Anandah Kononen (b. 1972) had a career of almost 25 years as a ballet dancer in the Finnish National Ballet – from which she retired in April 2016. During her long career she danced mainly soloist roles in which she was known for her ability as a diverse and strong interpreter. Kononen danced in the works of almost all of classical ballet’s more traditional choreographers such as Petipa, Bourmeister and Cranko. The neoclassical works of Jiri Kylian, George Balanchine, Nacho Duato, Ohad Naharin became also part of her repertoire. She also worked in person with choreographers such as Rudi van Dantzig, Heinz Spoerli, Alexei Ratmansky, Sylvie Guillem, Natalia Makarova, Patrice Bart, John Neumeier, Kenneth Greve, Ben Stevenson.
Kononen has toured with the Finnish National Ballet both within Finland and abroad. She has performed in various gala events as a ballet dancer and also as a choreographer and even a presenter.
Kononen started creating her first choreographies early on during her career as a ballerina but the year 2008 can be considered as the beginning of her choreograhic career when her own language within the styles of classical and neoclassical styles developed. Working with her own productions created a base for a career as a choreographer and lead to many interesting works, including a full length classical ballet Moomin and the Comet for the Finnish National Ballet in 2015 which drew wide interest both in Finland and internationally.
Anandah Kononen has received the Philip Morris Dance Bud award, Pro Dance Award for career as a ballet dancer and several Finnish choreography awards, including Pro Dance award in 2017.
In her choreographic work Kononen is inspired by the narrative and choreography’s ability to evoke emotions. Central to her works is clarity, narration and a musical way of working. The visual atmosphere is carefully thought out in her works. Music is extremely important in Anandah Kononen’s choreographies, working closely with composers has created ideal conditions for new and unique works. For Kononen humour is an important aspect and her works often have an element of surprise and warm spirited sense of joy.
