Marika Peura is a choreographer, dancer and performer based in Helsinki, Finland. She works multidisciplinary in the fields of dance & performance. Peura is interested in the emotional, poetic and political nature that unfolds from the experientiality of the body. Her ongoing practice center around the intimacy & erotics of the dancing body; dwelling in the emotional, sensual and social energies in the intersection of club/rave dance & culture and contemporary choreography. In her upcoming work she is researching and re-imagining the question of (physical) intimacy in the relationship with her mother. Through this personal framework unraveling questions of heritage, 3rd culture kid experience, white supremacy in the context of Finland.

Peuras’ dance background is in street & club dance culture; freestyle hip hop being closest to her heart. This is reflected in her artistic practice and the relation to bodily movement. She did her institutional dance and choreography studies in Uniarts Helsinki, graduating from the Choreography MA program in 2020, and BA in contemporary dance in 2017. The BA studies included an Erasmus year at HZT's Dance, Context, Choreography program.

Peuras’ recent works include solo piece Amalgam Melee (2024), down below things shudder (2023), and then they left (2021), Arvaa mitä? Arvaa Mitä! (Guess What? Guess what!) (2022 & 2021), Shall we have a drink before I start to cry (2020), Philia (2019) and Sirkka Rukoilija (2017).

In November 2023 Peura and her working partner Kaisa Nieminen were rewarded with a prize ‘Future of Culture’ by the Finnish Culture Gala. Her works have been show at ImPulsTanz Festival in the context of 8:tension, ICA London, Ice Hot Nordic Dance platform, Zodiak Center for New Dance, Dance House Helsinki, Dance House Sweden, Inkonst Malmö, Stoa Helsinki.

She has worked as a dancer in works by Mikko Niemistö (fin), Lau Lukkarila (fin/aut) & Zeynab Kirikou Gueye (cz/aut), Maija Hirvanen (fin), YBDG (nl), Samir Akika (alg/fra), Branch Nebula (aus) Wang / Ramirez (ger/fra), Joona Halonen (fin), Petri Kekoni (fin), Janina Rajakangas (fin), Reija Wäre (fin), Viktor Fröjd (swe) and Christine Nypan (nor).