A Book of Dances - book launch

A Book of Dances is a collection of written choreographies by Finnish-based artists Anne Naukkarinen, Laura Cemin, Mikko Niemistö, and Marika Peura, and Swedish-based artists BamBam Frost, Ofelia Jarl Ortega, and Pontus Pettersson. The book is initiated and edited by choreographer, visual artist and dancer-performer Anne Naukkarinen. 

The book explores language as a writing-based approach to choreographic practice. It brings attention to the contradictions, translations, and intimate relationships between dance and language. In A Book of Dances, multiple languages are intertwined with the situated knowledge and histories of the participating artists, each embedded within specific social contexts.

The book’s aim is not to define choreographic practices as such, but to create a space for writing that engages with and embodies diverse perspectives on world-making. Thus, the process of meaning-making becomes situated, relational, and unstable—it shifts constantly.

This second launch of the book will take place at MDT Moderna Dansteatern and is a collaboration between MDT and höjden studios. During the launch, artists Laura Cemin, BamBam Frost, Anne Naukkarinen, Mikko Niemistö, Ofelia Jarl Ortega, and Pontus Pettersson will gather for a discussion about the book and present readings of their texts. The book was first launched at the Moving in November 2024.

A Book of Dances is published by Moving in November and Theater’s New Base Library T/U/A.