Jussi Ulkuniemi
Dancer
Jussi Ulkuniemi (he/they) is a Helsinki-based queer artist, dancer-maker, photographer and a pedagog. They have studied in Outokumpu Vocational School’s Dance and Movement Research studies, a BA in Dance in Theatre Academy, University of Arts Helsinki and an exchange year in Inter-University Center For Dance in Berlin (HZT). Before embarking on a career in performance and dance arts, they also studied photography in Lahti Institute of Design and Fine Arts. Their personal style in dance stems from a vibrant mix of breakdance, capoeira, contact improvisation and the electronic music scene typical of Berlin.
Ulkuniemi’s work both as a freelance dancer and choreographer has been visible in Finland and Berlin from 2019 onward. Ulkuniemi has worked with dance and pedagogy in various contexts, e.g. Kurouma Collective’s community art project Yhtä Matkaa 2019–2020 and the multi-professional Huuma-project (2021) aimed for marginalized youths in Vantaa, Finland. Funded by the Finnish Kone Foundation (2022), they are currently (2022–2024) working on a photographic and performative project around queer intimacies, non-normative bodies and expressions of love and sexuality.
