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.

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

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 ︎︎︎