Dance classes for people on the autism spectrum or with intellectual disabilities in the autumn 2025

Plenty of activities take place during the classes, the most common being exercises combining dance and music that aim at producing individual movement. The exercises are based on Liisa Pentti’s 40-year experience with contact improvisation, the Todd Alignment technique and Body-Mind Centering© methods.

There are two different groups you can join: Group I independently or with your own assistant.Group II is for dancers who are able to work independently. Both groups are small (5-7 participants) and led by a teacher and two professional facilitators. No previous experience is needed to participate.

The groups meet once a week on Thursdays at 17:00 and 18:00. The lessons for the autumn season 2025 will start in September.

Available places and more information can be obtained by emailing info@liisapentti.com.

In 2024-2025, two weekly groups will be organised also for people with intellectual disabilities who are interested in dance, in cooperation with the Kehitysvammatuki 57-association: Nykytanssikerho and Nykytanssikerho esiintymisestä kiinnostuneille. The dance classes will be held on Wednesdays at 17 and 18, and are supported by the City of Helsinki. Registration for classes: through Kehitysvammatuki 57 ry ︎︎︎

Somatic exploration for dance makers and others interested in the spring of 2026

In spring 2026, Liisa Pentti + Co will organize a series of courses in somatic dance and movement. The teachers are four experienced dance artists and teachers, each of whom will open up different paths to somatic work during their respective periods. Within each series, you can participate in individual classes or choose a series of four classes.

Sign up for classes ︎︎︎

Pia Lindy: Glimpses of Something Else - dance workshops
January 19-February 9, 2026

In the Glimpses of Something Else workshops, we will delve into personal movement and improvisation. The starting points are suggestions drawn from various somatic methods for exploring the potential of one's own movement and the diversity of options. How or what do I find (in myself/about myself) in movement and as a mover if or when I am simultaneously connected to the events and currents of the surrounding world?

On these occasions, the main focus is on solo work. We will occasionally come together to share our experiences and thoughts, and there will also be time for writing in between.


Mammu Rankanen
February 16–March 16, 2026

Mammu Rankanen's classes are based on somatic movement work, which she studied in the three-year SOLU Somatic Movement Therapy training program (600 hours) facilitated by Satu Palokangas, as well as in her artistic doctoral research on the dancer's experience of internal and external space. The classes explore experiential anatomy and developmental movement patterns through movement research, touch work, and task-based improvisation.


Riikka Theresa Innanen: Embodied Art of Relating - Anatomy of Connection: Body, Energy, and Dialogic Encounter in Movement
March 23–April 20, 2026

Riikka Theresa Innanen's Art of Relating course is a journey into deeper awareness of the body and energy. During four sessions, we will use practical exercises to explore how nonverbal and physical interaction creates creative connection, bonding, and dialogic expression.

The course draws on tools from many traditions: the anatomy of Body Mind Centering, the fusion of Eastern and Western psychology (Art of Relating, Unity in Duality), and ancient yogic wisdom, which teaches that we have ten different bodies instead of one. We practice the skill of relating to others with respect, interest, and awareness, blending leading and following into natural, dialogical interaction. The tools from the workshop can be used as a dancer, artist, teacher, or in everyday life.


Liisa Pentti
27.4.-18.5.2026

The classes focus on exploring and observing the connections between the body, movement, and mind through various somatic methods and developing movement material based on them. The starting points are Todd-Alignment-based, ideokinetic working methods, BodyMindCentering, and Liisa Pentti's accompanying task-based exercises, whose concepts are applied to the starting points of dance creation and the creation of personal movement material.

For professionals

Morning classes for dance and performing arts professionals are among the core activities of the company. Follow our social media accounts to get the latest updates on new classes and workshops!

Liisa Pentti has a long history of teaching both dancers and actors. At the moment her interest in teaching is focused on the concept of “alchemy in improvisation” and on her personal movement practice. How does our use of imagery and our instinct for imitation shape our dancing? To what extent can we go beyond the norms and patterns embedded in our dance to challenge and refresh the familiar pathways while moving? These questions are explored in her workshops. Liisa also teaches contact improvisation - mostly as a tool for finding means of touch in movement, for creating physical presence and skill and for defining boundaries in a physical dialogue.

Liisa Pentti has more than 10 years of experience working with people on the autism spectrum, including two on-going weekly dance lessons for this demographic. Their aim is providing a sense of independent artistic agency to the participants through movement and dance, often relying on non-verbal communication. Liisa Pentti regularly trains dancers in her methods and is available for giving workshops on the pedagogy and ethos involved in this work. Next workshop is planned for autumn of 2025 in Helsinki.

Audience Engagement Work

The purpose of the group’s audience engagement work is to reach different kinds of publics and to bring dance to areas and audiences who don’t often get to experience it. In conjunction with tour performances the group organizes free, low threshold workshops.

Get to know contemporary dance

The group initiated the Get to know contemporary dance format in 2020 with the purpose of showcasing contemporary dance in low threshold spaces and connecting with new audiences. The event, held yearly at Helsinki Central Library Oodi, consists of workshops and performances. In 2024 the theme of the day will be dance and music improvisation. 

Community Work

Liisa Pentti +Co’s longest running and most established form of community work are dance classes for young people on the autism spectrum. They have been organized regularly since 2015 in cooperation with Zodiak – Center for New Dance. Starting from 2022, the classes have been carried out solely by Liisa Pentti +Co. In addition to weekly dance lessons, Liisa Pentti +Co has produced two full-length works with the participants: Too much, too young in 2018 and Neljä x Duetto + 1 in 2021. 

Dance lesson, a documentary short-film by filmmaker Sari Antikainen, was released in 2015 and follows Liisa Pentti and the participants of the autism spectrum dance group. It has been presented on several festivals both in Finland and abroad.

The group has also worked with seniors with memory disorders in 2021-2023.