Goblinella

Vilma Hartikainen ja Lotta Elisa Mirtti

Goblinella - Horokölli is a grotesque horror-dance show by two stripper artists. The performance tells the story of a stripclub regular Matti (John) who meets stripper-goblin Horokölli (Goblinella). The piece lives through the bodily journey of Horokölli from a vivacious and hyperfeminine stripper to a dying, rotting goblin.

The characters of the performance get their inspiration from a piece of Finnish folklore in which Matti, a peasant, meets a greedy goblin (fin. peikko) and manages to best him through his cleverness. In this performance this archetypical setting is examined through a more modern lense: Matti is a stripclub regular and the goblin is Horokölli, the stripper. The performance showcases the violence met by women in precarious positions, but instead of re-enacting real violence, the performance turns history into grotesque humour and gives it into the hands of fictional characters.

The performance creates a space for individuals who have experienced violence to see themselves in a larger role; as fantastical, grotesque and multidimentional storytellers.

For women, Finland is the most dangerous country in the EU. One in three Finnish women have experienced domestic violence. Misogyny and its companion whorefobia are pervasive in Finnish culture. This creates a need for radical art that is not afraid to take up space and question preconceived notions of violence, including its victims and perpetrators. 

Goblins and strippers face similar discrimination, violence and accusations of greed. Goblinella - Horokölli takes this narrative of strippers as goblin-like monsters to the extreme and ask; who should we really be afraid of?