RONJA SILJANDER
Ronja (she/her) directs, teaches and performs. Her strengths in performing arts are her exciting and original directorial style and voice, and versatile and imaginative skills in group facilitation. What intrigues her the most in drama are its endless possibilities to create and support worlds that a second ago merely existed in our heads. As she is more and more drawn to physical theatre and movement directing, she also seeks to find opportunities to work with young people to harness drama as a method of learning, encouragement and self-discoveries.
Ronja graduated with a BA in Performing Arts from the programme of drama instructing at Turku Arts Academy, Finland, in 2018. Alongside her studies that combined contemporary performance practices, applied theatre, group facilitation and directing, she trained to be a pedagogue, focused in dance, circus and other movement-based performance practices and got hooked by documentary and political theatre.
Her directing credits include Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare (Camden Market 2024), Mio My Son by Astrid Lindgren (Teatteri Ulpu 2021), The Workman’s Wife by Minna Canth (The Corbett Theatre 2020) and Wild Duck by Henrik Ibsen (Turku Arts Academy 2018). She has assistant directed with David Glass, and considers assisting the mass production of Lord of the Rings in 2018-2019 one of her most precious works.
She received a MFA degree with Distinction at East 15 Acting School's Theatre Directing programme in late 2020, and has additionally trained at GITIS Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (2019), Zurich University of Arts ZHdK (2017) and Finnish Theatre Institute under Tampere Comedy Theatre (2012-2014).
After a successful grant period by Arts Promotion Centre Finland in spring and summer 2022 and several well-received runs of devised physical comedy GOALS, and directing Much Ado About Nothing with London International Shakespeare Ensemble at Camden Market in the summer 2024, in 2025 she is looking forward to working more as a director with her other associate companies including Little Lion Theatre Company, Koffín Productions and Car Crash Productions. Alongside artistic work she appreciates theatre in education and community outreach work, and works as a drama and community facilitator with One Day and Moving Waves.
In life she’s inspired by values that leave no one with physical, psychological or social obstacles into a margin. When not working on- or off-stage in an artistic or educational context, Ronja can be found at a brick and mortar quad skate shop Double Threat Skates, teaching roller skating with Isle of Skating, hustling on track with London Roller Derby, or waiting for the new season of Great Pottery Throwdown to start.