Lesbian Power Duo Presents

FOUR DANCES AND A WEDDING

- Two lesbians, both alike in dignity -

Across four dances, a courtship unfolds 

in lustful glances and rivalry of two households

Waltzes become language of teasing and glee

and finally the courage to go down on one knee

The final act - a wedding - seals the lovers’ fate

spiralling towards an ending that might not be great 

Thus the scene is set for the play to begin

is it pride or is it love that will finally win?

Four Dances and a Wedding is an epoque-ish musical presenting a stormy lesbian love story that balances between good intentions and poor executions. The conflicting emotions and desires of the story’s heroines create an absurd world where the community’s social codes, etiquette, and morals rock the boat of their budding love. The musical is a loose lesbian adaptation of the epic hetero love stories Pride and Prejudice and Romeo and Juliet. 

Four Dances and a Wedding is the second part of the Lesbian Power Duo Karlberg&Laakso’s DIY contemporary musical trilogy, which is a lesbian exploration of the musical genre as well as an exploration and storytelling of various lesbian passions and loves. The trilogy plays with lesbian stereotypes, tropes, and the duo’s own experiences. Stylistically, it builds upon a subgenre of contemporary dance that brings back intense eye contact and expressive movement. 

Language: English

Duration: 1h

Team and credits

Choreography, performance, sound, costume: Johanna Karlberg and Iiris Laakso
Light and sound support: Satu Kankkonen
Photo: Emma Karppi
Supported by: Kone Foundation, Svenska Kulturfonden

Lesbian Power Duo is an artistic collaboration between Helsinki-based dance and performance artists Johanna Karlberg and Iiris Laakso. Their artistic collaboration began in 2022 with the project Lesbo Erotics - The Garden Party. The duo is currently working on a musical trilogy project with a two-year grant from the Kone Foundation (2025-2026). The first part, LESBOLESBOLESBO, has been performed in various events across Finland and the third part, Heart of the Ocean, will premier in Helsinki in November. 

At the heart of their artistic practice lies the desire, need, and motivation to dismantle the simultaneous fetishization and erasure of the lesbian body that stems from heteronormativity, and to discover new and alternative representations and ways of encountering it.

Johanna Karlberg is a dance and performance artist who has been working in diverse contexts on the art field in Finland since 2017. She has worked as a performer and collaborator with choreographers Sonya Lindfors, Heli Keskikallio and fine arts artist Venla Helenius; as a dance teacher for children and adults with intellectual disabilities; and as a curator and facilitator for UrbanApa - an anti-racist and feminist art platform. In her artistic work Johanna is interested in performativity and the expressive potential of the body – its simultaneously limited and boundless condition – in relation to normative and oppressive hierarchies.

Iiris Laakso is a dance and performance artist who loves and craves dance. In their artistic work, they are fascinated by the embodiment of emotions and pleasure, as well as the feels, constructions and deconstructions of gender, sexuality and power. In the context of contemporary performance, they are now particularly interested in drama, humor, and multiple registers of expression. They are also a dance teacher of over ten years, a Master of Dance (University of Arts Helsinki, Theater Academy, 2021), and a Capricorn/Cancer/Gemini.