Aku Ahjolinna

Aku Antero Ahjolinna (born 8 August 1946, in Helsinki)[1]: 59  is a Finnish ballet dancer and choreographer.

Aku Ahjolinna
Ahjolinna (right) and Saga Eriksson, 2019
Born
Aku Antero Ahjolinna

(1946-08-08) 8 August 1946
Helsinki
 Finland
NationalityFinnish
EducationFinnish National Opera Ballet School
Occupation(s)ballet dancer, choreographer
SpouseSaga Eriksson

Ahjolinna entered the Finnish National Opera Ballet School in 1959. In 1963, at the age of 17, he became a dancer with the Finnish National Ballet, where by 1969 he achieved the status of a solo dancer. Ahjolinna also studied at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in Leningrad, England, France, Hungary and the United States, and has embarked on numerous tours in Finland and abroad. As a choreographer, Ahjolinna began in 1984 with Paavo Heininen's opera The Damask Drum.[2]: 149  He retired from ballet in 1993.[3]

Ahjolinna's roles have included, for example, Khan Girey in The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, Crassus in Spartacus, Iago in Othello, and the elderly mother María Josefa in a ballet adaptation of Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba. During the 1974–1975 season, he partnered with prima ballerina Marianna Rumjantseva in Swan Lake.[4]: 78  He frequently collaborated with Doris Laine, the Finnish National Ballet's late, influential prima ballerina and artistic director.[5]

Ahjolinna's spouse is ballerina and pedagogue Saga Eriksson.[1]: 59  He is Eastern Orthodox in his religious conviction.[3]

References
  1. Rantala, R.; Pajala, L.; Strengell-Silainen, U. (eds.). Kuka kukin on. Henkilötietoja nykypolven suomalaisista 2005 (in Finnish). Helsinki: Otava. p. 59. ISBN 951-1-19577-8.
  2. Ahonala, M., Suurin kaikista on laulu: Taru Valjakan elämä (Helsinki: Ntamo, 2015), p. 149. (in Finnish)
  3. Pallari, L., "Tanssija Aku Ahjolinna joutui KGB:n kuulusteluihin", Helsingin Sanomat, Oct 30, 2013. (in Finnish)
  4. Miesmaa, J., Facts about Finland (Helsinki: Otava, 1976), p. 78.
  5. Anon., "Balettilegenda Doris Laine on kuollut", Savon Sanomat, Dec 15, 2018. (in Finnish)
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