UNSUPERVISED

UNSUPERVISED is a piece created with professional dancers and children aged 6–10. Premiering in Berlin at Tanzfabrik Berlin BÜHNE in collaboration with Junges Tanzhaus Berlin in September 2027, the project also includes a standalone short film directed by Nastja Säde Rönkkö.

The work explores courage, rebellion, and self-directed, unsupervised play, focusing on how inclusion and exclusion emerge within group dynamics. It examines children’s autonomous activity in environments with little or no adult control, revealing the social, physical, and ethical structures embedded in play. Drawing on Iona and Peter Opie’s Children’s Games in Street and Playground, the piece reflects on the cultural significance of children’s outdoor play and its elements of risk, power, fear, and justice. The work considers what has been lost and what remains possible today.

Concept, choreography and direction: Milla Koistinen

Creation and performance: Jin Lee, Emma Sofie Gautestad, Anna Virkkunen, Raul Aranha, Victor Aaron Bolzmann, Jukka Tarvainen

Sound design: Paul Valikoski and Grégoire Simon

Light design: Martin Beeretz

Space: Salla Salin

Costume: Jihun Choi

Film: Nastja Säde Rönkkö

Artistic advisors: Sergiu Matis, Jussi Sorjanen

Production Director: Jana Lüthje (M.i.C.A.)

Production: Milla Koistinen

Funded by Hauptstadtkulturfonds Berlin, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Finnish Arts and Culture Agency, Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Foundation

Co-production: Tanzfabrik Berlin BÜHNE, Junges Tanzhaus Berlin

Supported by Arts Centre BUDA Kortrijk

Premiere in September 2027 at Tanzfabrik Berlin BÜHNE

Image ©️ Paul Valikoski