SINGING AND DANCING TOGETHER – REETTA-KAISA ILES

Singing and dancing together responds to our ancient need for belonging and connection, releases happiness hormones, and opens up states of being that we cannot reach alone. During the sessions, participants will explore the long aesthetics of archaic folk music and dance, the pulsing partner connection of the West Finnish polska step, the ecstatic energy of Kalevalaic polyphonic call-and-response singing, and the Karelian tradition of shaping unaccompanied song by stamping rhythms into the ground.

The sessions offer a space for communal bodily and vocal cleansing through quiet enchantment, generous belting, and grounded dancing.

​The course is carried by the collective energy of the entire camp and is open to both experienced singers and dancers as well as complete beginners.

Reetta-Kaisa Iles (b. 1976, Nokia, Finland) is a freelance dance artist, folk singer and pedagogue. In the field of music, Iles performs as a singer–dancer in the band Suistamon Sähkö, which blends Arctic ethno and techno, as well as in the folk quartet Tanssilauluja. She also works as a teacher of dance and improvisation at the Folk Music Department of the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki.

Within the field of dance, Iles serves as the artistic director of the Kokkola Winter Dance Festival (Kokkolan Talvitanssit) and works as a choreographer in the independent arts scene.
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Iles’ particular passion lies in combining movement and voice, as well as fostering interaction between musicians and dancers. She is fascinated by holistic performance — one that brings together embodied presence, a personal voice, the sensitivity to listen to others, and the courage to expose one’s own personality.

Photo: Mikko Malmivaara