SWEAT (anthem) moves through the terrains of resilience and endurance where determination and persistence become a quiet form of protest. Endurance is not only stamina and sustained effort, but also a radical gesture to stay alive, alert and hopeful amidst fatigue, fracture and exhaustion. Between tension, release and play, the performance celebrates the courage to keep dancing and turn exhaustion into a collective rhythm; an anthem of defiance and joy.
Created with four members of the DANCE ON ENSEMBLE and four emerging dancers, the performance highlights the combined strength of a multigenerational collective. By bridging these different generations, the work celebrates the ensemble’s long and compelling careers and asks how to persevere, remain empathetic and keep moving in times of unrest.
SWEAT (anthem)
Milla Koistinen & DANCE ON Ensemble
Dutch premiere at SPRING 2026
Date: Friday, 15.5.2026 at 21:00. The performance is followed by a talk with Milla Koistinen.
Location: Stadsschouwburg Utrecht, Lucasbolwerk 24, 3512 EJ Utrecht
Country: Berlin/Helsinki
Accessibility: The main entrance to the Stadsschouwburg is wheelchair accessible. Wheelchair spaces are available in both the Grote Zaal and the Blauwe Zaal. These can be booked via kassa@springutrecht.nl. The Grote Zaal is on the ground floor. The Blauwe Zaal and the Hekmanfoyer are accessible by lift. For more information and contact details visit the SPRING website.
Disclaimer: There will be moments of loud sounds, ear plugs should be available at the entrance before the start of the show. Blinking and flickering lights (no stroboscope) are used during the performance and there will be a moment of complete darkness.
”It is a work about resilience and perseverance, articulating a quiet yet powerful protest amid the crisis of art’s survival.” – tanznetz
SPRING Performing Arts Festival is a ten-day international festival with innovative dance, theatre, performance and more in the city of Utrecht. You will find SPRING in the theatres, at special locations and in public spaces. At the festival you will see over 25 adventurous and urgent performances from both near and far that dare to ask questions about the state of the world. You can be surprised by new artistic forms and inspired by other ways of looking at the world around you. During SPRING, makers and a curious audience meet for exchange, discussion, inspiration and fun.
SPRING 2026 takes place 14–23.5.2026. Discover the full programme at SPRING 2026.
Artists
Milla Koistinen is a Finnish choreographer based between Berlin and Helsinki. She has graduated from the Theatre Academy in Helsinki with MA in dance and from HZT Berlin with MA in choreography. She has worked among others with Kristian Smeds, Hiroaki Umeda, Peter Verhelst, Christine Gaigg and Cie Heddy Maalem. Since 2008 she tours her own work internationally and teaches in various contexts. 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. In 2025-2027 she is working with the support of Arts Promotion Centre Finland.
Jin Lee was born in South Korea and works as a dancer and a choreographer. She received a diploma in dance from Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance and a Bachelor of Dance from Dongduck Women’s University. She has worked among others with Julyen Hamilton, Ceren Oran, Anna Konjetzky, Rosana Riberio, Jasmine Ellis, Georges Maikel, Léonard Engel and Ingri Fiksdal. Currently she is creating her own work as well.
Emma Sofie Gautestad is a dancer from Norway. She was enrolled in a one-year preprofessional dance study program in Oslo before she entered the four-year study at Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance. During her studies she has performed in the works of Manuel Ronda, Eleonore Lachky, Elena Fokina, Aladino Rivera and Milla Koistinen. She was also enrolled as a choreography major student at SEAD. Gautestad graduated in the summer of 2025.
Victor Aaron Bolzmann was born in Hamburg, Germany. He has trained actively aikido, kung-fu and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He studied dance pedagogy in Hamburg at the Erika Klütz Schule für Tanzpädagogik und Theatertanz. He worked with Chilean choreographer José Vidal for the production: Emergenz, that premiered in Kampnagel, Hamburg and toured in Chile. Bolzmann did his four years’ professional dance education in Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, and graduated in 2024. During his studies, he worked with teachers/ choreographers from companies like Ultima Vez, Sidi Larbi, Les ballet c de la b. and many more.
Raul Aranha was born in India and is now based in Europe. He started with breaking growing up and moved on to study contemporary dance for two years in Bangalore, India before arriving to Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance. In 2025 he took part in a choreography mentorship programME by Meg Stuart. He currently teaches in several locations in Germany and has worked with companies and choreographers such as Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods, Selva, PaperTiger Theatre, among others. Aranha has performed in Magenta Haze and One Next To Me by Milla Koistinen.
Ty Boomershine, born in the US, has performed with various companies, including the Lucinda Childs Dance Company, Emio Greco | PC, and the Merce Cunningham Repertory Ensemble. He has also appeared in works by choreographers such as Dan Wagoner, Gus Solomons Jr., Ton Simons, and Giulia Mureddu. Boomershine danced in Robert Wilson’s opera Einstein on the Beach and has presented his own choreographic works at Movement Research and Danspace Project in New York, as well as at OT301 and the Holland Festival in Amsterdam. Since 2019, he has been the Artistic Director of the DANCE ON ENSEMBLE.
Gesine Moog, born in Germany, has performed at various German theatres, including the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm in Frankfurt, Staatstheater Mainz, Saarländisches Staatstheater Saarbrücken, and the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich. tanz magazine named her “Emerging Dancer of the Year” in 2004, and in 2007 she received the “Dancer of the Year” award from Riksteatern. From 2008 to 2020, Moog was a member of Cullberg Ballet, touring in Sweden and internationally. She now works as an independent artist and has been a member of the DANCE ON ENSEMBLE since 2019.
Alba Barral Fernández, born in Spain, has worked with the companies LeineRoebana, Suzy Blok (Amsterdam), and SenzaTempo Teatrodanza (Inés Boza/Carles Mallol). Since 2008, she is a member of Thomas Noone Dance, performing works by Thomas Noone, Roni Haver & Guy Weizman, Johannes Wieland, and Jo Strømgren (with Norrdans). She was also part of the project Camaralúcida (Barcelona). Fernández currently works as rehearsal director for Thomas Noone Dance and as an independent artist with Javier Arozena Cía, Quim Bigas, and La Veronal/Marcos Morau. Since 2022, she is a member of the DANCE ON ENSEMBLE.
Javier Arozena, born in Spain, has been developing his artistic practice since 2001 as a performer, artist, and teacher in Spanish, European, and North American companies and contexts. Since 2020, he has been a member of the DANCE ON ENSEMBLE, performing in works such as Works In Silence by Lucinda Childs, Fäden by Ivana Müller, Kiss the One We Are by HIATUS/Daniel Linehan, and Mellowing by Christos Papadopoulos. Arozena was recognized as Best Performer at the Masdanza Festival in 2020 and awarded Best Dance Performer for VU by Barcelona’s Critics Award Edition 2024.
Tim Persent was born in South Africa. He graduated from Rambert School in 1986 and danced for Second Stride and Rambert Dance Company in London. From 1987 to 1994 Persent was a member of the Rotterdamse Dansgroup. Since 1994 he has been a dancer and artistic collaborator with Leine Roebana in Amsterdam. In the Netherlands he has performed with choreographers Krisztina de Châtel, Paul Selwyn Norton, Michael Schumacher and Roland Shankula. Persent was awarded the Silver Dance Prize in 1993 and the Golden Swan in 2004. He has worked as Artistic Director of the International Theaterschool Festival in Amsterdam, consulted for the Dutch Arts Council and the Dutch Performing Arts Fund. Persent is teaching at CODARTS Dance Academy in Rotterdam and since March 2019 he is the first certified MUNZ FLOOR and MUNZ BARRE coach in the Netherlands.
Paul Valikoski studied violin at the Glenn Gould Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Since 2006 he lives and works in Berlin as an instrumentalist and composer. Interested in collaborative performance settings, Valikoski plays as a member of Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop, and as a guest with Ensemble Resonanz in Hamburg. He has collaborated among others with Susanne Kennedy, Martin Eder, Sasha Waltz & Guests, FC Bergman, Sabrina Hölzer, Mouse on Mars and Georg Nussbaumer. Since 2017 he has worked closely with Milla Koistinen as a sound designer.
Grégoire Simon lives and works between Berlin and Paris. He studied classical violin and viola in Paris National Conservatory, and in Berlin University of Arts. Besides his activities as an interpret he produces as Yes Soeur! together with Alexandre Bouvier electronic compositions for stage productions, in particular for contemporary dance with creations in Lyon National Opera, Marseille National Ballet, Tanzhaus NRW with compagnies such as Shonen, Alessandro Sciarroni, Cie2minimum, CieBurnOut / Jann Gallois among others.
Synne Behrndt is a dramaturg, researcher and currently Assistant Professor in Performing Arts at Stockholm University of the Arts. She is the co-writer of Dramaturgy and Performance (2008/2016) and co-editor of Palgrave’s New Dramaturgies book series. She has worked with directors and companies in Denmark and the UK.
Jihun Choi is a performer, choreographer and costume designer based in Munich and Seoul. He graduated from Sejong University in Korea with a master’s degree and doctorate. He was a member of the Tatmaroo Dance Company from 2009 to 2020. Choi is the co-founder of Collective ZINADA.
Credits
Concept, choreography & direction: Milla Koistinen
Creation and performance: Ty Boomershine, Gesine Moog, Alba Barral Fernández, Javier Arozena, Tim Persent (DANCE ON ENSEMBLE) and Jin Lee, Emma Sofie Gautestad, Raul Aranha, Victor Aaron Bolzmann, Milla Koistinen
Sound design: Paul Valikoski and Grégoire Simon
Light design: Martin Beeretz
Dramaturgy: Synne Behrndt
Costume design: Jin Lee and Jihun Choi
Production Director: Anastasia Luck (DANCE ON ENSEMBLE) and Jana Lüthje (M.i.C.A.)
International Distribution: Chalmont Agentur
Production: DANCE ON / Bureau Ritter
Co-Funded by: the Europeans Union’s Horizon Europe programme for research and innovation in the frame of DanceMap
Co-production: Milla Koistinen, SPRING Performing Arts Festival (The Netherlands), Tanzfabrik Berlin BÜHNE
Supported by: Bora Bora Residency Centre, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Finnland-Institut
With thanks to: Dance House Helsinki and the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux
DANCE ON is a project by BUREAU RITTER, funded by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
Cover image: SWEAT (anthem) by Milla Koistinen and DANCE ON ENSEMBLE. Photo by Aino Väänänen.