2023 the summer of Mindfulness for the 2 and 4 legged.
April 2023: Mindfulness in practices of theatre. FIN
Program:
24.04: Mindfulness, meditation and contemplation in an equine context. The encounter will take place outdoors in Pornainen at 15:00-17:00.
25.04: 11.00-13.00 and potentially again at 14.30-16.30: Mindfulness, meditation and Arising performance. The encounter will be hosted on zoom.
26.04: 11.00-13.00: Mindfulness in artistic practice. The encounter will take place in person in Alppila, Helsinki.
The open encounters are of a contemplative and interactive nature and will be hosted at different locations and have limited availability. These encounters are directed at theater practitioners. However, if you are interested in participating, and identify yourself in another field, do not hesitate to make contact. The IRL-sessions are co-hosted by Sofia Aminoff (playwright, doctoral researcher and equine practitioner). Working language of the encounters will mainly be English. However, participants can contact us in Finnish, Swedish, Spanish and English.
Tell Me A Story: Mystery Storytelling Events at Heldeke
Between September 2022 and August 2023 I've have had the fun honour of participating as a regular at Tell Me A Story. An event where one of the 6 stories are told is LIE! and you get to have fun figuring out who is lying. Here is a small taster.
August 2022: The Seed of Song premiered At the Tallinn Fringe
The Seed of Song Inside Us, a brand new piece of Contemplative Performance. World premiere on the 20th of August 2022 at Heldeke Theatre and Bar: heldeke.ee/
November 2021: The study of ITM Alexander Technique
In November 2021 Karoliina has begun the study of the Basic Principles course at the ITM Alexander Technique school of Alexander Technique. Since she has participated in the study of Human Movement and Function module and is about to begin the module Principles of Personal development in September 2022.
April 2020: Academic Article is published: Dreaming Group Dream Work Incorporating a Psychophysical Embodied Approach
2019 Publication of the second edition of: Anthropocosmic Theatre Theatre, Ritual, Consciousness
I am delighted to mention the publication of the second edition of the seminal work of Antropocosmic Theatre, in which i have contributed case studies of my experiences with the TRW and Núñez. The book is introduced as follows:
This new edition of Núñez’s Anthropocosmic Theatre contains the text of the original English translation plus additional contributions from Núñez and others. In part one, Núñez traces his researches in Nahuatlan, Tibetan and western theatre, to arrive at his design for a theatre of the human in the cosmos. Part Two explores how this work has developed, during the last three decades, into an approach to performance training and production that uniquely combines ritual and contemplative influences. New and previously untranslated writing from Núñez presents his idiosyncratic view of an awakened and expansive role for theatre today.
March 2019: Participation in the 5th National Encounter of Scenic Arts, UDLAP
In march 2019 Karoliina delivered the workshop: Escribir desde el Cuerpo at the 5th National Encounter of Scenic Arts at UDLAP.
January 2019: New Academic appointment
Karoliina is appointed Coordinator of the BA programe in Theatre at UDLAP.
February 2019: New chapter in the book Reflexiones a partir de Espacios de Cruce
:Sandström, K. (2019). Las preguntas de investigación que surgen a partir de la experiencia actoral. In: M. Pérez Cesari and M. Paulin Rios, ed., Reflexiones a partir de espacios de cruce, 1st ed. Hidalgo, Pachuca, México.
October 2018: Premier El Sueño, direction: K. Sandström
Premier of El Sueño, directed by Karoliina. Adaptation based on the August Strindberg play: A Dream Play.
August 2018: New academic appointment
New professor at the Department of Arts at Universidad de las Americas Puebla (UDLAP). Karoliina becomes a full-time professor as part of the BA programe in Theatre.
January 2018: Collaborating with the CPPR, UK
Research trip to the CPPR (Centre of Psychophysical Performance Research at the University of Huddersfield).
May 2018: A work demonstration sharing
In May 2018 Karoliina shared the practice and research of her voice work as she presented: LA VOZ Y LA CREACIÓN CONSTANTE in an open event at the Instituto del Arte, UAEH.
September 2017: Activities during Semana de Las Artes 2017, UAEH
In September 2017 Karoliina participated for the second time in the activities of Semana de las Artes at the Instituto de Artes (IDA) of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (UAEH). This year she presented the research presentation: Work in Progress Soundings and a conference paper with the title Mindfulness, Arising Performance y los puentes de Transformación.
September 2016: Workshop at Semana de Las Artes 2016, UAEH
In september 2016, Karoliina gave the workshop: Creative development based in the investigation of first person experience (Creatividad con base en la investigación del proceso propio) at the Instituto de Artes (IDA) of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidlago (UAEH). The workshop was part of the research activities into the role of investigation in practice and research during the Semana de las Artes 2016.
June 2016: Returning from the Saari Group Residency, Finland:
The last two weeks of July Karoliina spent at the Saari Residency, close to Mynämäki on the east coast of Finland together with the writer Deborah Templeton. Saar was a wonderful experience of nature, silence, song and the creation of written material, composition and performance material for the joint project Soundings, together with Tempelton and the composer Monty Adkins.
July 2016: Coordination of TRW/TITUNAM Actor Training Workshop at Apan, Hidalgo, Mexico
Once more this year Karoliina organised and coordinated the Apan workshop of Nicolás Núñez: Theatre as a Personal Rite. A deep transformative experince of actor training, working in the heart lands of the Mexican country side.
November 2015: Coordination of the Awakening, Mindfulness and Theatre Research Workshop in Apan, Hidalgo, Mexico
November 10th to the 15th saw the realization of an intensive workshop led by Dr Deborah Middleton, Maestro Nicolás Nuñez and Karoliina exploring the relationship between and the ways of integrating Mindfulness practices and theatre. This transformative experience opened up much conversation and many deep explorations as part of the MAP: The Mindfulness and Performance Project at the Centre of Psychophysical Performance Research at the University of Huddersfield.
The collaborative project: SOUNDINGS was announced as a successful applicant on October 5th 2015, of the Saaren Kartano Residencies of the prestigious Kone Säätiö. As one of the 13 successful applicants for group residencies out of a total of 378 applications, in june 2016 Karoliina will join Monty Adkins and Deborah Templeton for the first developmental stage of the Soundings project!
July 2015: Karoliina coordinates the Theatre as a Personal Rite workshop for TRW/TITUNAM in Apan Hidalgo
In July 2015 Karoliina, through her position at Espacio Kuu, coordinated both the short and the long actor training workshops in the beautiful countryside base of the Theatre Research Workshop (TRW) of the Autonomous National University of Mexico.
This was a very special event since the workshop provided a rare opportunity for participants to engage in an intensive deepening of the actor training tools developed by the TRW and Maestro Nicolás Nuñez the founder and director of the TRW.
The workshop was part of the 40th anniversary year of activities of the TRW whose celebrations culminate in a performance and celebratory conference in November 2015, in Mexico City.
The TRW and Espacio Kuu hope to collaborate next year, to continue providing the opportunity for participants to deepen their experience of the TRW's work and to be able to engage in this transformative and self-defining work.
June 2015 La Ofrenda Danzante: The Performance of 'The Gifting Dance' has it's spanish speaking premier in Mexico City.
Karoliina's latest solo performance, 'The Gifting Dance' auspiced by the Centre of Psychophysical Performance Research (CPPR) was first performed in November 2014 in a collaboration with Eilon Morris at the University of Huddersfield. On the 27th of June 2015 'La Ofrenda Danzante' was the second performance of a series of shows which change the theme for gifting. This second performance was dedicated to: `all the lost dreams´.
June 2015: 'Obras de una Dia' Premier
This, the latest Espacio Kuu show, created and directed by Karoliina was an exercise in creativity and time. The show was created from nothing in 24 hours and performed only once. The work revolved around the notion of 24 hours; the nature of time; the possibilities of choice and change in 24 hours; the notion of distance; what we might renounce if we were dragon-flies skimming on water? The show played with the ideas of living, dying and the feeling of it all. The play was presented by: Isabel Domínguez, Estefanny García and Javier Hernández.
March 2015: Performances of 'Mandala: the Sacred Art of Acting' TRW/TITUNAM Production
Mandala, a TRW production written by Nicolás Núñez, was originally performed in 2014, in Casa de Lago, Chapultepec, Mexico City. The original play which was presented in Spanish February and March 2014, was translated by Karoliina into English and performed as a two-hander at the University of Huddersfield in March 2014.
'Good acting becomes a tool that expands consciousness. The actor learns the art of constructing carefully and with great rigor and also to detach, to let go, to let their own construction vanish into the emptiness from which it came. Good acting celebrates the the present moment, knowing that nothing is eternal, that reality is a living action in constant motion.' (Núñez, 2014)
May 2014: Premier of Lamapa Perdida: Direction K. Sandström
In spring 2014 Karoliina directed the first group piece with the actor members of Espacio Kuu. Lamapa Perdida, was a joyful and at times serious piece about being lost in the experience of life. It explored the notions of presence, where the actors´ were, maybe, acting a self, or acting a self acting, or possibly only being, being confused about being. The play played with theater, with form and with presentation, leaving a joyful sense of lost maps, mapas perdidas, in the presence of the present moment. The play was presented by: Nadia Cuevas, Isabel Domínguez, Estefanny García and Javier Hernández.
May 2013-April 2014: Eldvägen Project. Lead Researcher K. Sandström
Eldvägen was a yearlong funded research and professional development project during which Karoliina worked under the guidance of Nicolás Núñez in Mexico Cit. The purpose of the project was for Karoliina to develop her professional practice as an actor and an actor trainer. The project consisted of four distinct stages of work based in a consideration of the elements fire, water, earth and wind. These were used as starting points for developing a piece of performance as well as a series of actor training exercises and practice. In November 2013 the project gave birth to the multilingual solo piece Inelden. Eldvägen and Inelden both in product and process reflect many of the interest Karoliina pursues in her work. The project considered the contextualisation of the actor's understanding, experience and consideration of the material, experiential and inter-relational levels of engagement with the body and the 'body of the world'. This project was particularly focused on using the elements as starting points for the development of the actor's imagination; experiential and creative work. It applied practices and theories of the elements from Chakra theory; ancient Toltec philosophy and understating of the elements in ancient cosmovisions; as well as, scientific theories and understandings of reality in Neuroscience and quantum science.
Mandala 2014, Mexico City.
With Maestro Nicolás Nuñez and Karoliina Sandström.
Lamapa Perdida, 2014. With Nadia Cuevas, Isabel Domínguez, Estefanny García, Javier Hernandéz and Karoliina Sandström.
Eldvägen actor training session in Espacio Kuu, 2013.