Playful improv and spaces for connection
Improvisation is therapeutic without being therapy.
Improvisation is therapeutic without being therapy.
Actor-director, culture and interaction designer and applied improvisation coach Simo Routarinne and actor, interaction coach and supervisor Outi Mäenpää became friends when they began their studies at the Theatre Academy.
They are also both founding members of the improvisation theatre group Stella Polaris.
They found their way to Mathildedal after buying, together with their families, the main apartment of an old ironworks house over 20 years ago. Today, Routarinne lives in the village full-time, while Mäenpää lives there part-time.
When the friends start talking about creativity and improvisation, they never run out of words. Both organise improvisation camps and various interaction workshops in Mathildedal.
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But what exactly is improvisation?
Simo: “Someone once described it as surfing on the waves of chaos. In pure improvisation the story moves forward as participants listen to one another and build on the very first idea that comes to mind.”
Improvisation increases presence and courage.
Outi: “Improvisation is a tool for accessing intuitive and embodied knowledge. It releases tension and creativity and increases presence and courage.”
Simo: “Improvisation is also therapeutic without being therapy. For most people who take part in improvisation groups, it is something like a return to an infant-like sense of being loved and accepted. That is why I have described my groups as spaces of playful, compassionate connection.”
Who can take part in improvisation?
Outi: “Improvisation is for anyone who wants to grow as a person and improve their interaction skills.”
Simo: “It doesn’t even have to have a specific goal. In Mathildedal I have also led what you might call relaxed, just-for-fun improv sessions.”
proimpro.fi, outimaenpaa.fi
Simo Routarinne will direct the musical Pirturanta at Teatteri Provinssi’s summer theatre in Mathildedal in summer 2026, from 3 July to 16 August 2026.
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