About

Education

Minna Tuovinen and Martin Heslop have both studied with pioneers of contemporary and modern dance in London (Laban Centre for Movement and Dance) and New York (Martha Graham, Erick Hawkins and Merce Cunningham). Minna holds a Master's degree in Choreography from the Dance Department of the Theatre Academy.

Artistic work

The pair began working together in 1991 and together they have created more than 60 works, many of which have been commissioned for festivals in Finland or abroad. Both are choreographers, dancers, filmmakers and educators. A prolific and innovative couple, they have brought a fresh and unique approach to all their work. They are passionate about following their own path.

Then came Tango

The journey to the world of tango began in 2003 when we visited Buenos Aires for the first time, and since then, we have returned to the city time and time again for nearly 15 years. The milongas of Buenos Aires and the countless teachers have been our guides into the realm of tango culture. As choreographers and dancers in contemporary dance, we have spent years working with partner work and improvisation, but tango brought something exceptional. It offered us the opportunity for deep communication with our dance partners. In tango, we were fascinated by the moment when dancers merge on a profound level and create their own unique dance in an instant. The frustrating aspect of learning tango was that it is often taught through pre-arranged sequences of steps created by the teacher. We wanted to create a dance form where deep communication is present right from the start, in every practice.

Emotional improvisation

Tango has had a profound impact on our artistic work as well. It has expanded and enriched our movement vocabulary, brought narrative elements to our work, and allowed us to delve into deeper emotional content. Emotional improvisation, in particular, has become a central part of our performances. In works such as "Tango for the Radically Anonymous" and "Tango for the Emotionally Famous," we explore emotional impulses and how they generate tensions within a group, which then transform into violence, fear, or laughter. Our latest works have focused on the tensions within relationships in a utopian future world or, on the other hand, colored by illusions created by films of the past.

The TangoNyky Duet Evening

Since 2018, we have been producing the TangoNyky duet evening at the Helsinki Music Centre. It has been a true celebration of duet artistry, showcasing stunning performances over the years accompanied by the Soul Strings orchestra led by Mikko Helenius. The brilliance of the evening lies in its diverse and rich approach, with each dance artist bringing their unique perspective to the theme of Tango. We began with collaborative Improtango workshops, sharing our individual approaches to Tango.

Improtango Company

We founded Improtango Company in 1999 under the name As2wrists Dance Company. In 2021, we changed our name to Improtango Company to better reflect our work and artistic expression. The group has become known for its original, visually powerful, and emotionally resonant works that combine a rich movement language, multi-layered tensions, and storytelling. This unique style and movement vocabulary are the result of the close collaboration between two choreographers/dancers. The group's activities are high-quality and diverse. It has received much acclaim for its works that blend tango and contemporary dance, which have been performed in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Europe, and Finland, among others. For more information about our artistic work, please visit Improtango Company

Teaching

Martin and Minna have been teaching together for 30 years. As teachers they have taught and inspired Finnish dance makers and actors through their work and teaching at the Theatre Academy, as well as teaching and choreographing at various dance schools and institutions throughout Finland and teaching courses for different target groups. They have been visiting teachers at several universities in Sweden, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.

International work

Minna and Martin have had extensive international performing and teaching collaborations. They have undertaken several international performance tours, educational projects and collaborations each year. These have been either shorter visits or projects lasting several months.

Between 2003 and 2016, the choreographers' international activities were mainly focused on South America, in Argentina, Brazil and Colombia. The South American activities were led by Silvina Szperling, the group's long-time manager-director. The group has had extensive, reliable and long-standing partners, which have enabled the group to carry out interesting collaborative projects each year.

MovesOn

In 2009, Tuovinen and Heslop started MovesOn's international cultural development cooperation project. Its aim is to create long-term partnerships with local dance companies and organisations to promote social and economic equality through dance. They have implemented several large-scale cultural development projects in Argentina and Brazil.

Bom Jardin

The Bom Jardin Cultural Centre is located in Fortaleza, Brazil. The centre is built in the middle of the most violent and poorest favela in the city. The choreographers worked with local dance teachers, children and young people for a week. The highlight of the visit was the improvisations in the streets of the favela, where local people gathered to watch and applaud the performers. The visit ended with a performance by the choreographers, Mango Moves On, and a demo performance by the workshop participants at the Cultural Centre's theatre.

Itapipoca

Itapipoca is a remote and poor town in the north-east of Brazil. There, the choreographers visited a local dance company. Despite the difficult and challenging conditions, the group ambitiously maintained the dance school and the dance company. An important mission of the Balé Baiao dance group is to engage the local community in dance.

The visit of As2wrists Dance Company was very important for the group. Visits are very rare. The choreographers spent an intensive week teaching improvisation, repertoire material and preparing a demo performance together with the dancers. The dancers were also part of a dance documentary, for which footage was shot on a stunning beach.

The visit ended with a duet by Minna and Martin and a demo performance by the dancers at the House of Culture, whose walls were decorated with political slogans. The choreographers returned to Itapipoca for a second time to continue the collaboration they had started.

Paracuru

The small fishing village of Paracuru, in Brazil, has also been the destination of many visits by choreographers. Ex-ballet dancer Flavio Sampaio founded a dance school and company in his home village. The dance group is a group of professionals who have ambitiously developed their artistic activities.

They have visiting choreographers creating works and also perform abroad a lot. Minna and Martin have had the wonderful opportunity to work closely with the dance company. One of the highlights of the collaboration was filming the dance documentary A postcard from Paracuru in a vibrant and welcoming village.

The choreographers had the opportunity to get up close and personal with the dancers and their families. These experiences have left an indelible impression on the choreographers.

Bahia Blanca

In Bahia Blanca, Argentina, Minna and Martin worked with the local Cuatroicuarto dance group. This was their longest visit, they spent 4 months in the city and the result was Tango for No Body for 9 dancers, which premiered in the magnificent city theatre.

Tours

The group has made several tours in Argentina. In 2007 the group performed Tango for the emotionally Famous in Buenos Aires. The group received extensive coverage in the country's major newspapers. The performance was also seen by the famous Argentine tango singer Susana Rinaldi, with whom the choreographers had the honour of discussing the performance and Finnish tango. Reija Wäre, Teemu Kyytinen and the choreographers danced in the piece. The following year they toured the same piece in Santa Fe, Rosario and Marcos Juarez in Argentina and Salvador de Bahia, Brazil.

In 2012, the group produced and produced a dance documentary about tango, A step in the Tangocean. The choreographers filmed the documentary in Buenos Aires in collaboration with director Silvina Szperling. The documentary has been screened at several dance and dance video festivals around the world.

In 2013, Minna and Martin performed their highly acclaimed work Tango Noir VideoDanzaBa at the Buenos Aires VideoDanzaBa festival, which was highly acclaimed in domestic and international arenas. The group was also invited to perform at the Internacional festival del teatro Mercosur, a major theatre festival in Córdoba. In Córdoba, the choreographers held an Improcamera workshop with Silvina Szperling in collaboration with the festival and the Centro Cultural de España. The tour ended with a performance in Marcos Juarez, a city rich in soy, for the 100th anniversary celebrations.

In 2014, the group travelled to Cali, Colombia, where the choreographers did a 2-week residency at Javeriana University. There they held an Improcamera workshop with Silvina Szperling. This multidisciplinary workshop was attended by students of media arts, communication, art and dance. The theme of the workshop was the creative body in an urban environment. The highlight of the workshop was a day-long photo shoot in Cali, which was marked by danger, surprises and stiflingly hot weather. The visual and audio material was finally compiled into a video installation. The Urbanbody on camera video installation took place in a local gallery. The installation also included live performances by the students. During the 2-week visit, the choreographers also performed Tango Noir at the Alfonso Borreo Theatre.

In 2016 the group performed Tango Noir and an Improcamera residency in Patagonia, Argentina. The visit ended with the premiere of Still Moving in Puerto Madry.

2FilmDance

As2wrists Dance Company has produced several short dance documentaries filmed in South America, Finland and England.

A Step in the Tangocean

A step in the Tangocean is a dance documentary about choreographers' exploration of the origins of tango. The documentary was filmed in Buenos Aires. It has been screened at several festivals. The documentary has also been shown as part of Tango Noir.

• Direction: Martin Heslop, Minna Tuovinen, Silvina Szperling
• Camera: Martin Heslop
• Editing: Martin Heslop, Minna Tuovinen

A Postcard from Paracuru

A postcard from Paracuru is about the dancers and their lives in a small Brazilian fishing village. The documentary was filmed in Paracuru, northeast Brazil.

• Direction: Martin Heslop, Minna Tuovinen, Silvina Szperling
• Camera: Martin Heslop
• Editing: Martin Heslop, Minna Tuovinen

Rheya Eiainako

Rheya Eiainako is inspired by Andrei Tarkovsky's film Solaris. It is a short video shot by choreographers in Jätkäsaari, Helsinki, in which the camera follows the couple's events. Only the couple is present.

• Direction: Martin Heslop, Minna Tuovinen
• Camera: Martin Heslop, Minna Tuovinen
• Editing: Martin Heslop, Minna Tuovinen

The Tourists

The tourists was filmed on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

• Direction: Martin Heslop, Minna Tuovinen
• Camera: Martin Heslop, Minna Tuovinen
• Editing: Martin Heslop, Minna Tuovinen