’s children in need and donates its part of the ticket revenue from the premiere of Mr. Kookaburra and Kukkaroo to Unicef.
Auraco had the second most performances abroad of Finnish companies in 2014
Dance Info Finland has published the statistics on performances abroad by Finnish dance companies in 2014 (pdf file). Auraco had the second most performances, 14: 7 in France, 6 in South Korea and 1 in Sweden.
Me-Me presented in Guangdong’s medias
Päivi Aura speaks at 2015 ISPA Congress
Päivi Aura will speak about her work for young audiences at the 2015 ISPA Congress in Copenhagen on Friday May 29. International Society for the Performing Arts Congresses are organized twice a year, and they are attended by more than 500 people from more than 50 countries representing different cultures and disciplines within the performing arts field.
Me-Me
Performances at Guangdong Dance Festival in Guangzhou, China:
Me-Me
Performances in Macau, China:
Me-Me
Performances at CCDC Children’s Festival 2015 in Hong Kong, China:
Subscribe to our newsletter
Auraco’s first newsletter was sent out a week ago. You can now subscribe to it on our web site.
Auraco on Weibo
You can now follow Auraco also on Weibo, the Chinese microblogging site.
Me-Me at CCDC Children’s Festival in Hong Kong
Me-Me will be part of CCDC Dance Centre’s very first Children’s Festival in Hong Kong in April.
Päivi Aura as a speaker in CCDC’s seminar
Päivi Aura has been invited to speak in CCDC’s seminar about performing arts for young children. She will discuss with Mr. Even Lam, the artistic director of the local well-known children’s theatre company Jumbo Kids Theatre, about performing arts for young children, including ideas, execution and challenges, both in Europe and Hong Kong.
Me-Me in Asia in April
Auraco will tour in Asia with Me-Me during 3–19 April! There will be performances and workshops in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangzhou. See the specific dates above.
Growing Up in Europe Seminar
This three day seminar is aimed for early childhood professionals and artists who work with small children. Its themes are art in early childhood structures and the Finnish educational system and culture policy. The programme consists of presentations, discussions and workshops. The seminar is held in English and is part of the Growing Up in Europe project supported by EU’s Erasmus+ programme. See the seminar programme.
The seminar takes place at Annantalo Arts Centre in Helsinki. Free entrance. Sign up in advance by email: info@auraco.fi. More information about the workshops and sign up for them on arrival to the seminar.
Päivi Aura and Auraco nominated for the Theatre for Children and Youth award
Päivi Aura and Dance Theatre Auraco have been chosen as a finalist for the Theatre for Children and Youth award 2015. The annual award is given by The Association of Finnish Theatres and the Finnish Assitej Association for a commandable actor or act for children’s theatre. See more information in the bulletin from The Association of Finnish Theatres (only in Finnish).
Hand in Hand Dance Workshops
The arts are not a matter of age but of curiosity
How shall we hold hands when dancing together? Exploring new and old ways of dancing hand in hand – and a smile on your face. This nonstop dance workshop for all ages is led by dance pedagogue Tuire Colliander, choreographer Päivi Aura and musician Minni Ilmonen, and it is held at Pikku-Aurora Art House in Espoo. Free entrance.
The workshop is part of the international Small Size Days. Small Size Days bring the very youngest children and their families, carers and stakeholders together in recognising that the arts are significant and valued in our lives, from birth onwards.
Creative Europe Programme
of the European Union
2014
Artco has its own site
The art section Artco maintained by Kuukulkurit ry has launched its own web site at artco.fi. The content related to Kuukulkurit’s exhibition activity has been moved from Auraco’s programme page to the Artco site.
Segel i vinden
Auraco participates in a Creative Europe project
Auraco is a partner organisation in a Creative Europe project called Small Size, Performing Arts for Early Years. The project started this autumn and has 17 partners from 15 European countries. The project continues on the path of the earlier Small Size, Big Citizens project. It aims to promote the productions and visibility of performing arts for the early years in Europe. During the four year project Auraco will produce two own stage performances and one co-production.
Kuukulkurit ry participates in an Erasmus+ project
Kuukulkurit ry, the association that maintains Dance Theatre Auraco and art section Artco, is a partner organisation in an Erasmus+ project called Growing Up in Europe. The project has 12 partners from four countries. Its aim is to get to know the childrens’ day care systems and the education of early childhood professionals in different countries, and create innovative working methods for professional education and training. Kuukulkurit is the only organisation from the art field, the other partners are schools and upper secondary schools.
My Eyes Your Eyes
A private performance for the hospital clients at Laakso hospital, Helsinki.
Floating Boat
My Eyes Your Eyes
Auraco at Tanzmesse
Dance Theatre Auraco takes part in internationale tanzmesse in Düsseldorf, Germany, on August 27th to 30th. Auraco is at Tanzmesse together with Dance Info Finland and a group of other Finnish dance companies and artists.
Tanzmesse represents 400 dance companies from 40 different countries during four days.
Come to meet us at stand R20! If you wish to set up a meeting with us in advance, please email Kati Lehtola kati[at]auraco.fi. See you in Düsseldorf!
Avec Renoir
Auraco on YouTube
Dance Theatre Auraco is now also on YouTube. There you can find for example the 5-year birthday video of Me-Me.
Petit Câlin
Performances at the Premières Rencontres festival in France:
2013
Dance Playback Theatre of the Republic
Floating Boat
Read Päivi Aura’s work diary about the preparation for the premiere from the Liikekieli.com magazine article Tuokiokuvia Floating Boat – Kuin vene aalloilla – esityksen harjoitusjaksolta (only in Finnish).
Päivi Aura directs a performance in Seoul
Little Tree Theatre from Seoul, South Korea, has invited Päivi Aura, choreographer and director of Dance Theatre Auraco, to direct and choreograph their new dance performance called Floating Boat.
Floating Boat will be the company’s first performance for babies. The performance is a pioneering work in Korean children’s culture because performances for children under 3 years are very rare in Korea. This work is also groundbreaking in Finnish dance in Asia because Finnish children’s dance has only been performed in Asian countries on single visits. This production opens a future collaboration between Finnish and Korean artists in children’s dance and theatre.
The premiere will be on Nov 30th 2013 at Studio Darak, Seoul. The performance is a co-production of Dance Theatre Auraco and Little Tree Theatre.
Me-Me
Performances at the SIDance festival in Seoul, South-Korea:
Auraco on SIDance site
Auraco’s Me-Me has a lot of visibility on the Korean SIDance Festival site and its YouTube channel. The Me-Me performances in Seoul will be on October 19th and 20th 2013.
SIDance Teaser video
Me-Me video on the SIDance YouTube channel
Me-Me on the SIDance web site
Drops
Dance Playback Theatre of the Republic
Dance Playback Theatre of the Republic
2012
Me-Me
Performances at the El més petit de tots festival in Barcelona, Spain:
Petit Câlin
Performances at 8. Spinning Jenny Theatertage in Chemnitz, Germany:
Me-Me
Performances at Le Tout Petit Festival in Fay-de-Bretagne, Sucé-sur-Erdre in France:
Harvest Dance
Petit Câlin
Performances at Ruutia International Dance Festival for Children and Young Audiences in Helsinki, Finland:
Me-Me
Performances at Premières Rencontres Biennale européenne in Val d’Oise, France:
Petit Câlin
Performances at the Bravo! International Children’s Theatre Festival in Helsinki, Finland:
2011
Tutt(i)uus
Me-Me
Performances at the l’Art et les tout petits festival in Charleroi, Belgium:
Moon Maiden
Performances at Festival Kaolin & Barbotine in France:
Me-Me
Performances at the Rompiendo el Cascarón festival in Madrid, Spain:
Me-Me
Performances at Vantaa Dance Weeks in Vantaa, Finland:
Me-Me
Performances at Ruutia! International Dance Festival in Helsinki, Finland:
Moon Maiden
2010
Moon Maiden
Performances at 25 Semanas Internacionales de Teatro para Niños y Niñas in Spain:
Me-Me
Performances at 6. Spinning Jenny Theatertage in Chemnitz, Germany:
Echoes
Me-Me
Performances at Community Dance Festival in Tampere, Finland:
Me-Me
Performances at 2 Turven Hoog Festival in Almere, Netherlands:
Moon Maiden
Performances at the Premières Rencontres festival in Garges-les-Gonesse, France:
Moon Maiden
2009
Me-Me
Performances at Ruutia! International Dance Festival in Helsinki, Finland:
Me-Me
Moon Maiden
Moon Maiden
Performances at Oulu International Theatre Festival:
Me-Me
2008
Colouring
Moon Maiden
The Moon, the Stars and the Wanderers
Moon Maiden
Performances at Vantaa Dance Weeks:
Moon Maiden
2007
In This Moment
Every Morning I Say to My Feet “Let’s Move”
Moon Maiden
Performances at the Helsinki Festival in Finland: