Arttu Halmetoja
Dance Artist
Teddy Bears and The Promised Land
What happens when another Teddy moves into Teddy’s land? Is coexistence possible at all, and was it even an option in the first place?
Photo by Jussi Virkkumaa
Afterglow
What happens when dances that grew apart collide?
What remains?
I invite you to witness this theatrical afterglow – the choreography that was born when separate dances encountered each other.
Photo by Jussi Virkkumaa
In Concert
In Concert emerged through trial and error and transformed into a multi-arts performance. By visiting the echoes of my past dances, I create new ones. I try to get to the place where my dance feels exactly right and nothing else. Also, there are few chairs. And two pieces of fabric.
In Concert was born through trial and error and transformed into a multidisciplinary performance. The work brings dance and lighting design together on stage. It is a space for dance to be visible or invisible and a performance that moves between obscurity and recognition. Arttu Halmetoja (dance) and Lauri Hietala (lighting design) combine their artistic interests by producing their own works and combining them. This juxtaposition creates random and unexpected relationships between dance and light. The work is supported by Lauri Kallio (sound design) and Kasia Gorniak (costume design). In his dance practice, Halmetoja explores authentic dance. For him, it means listening to the body’s impulses and dancing them out. It is about curiosity, finding dance and doing it in the moment.
Photo by Katri Naukkarinen
GALLERY
BIO
Arttu Halmetoja is a Helsinki-based dance artist who works as a performer, choreographer and teacher. As a dancer, he has performed in works by Marjo Kuusela, Riku Lehtopolku and Collectif ÈS. Halmetoja has choreographed 2 of his own group works for AB Dance Company’s repertoire in 2024 and 2025. Currently, together with his colleague Linda Holma, he is teaching weekly dance workshops for opioid dependent substance users at the Substance Abuse Service Unit in Helsinki. In residencies, Halmetoja has worked at Ehkä Tuotanto as part of Laura Jantunen’s project, which will premiere at Zodiak in spring 2026, and at Moderna Dansteatern in Stockholm with dance artist Dafne Giannikopoulou.
In his artistic work, Halmetoja is interested in resonances, echoes and traces. How do these manifest themselves in dance physically, spatially and sound wise, and in what different ways can one relate to the world through these? In his work as an artist, he also takes dance outside established art spaces to reach those who would otherwise have difficulty accessing it. Halmetoja graduated with a Master’s degree in Dance Arts from the University of the Arts Helsinki in 2023. In his free time Halmetoja practices Tai Sheng Men style monkey kung fu and Yang style tai chi. In these, Halmetoja is inspired by body-based tools that differ in many ways from Western art dance and body-use traditions. Both of these martial arts and chi energy cultivation practices, which originated in what is now China, have their roots in centuries-old traditions of practice passed down from master to student.
“My dance comes to life in encounters. In moments that are open to sharing, listening, and curiosity.“
BIO
Arttu Halmetoja is a Helsinki-based dance artist who works as a performer, choreographer and teacher. As a dancer, he has performed in works by Marjo Kuusela, Riku Lehtopolku and Collectif ÈS. Halmetoja has choreographed 2 of his own group works for AB Dance Company’s repertoire in 2024 and 2025. Currently, together with his colleague Linda Holma, he is teaching weekly dance workshops for opioid dependent substance users at the Substance Abuse Service Unit in Helsinki. In residencies, Halmetoja has worked at Ehkä Tuotanto as part of Laura Jantunen’s project, which will premiere at Zodiak in spring 2026, and at Moderna Dansteatern in Stockholm with dance artist Dafne Giannikopoulou.
In his artistic work, Halmetoja is interested in resonances, echoes and traces. How do these manifest themselves in dance physically, spatially and sound wise, and in what different ways can one relate to the world through these? In his work as an artist, he also takes dance outside established art spaces to reach those who would otherwise have difficulty accessing it. Halmetoja graduated with a Master’s degree in Dance Arts from the University of the Arts Helsinki in 2023. In his free time Halmetoja practices Tai Sheng Men style monkey kung fu and Yang style tai chi. In these, Halmetoja is inspired by body-based tools that differ in many ways from Western art dance and body-use traditions. Both of these martial arts and chi energy cultivation practices, which originated in what is now China, have their roots in centuries-old traditions of practice passed down from master to student.
“My dance comes to life in encounters. In moments that are open to sharing, listening, and curiosity.“
WORK EXPERIENCE
2025-26 Weekly Dance Class for opiate dependent substance users, Teacher, Rehabilitation Centre Breikki Helsinki
2025 Teddy Bears and The Promised Land, Choreographer, AB Dance Company
2025 Kilttejä tyttöjä, empaattisia hevosia ja muita tähtihetkiä, Dancer, chor. Riku Lehtopolku, Regional Dance Centre of Western Finland
2025 Risto Räppääjä ja Nuudelipää, Dancer (Risto), chor. Marjaterttu Willman, AB Dance Company
2024-25 What a Menu!, Dancer, chor. Johanna Keinänen & Liisa Ruuskanen, AB Dance Company
2024 Expanded contexts of dance art course, Teacher, University of Arts Helsinki & Rehabilitation Centre Breikki Helsinki
2024 Residence, Dancer, chor. Laura Jantunen, Ehkä Productions, Turku
2024 Dance Workshop for opiate dependent substance users, Teacher, Rehabilitation Centre Breikki Helsinki
2024 Afterglow, Choreographer, AB Dance Company
2024 Petrushka, Dancer, choreographer Marjo Kuusela, AB Dance Company
2023-24 Staying Alive, Dancer, choreographer Collectif ЀS, AB Dance Company
2023 Weekly Dance Class for elderly people, Teacher, Myllytie Activity Centre, Järvenpää
2023 Burn the Floor!, Dancer, choreographer Arja Tiili, Arja Tiili Dance Company
2023 IN CONCERT, Dancer, artistic thesis work, University of Arts Helsinki*
2022 Dance Workshop for opiate dependent substance users, Teacher, Rehabilitation Centre Breikki Helsinki*
2022 Residence, Dance Artist, together with Dance Artist Dafne Giannikopoulou, Moderna Dansteatern, Stockholm
2021 VISITOR, Dancer, solo work, University of Arts Helsinki*
2021 Dance Improvisation Course, Teacher, Balettakademien, Stockholm
2021 AUO, Dancer,choreographer Eeva Muilu, University of Arts Helsinki*
2020 if sun then otherness, Dancer, choreographer Iina Taijonlahti, University of Arts Helsinki*
2016-19 Break the Fight! project, Workshop Teacher/Dancer, Arja Tiili Dance Company
2018 Supersankarit, Dancer, choreographer Marja Korhola, Raatikko Dance Theatre
*part of studies
EDUCATION
2023 Master of Dance Performance, University of Arts Helsinki
2021 Bachelor of Dance, University of Arts Helsinki
2019-2020 Dance Performance, Stockholm University of Arts, Erasmus+ exchange programme
2016-2017 Dance Performance, Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance
2014-2016 Dance Performance, Tampere Conservatoire
2016 Undergraduate, Tampere Upper Secondary School for Adults
GRANTS
2024 13 000 €, Finnish Cultural Foundation
2023 1 000 €, Helsinki City
2023 3 000 €, Arts Promotion Centre Finland
2022 2 300 €, Nordic Culture Point
2022 1 000 €, Finnish-Swedish Culture Fund
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Finnish Mother tongue
English Excellent
Swedish Good
CONTACT
arttu.halmetoja(at)outlook.com