front page video: SUPERTHING dance theater production comissioned by Šeiko Dance Company & Dance Theater Minimi 2026 in collaboration with Thar Be Dragons. Choreography and concept Annamari Keskinen & Ryan Mason
"Thar Be Dragons", a Helsinki-based dance company, was created by two artists and collaborators, Annamari Keskinen and Ryan Mason, in 2018. The company functions as a platform for both choreographers to create and present their collaborative and personal works. Thar Be Dragons has crafted an array of productions, spanning from site-specific performances to black box and large stage works. Ryan’s and Annamari’s collaborative synergy forms the heart of their work.
Thar Be Dragons has aimed to generate holistic environments where the poetics of the body and drama harmoniously interweave and amplify one another. Their aesthetic is heavily influenced by the uncanny, the mystical, science fiction, and absurdity. This inspiration manifests in their approach to embodiment, veering from the traditional idealized choreography. Instead, the artists investigate the peculiar, the clumsy, the discordant, and shape them into their unique poetic potential.
The artist's current work places premium on the value of process, the unfinished work, and seeks a platform where the essence driving the final product can be appreciated irrespective of its stage of completion.
Annamari and Ryan have received choreographic commissions from Dance Theatre Minimi and Šeiko Dance Company, Helsinki City Theater (HDC), Staatstheater Kassel, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, Sozo Visions in Motion, Springboard Danse Montreal, SUB.LAB PRO, Trak Dance ensemble, Anton Bruckner Pivatuniversität, Hubbard Street Pro, Iwanson International School of Contemporary Dance, Shawbrook Dance, California Institute of the Arts.
Thar Be Dragons has been facilitating workshops in Europe and North America since 2016.
