Marika Peura: Amalgam Melee

Amalgam Melee, the new stage work by choreographer Marika Peura and the working group, sets off from the artist’s inner contradictions in relation to heritage, brownness, whiteness, hierarchies of power and violence in the context of Finnish society. How these frictions wield with a double-edge effect; exploring the body where the mechanisms of white supremacy are present both as the one exercising power and the one subjected to it. "Amalgam melee" refers to a chaotic or disorderly situation where various elements or entities have merged into a single, mixed-up mass in a disorganized manner. "Amalgam" implies a mixture or combination, while "melee" suggests a confused or disorderly situation involving struggle or conflict. The work delves into the emotional and expressive body; within the conflicts of this ‘third space’, as the means and potential to reach a political sense of self. Marika Peura is a Finnish choreographer with Philippine heritage, based in Helsinki. She works with the emotional, poetic and political questions that unfold from the experientiality of the body. Peura’s’ dance background is in street & club dance culture; freestyle hip hop being closest to her heart. This is reflected in her artistic practice and the relation to bodily movement. Peura has studied contemporary dance and choreography at the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki and in the HZT's Dance, Context, Choreography programs. Choreography, concept, performance: Marika Peura Sound design: Tiikka Drama Spatial design: Una Auri Light design: Luca Sirviö Dramaturgy: Caroline Suinner, Ricardo Costume design: Helmi Hagelin Production: Zodiak – Center for New Dance, Kaisa Nieminen, Marika Peura PR photos: Haliz Yosef