After (2025)
Solo for the aftermath of sexual violence inspired by rape myths
Duration: 45 minutes + Q&A
Choreographer & performer: Tuulia Soininen
Artistic mentor: Elina Pirinen
Dramaturge: Meri-Maija Näykki
Research mentor: Mariella Greil
Photographer: Miina Puolitaival
Supporters: Yrjö Sirolan Säätiö, Fontys & Codarts Netherlands
Performances:
20.5.2025 COMMA festival, Tilburg, NL
26.7.2025 Sysäys festival, Orivesi FIN
25.9.2025 Zugzwang festival, Klagenfurt, AUT
“bold”, “brave” and “unforgettably moving”
​
After is a raw and intimate solo performance exploring the aftermath of sexual violence through feminist performance art and embodied storytelling. Blending physical intensity with poetic imagery, the piece challenges dominant narratives of victimhood.
Inspired by modern day rape myths and mythical depictions of women, After invites audiences into a complex journey of reclaiming agency. Fleshy, darkly humorous and deeply moving, After is a powerful testament to the role of art in making the unspeakable visible.
​
Content notes: partial nudity, not suitable for children
​
​
​
"Tuulia Soininen touches audiences deeply with her performance. Her dramaturgically
finely crafted solo brought the emotional states of women who have experienced sexual
violence to the stage... It becomes almost acrobatic when tendencies towards liberation
emerge – but the question remains whether such a thing can really exist here.”
Kleine Zeitung, Tina Perisutti, 27.9.2025
“It felt as if shame was discharged from my body through the piece; the performer is releasing it from the collective body.”
"Even though the piece was supposed to be provocative, it wasn't provocative in a way that stood in the way of dialogue. The piece did an amazing job inviting people to talk without pointing any fingers."
Audience testimonies
"We need the physicality offered by the piece and the embodied, bodily processing of sexual violence.”
""The performance made me speechless. I will remember this experience for a long time. I will keep on working to find the words, keeping them alive."
"The piece was important, unsettling, distressing, intimate, sad, at times even funny, physical, and so much more for which I don’t yet have words.”
“It felt difficult at first, then powerful and comforting to watch a strong body and its unwavering movement.”
©Ville Kurki
©Miina Puolitaival
©Jona Harnischmacher
©Jona Harnischmacher
(ENG) Click to open
(FIN) Click to open
Detailed content notes
Music: Saunavihdat – Minna Raskinen & Erkki Majasvaara; Saunavihdat – Ilona Vähäsöyrinki & Lapsikuoro Ilo; Down by the River –Neil Young & Crazy Horse; Drunk Girl – Tom Douglas & Chris Janson; My Collection – Future; Sweat – Inner Circle; Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin – Richard Wagner & Kalevi Kiviniemi; Do What U Want – Lady Gaga & Christina Aguilera; Lähteellä - Tuuletar