Repetition, pedestrian elements, gestures, stillness and movement, order and chaos, and the transition from real to imagined spaces—ranging from the recognizable and everyday to the strange and poetic—are central themes in the work of Milla Koistinen. Her creations span stage productions, installations, and site-specific performances.
The Berlin- and Helsinki-based Finnish choreographer holds an MA in Dance from the Theatre Academy in Helsinki and an MA in Choreography from HZT Berlin. She has worked with directors and choreographers such as Kristian Smeds, Hiroaki Umeda, Peter Verhelst, Cie Heddy Maalem, and Christine Gaigg. Koistinen’s works have been presented at venues and festivals, including radialsystem, Dance House Helsinki, Tanzhaus NRW, Mad House Helsinki, & Espoo, Szene Salzburg, Fabriktheater Zürich, Dampfzentrale Bern, SPRING Festival, Moving in November Festival and Faerderbiennalen.
Koistinen has also collaborated with musicians and theatre directors, including Jochen Arbeit, Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop, and Michael Rauter, as well as with directors at the Finnish National Theatre. In the summer of 2010, she was awarded a danceWEB scholarship at Impulstanz Vienna.
In addition to her artistic work, Koistinen teaches contemporary technique, composition, and choreography in various companies, institutions, and educational programs. She has been a guest teacher at institutions such as the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD), the Iceland Academy of the Arts, Tanzhaus NRW, Sasha Waltz & Guests, Tanzhaus Zürich, the Theatre Academy of Helsinki, and HZT Berlin. In the spring of 2019, she was invited to lecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki.
In 2020-2024 Milla Koistinen’s work was supported by apap – FEMINIST FUTURES – a
project co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
