From left in the photo: Anniina Leinonen (café), Moona Aaltonen (theatre secretary), Toni Laakkonen (dancer), Tuula Bergqvist (costume designer), Laura Vahvaselkä (dancer), Lassi Sairela (financial director, dancer-choreographer), Laura Lehtonen (dancer), Eeva Soini (executive director, dancer-choreographer), Tiina Lindfors (artistic director, dancer-choreographer), Nea Vuorinen (dancer), James McNamara (dancer-choreographer), Timo Vuorimies (make-up), Pilvi Orpana (producer), Mari Agge (lighting design, technician), Milja Nordström (sound design, technician).
Tiina Lindfors is one of the founder members of Dance Theatre ERI. Her career has been characterised by several requests from composers and orchestras to work in cooperation with her. Five significant works have been produced in cooperation with the composer Mikko Heiniö. As a choreographer, Lindfors often takes a stand, and emphasises that dance can create change by means of theatre. Lindfors’ dances and choreographies have been performed throughout the Nordic countries and elsewhere in Europe, in Asia, America and Africa.
Lindfors is a popular lecturer and writes columns for Turun Sanomat, the largest daily paper in Western Finland. She works vigorously to promote the Swedish language and bilingualism in Finland.
Lassi began his career as a dancer when he joined a ballet school, but since he was the only boy attending classes, he dropped out after only a week. Later, competitive dance stole Lassi’s heart and after 8 years and 2 Finnish championship medals, Lassi became a professional.
Lassi is one of ERIs founding members and works at the theatre both as a dancer and choreographer. He works mostly with Eeva Soini.
Eeva graduated as a dancer from Tallinn Ballet School and has since danced in several different companies, including the Finnish National Ballet. Eeva is one of ERI’s founding members and works both as a dancer and choreographer. Eeva works mostly with Lassi Sairela and together they’ve choreographed almost 60 pieces for Dance Theatre ERI. Their work is characterised by intelligent humour and distinctive movements.
Pilvi started as a producer at Dance Theatre ERI in August 2025. She has a background in the travel industry, where she has worked for over twenty years in sales and marketing. Her ambition is to bring fresh perspectives, customer focus, and new audiences to the cultural sector. As a content producer, Pilvi combines a creative approach with technical expertise and has extensive skills in digital tools. Her goal is to showcase the magic of dance theatre – through both words and images.
Laura graduated as a dancer from the Art Academy at Turku University of Applied Sciences. Alongside her studies at the Art Academy, she studied at the highly regarded Institut del Teatre in Barcelona for six months.
Laura first came into contact with Dance Theatre ERI when she did her work experience as an assistant to Tiina during the piece Ilta (‘Evening’, 2015). She has been working at ERI since 2016. Laura has worked many years as a dance teacher for both children and adults.
In 2024, she graduated from the degree programme in Arts and Cultural Management, earning a Master of Business Administration. Laura also serves on the board of Regional Dance Centre of Western Finland.
Multitalented Toni is originally from Nilsiä. His enthusiasm for dance arose in middle school. After high school Toni was accepted into the Finnish National Opera Ballet School. Since his graduation Toni has danced in the Finnish National Ballet, Savonlinna Opera Festival and in the Small Finnish Ballet Company.
Toni started working at ERI in the beginning of 2011. He is cheerful and talented, and also masters pointe technique.
James McNamara graduated from Millennium Performing Arts in London in the year 2011, and after that he has worked with many different companies such as the Berlin Dance Company, Disneyland Paris, Grange Park Opera House and Pro Santa in Rovaniemi, among others.
His background stems from classical ballet, but he includes many other styles such as Latin American, contemporary dance, tap and jazz. James began working at ERI in 2015.
James is responsible for the choreographies of Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio, Magic of Christmas, Pinnalla and the Jungle Book.
Nea Vuorinen has studied dance at the Loimaa Region Music Institute and the Dance School Tanssitiimi in Turku. She began at ERI as a guest performer in the production Pinocchio in 2020 and later delighted audiences in, among others, Alice in Wonderland, Ballroom, and Carmen. Since 2021, Nea has been a contracted dancer at ERI.
Laura Lehtonen graduated from the Ballet School of the Finnish National Opera in 2018. From 2018 to 2024 she worked in Lithuania with the Kaunas State Musical Theatre’s ballet company, where she performed a wide range of both soloist and ensemble roles. During the 2024–2025 season she danced with the State Opera of Varna in Bulgaria and took part in international tours, most recently to Mexico.
Laura has been engaged with ERI since August 2025. She also works as a ballet teacher.
Mari Agge is a lighting designer who has worked extensively and for many years with dance, theatre, musicals, light art and various events both in Finland and abroad. She has also been part of production teams for several festivals and held various trust positions within cultural organisations.
Milja Nordström is a theatre artist and theatre technician who graduated from Turku Arts Academy. For roughly ten years she has mainly directed, and in recent years has also worked as a lighting and set designer. Milja began as the second technical manager at Tanssiteatteri ERI in August 2024.
Tuula Bergqvist has a Master of Arts degree. She has taught design at a variety of educational levels and has been involved in costume design in several theatres and theatre productions in different parts of Finland. Her artistic practice and need to work with her hands has resulted in many costume collaborations with Dance Theatre ERI over the years.
Theatre secretary Moona Aaltonen joined Tanssiteatteri ERI in autumn 2021. She has a strong background in multichannel customer communication. In her work, she is broadly involved in ERI’s marketing, communications and customer service. Moona’s goal is to create friendly and genuine encounters for customers.
