Will & Kate:
La Pré Sale:
Los Torreznos performing at the Trouble Festival:
Pictures by Laura & Johanna.
Oh, it was such a great trip!
Johanna
Category Archives: Art
London & Brussels
I had the luxury of visiting London and Brussels last week. First we worked two days in London with the ANTI Festival’s core team; me, Laura and Gregg. We are so used to Skype and email that it felt so luxurious to actually be in the same physical space. And we accomplished so much! There are a million big & small details to discuss and decide with the festival programme which we are hoping to launch in the end of the month or in the beginning on June. So I was so pleased with our meeting. Very useful. And it was great to see Gregg, sniff the air of London a little bit and see my friends’ house for the first time. Inspiring!
Gregg pointing out that he’s having tea while me & Laura are enjoying something else…
We were there just a day before the royal wedding so I had to buy a Will & Kate T-shirt. When I was buying it on Oxford Street, I got interviewed for French TV. They asked me why I bought it and I said because it’s so kitsch. Probably not the right answer! We also had a lovely dinner in a wonderful tapas place with Laura in Soho. By the way, if you are in London, check out FrenchMottershead’s photographic exhibition in the Photographers’ Gallery. Saw some images before they went to print and they looked very intriguing.
From London we took the Eurostar to Brussels. It was my first time on Eurostar and I was amazed how quick and easy it is! Less than two hours and you are in Brussels. It feels like a miracle comparing to Finland where it takes four hours for me to get even to Helsinki….
In Brussels we had A Space for Live Art project meeting with all the partners. The meeting was during the Trouble Festival so evenings we spent watching works. Rosie Dennis was doing her Downtown project there and it was great to see her working in a different context, different city and language. She performed in Les Halles but I must say that I really preferred her shows in Kuopio as they were not hidden in some art space. Also the work of Mitch & Parry was great.
We had a wonderful time with Laura. The weather was great, +23 degrees and we enjoyed the city a lot. On Saturday afternoon we had a little time to pop into the city centre for shopping. I brought Laura to the Pierre Marcolini chocolate shop… I didn’t remember how amazing the chocolate really is! It blows your mind. Laura will probably hate me forever for bringing her to the Cora Kemperman shop…where we both did some shopping. Again we had wonderful tapas and on Sunday just amazing mussels in La Pré Salé. Oooh. Unforgettable.
La Pré Salé:
1st of May:
Laura’s Belgian waffle:
This week has been hard trying to adjust to the normal rhythm. Every time I’m away and then come back home, I feel that so much work has piled up I don’t know where to start. But I’ve been happy cycling, going to Zumba and getting my energy flowing. Tomorrow I’m looking forward to Functional Training with Pipsa and on Saturday a Zumba marathon with Outi! Yeah.
Johanna
ARS11 opening & Helsinki
lovely Sunday morning
What a nice morning! +10 celcius degrees, sunny although a bit windy. I decided to take a risk and test how my operated knee feels about running. I wore my Nike Free trainers and run about 40mins. I wanted to take it very easy so I walked a few minutes in the beginning and was able to run without stopping after that. What a great feeling! My knee did hurt a little bit a few times but not so much that I would have had to stop. Also the kind of stinging pain went away so I’m not really able to analyze what causes it. I think I just have to let the knee to get used to running very, very slowly. I’m also thinking that maybe the very light trainers without any extra support actually work best for my knee. Don’t know. Anyway, I felt happy and strong and I can really feel all that functional training and Kinesis workouts in the strength of my legs. Running itself feels easy and light, it’s just the knee that is troubling me.
After my run I had a quiet breakfast reading Helsingin Sanomat and enjoying gorgeous pecan bread that I bought in Maatilatori in Helsinki. So delicious! It was really inspiring to spend a few days in Helsinki. I went to the opening of ARS11 in Kiasma with Pekka, saw Lea & Pekka Kantonen’s exhibition in Taidehalli and hang out with my daughter. Lovely. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay to see Maija Hirvanen’s new choreography in Zodiak but hopefully I will have a chance to see it somewhere else soon.
Today I have some writing, budgeting and thinking to do. Also my home office is waiting to get organized a bit better…
Johanna
ANTI business and other stuff
These last weeks have been very busy with the upcoming ANTI Festival. This is the time when we need to make final decisions about the programme, confirm sites, think about all kinds of details in terms of artists, sites, how audiences move between the works and sites etc. etc. And this year is of course special as it is the 10th anniversary of ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival. Later during the spring we will let you know about the plans we’ll have for this special edition of ANTI. So stay tuned! In the meantime, make sure you’ll visit our Facebook page to hear the latest news and keep with the upcoming campaigns!
I’ve been preparing a new collaboration with Rebecca French from FrenchMottershead. We’ll begin to work in June when Rebecca comes to Kuopio and although there’s a million things to sort out and do before that, I’m still looking forward to it all soooo much.
Later in April I’ll visit Brussels as we have A Space for Live Art project meeting during the Trouble Festival. I’ll be travelling with ANTI Festival’s producer Laura and we’ll also work a couple of days in London with Gregg.
Last weeks have been great for cycling in Kuopio! The snow has melted away from the streets so no need to worry about the icy roads anymore. I’m so in love with my new bike and the Ortlieb back panniers. So useful and beautiful! The only downfall is that the roads haven’t been cleaned up yet and it can be pretty dusty riding down the streets. But it still feels great!
Johanna
the performance period is over for now
Performed Twirling World four times with Sonja. It’s a hard piece to perform but it was great to experience that the performance had developed and also our relationship as performers had deepened. There were some really nice people in the audience and I’m happy some friends finally saw it. The last performance was very emotional and many people were howling in the audience – I guess it had a certain sad energy of a last show as both Sonja and I also felt quite emotional. Anyway, it wasn’t the very last show but it was an end of this period.
Photos Pekka Mäkinen.
Some thoughts:
I’ve noticed that it’s been a while since I’ve seen the anorexic woman whom I saw last year walking along Saaristokatu almost every day. Is she dead?
I’m really looking forward to the weekend brake with Maija in Copenhagen!
But before that, there’s a lot of work to do.
Johanna
exercising and preparations for shows
So next week we kick off with two shows of Twirling World. Monday will be stressful with technical rehearsals, building up the space, getting all the little bits and pieces together. But it’s great to perform the piece again! I just hope we’ll have audience. I’ve bought new silver blankets and tights for the show, also Tecni Pli to do my hair with Ghd…
This week I’ve taken it pretty easy and spent time at home. I’ve done some wallpapering, a lot of Kinesis and functional training as well as Zumba. Outi at the Functional Studios leads fantastic Zumba classes! They are a great way of getting aerobic exercise and she sure makes you sweat and jump so that your heart rate hits the max. I cycled to the city a couple of times this week but the roads were rather icy and dangerous (especially without winter tyres…). And the snowstorm yesterday didn’t make me happy either. But today is sunny and above zero degrees so I’m hoping the snow melts quickly so that I can start cycling on a regular basis.
All the ladies clothes and jackets were on sale (-40%) in Anttila and after my training today I went to have a look if they have any nice Nanso dresses, skirts or tops. Anttila’s clothing section is not really for me but some of Nanso’s clothes I like and came home with two tops.
Now it’s time to go and listen to Jukka Poika and Raappana at Kulttuuriareena 44! And since the gig is open to all ages I’m going with my son.
See you there?
Johanna
Back to work and exercise routines
Last week has been so freezing in Kuopio, all over Finland I guess. The days are gorgeous though – bright, sunny and the landscape is covered by tons of snow but it’s sooooo cold. A couple of hours in the afternoon feel pretty ok after the sun has been shining all morning but as soon as it goes down again, the cold hits really hard. So it hasn’t been a real pleasure to spend much time exercising outdoors although I’ve done a few Nordic walks.
Since I came back from Australia, I’ve been getting back to my normal routines. The last three weeks I’ve exercised pretty intensively at the Functional studio and really enjoyed myself! Lots of Kinesis and Functional training but also Zumba, for the first time in my life! I’ve missed so much aerobic exercise that I was quite miserable until I realized that the Zumba classes work at least as well as a run. And it’s so much fun to dance and sweat to the holiday rhythms of calypso, salsa and reggae!
Do you remember when I wrote last autumn that I want a hybrid bicycle? Well, I’ve just bought one! Yes, it’s a bit crazy but I’ve thought about it so much that I’m convinced that this was a good investment. The sad thing is that it has been so cold that is has been practically impossible to ride much but I’ve done a few short tests and I love it! My bicycle is Merida S-Presso 700 with hydraulic disc brakes, beautiful matt black and sleek design.
Now that I have the bike, I realize that I also should have all kinds of gears to be able to take full advantage of it but I have to take it slow. I can’t possibly buy a whole set of wind stopper cloths, gloves, cycling bags and shoes etc. all at once! I’ve bought a helmet, for the first time in my life, and that’s pretty much what I can afford at the moment. But to be able to cycle to work on a regular basis, I need to get these Ortlieb panniers. I really love the white line!
About work
Some of you know that I’ve started to work with the support of the Arts Council of Finland’s three year artist grant in January. This year I will not be producing any new performances or shows but I’m doing a lot of research as well as touring and performing Twirling World and Acts of Clothing. I’m working on an international collaboration with Rebecca French from FrenchMottershead and I’m very very excited about it! The downfall has been that I haven’t been able to raise much funding for the project which is to premiere in 2012 and not this year. I find it rather disturbing and I’m not really sure how to proceed with the project. We’ve got 2 000 € from the Regional arts council of North Savo but you might be able to imagine that it isn’t much of anything for an international collaboration. So we’ll see how that goes and what the rest of the foundations say.
Tomorrow I start rehearsing Twirling World with Sonja and we have shows coming up in Kuopio in March. I’m a bit scared to return to that work which as a performer, was quite challenging for me. So I’ll see how I feel next week.
I’ve been also really really shocked by the City of Kuopio cutting ANTI Festival’s funding. We have a tenth anniversary of the festival and a lot of special programme planned to celebrate that in the city of Kuopio, a book coming up by a national publisher and the fourth year of A Space for Live Art project going on. So WTF???? I don’t really know what to think.
Johanna
good gig in Oulu
I’m sitting on a train from Oulu to Kuopio. Last night I performed Acts of Clothing in Oulu to a full house and left feeling quite happy and satisfied. Here’s a link to the interview in Kaleva. I love performing that show although it somehow takes a lot out of me. A lot of energy, lot of strength, a lot of layers, emotions, feelings. The performance was perhaps a bit more emotional than usually as yesterday would have been my sister’s 32nd birthday. And there were some relatives in the audience, too, which is always a bit scary. But they loved the show and afterwards we had a dinner in an Indian restaurant – the same one where I last saw my sister exactly a year ago.
It was great to see Pirjo, my old time friend, teacher and collegue. I shared my pains and pleasures of performing, of donating my body to a certain imagery and the emotions and questions it has raised. The questions of being scrutinized by anybody, being viewed by the critical eye, the perhaps ‘evil’ eye. Why do I do it? Why do I set myself in the scenes that cause me so much emotional pain? Of course I know why – as the choreographer and director – but it’s yet again a different thing to experience all that as a performer, as a living and breathing and feeling human body. Not easy.
I’m longing for my exercise routines that have been a bit lost during the last weeks when I was in Sydney and now in Oulu. I’m dreaming of Pipsa’s Kinesis sport and functional training sessions and I wouldn’t mind a Zumba class on Saturday morning either! How weird is that?
Johanna
Acst of Clothing in Oulu on Sunday the 30th of Jan
I’m performing Acts of Clothing on Sunday in Oulu. JoJo – Oulu Dance Centre hosts the show which I’ll perform in Oulun Taidekoulu.
Here’s an interview about the show in Oulu-lehti. Also Kaleva interviewed me and I think the interview comes out either tomorrow or on Sunday. I haven’t performed in Oulu for ages, maybe the last time in 2000. Hopefully people will find their way to the show as my childhood town Oulu and the neighbouring island Hailuoto play a big part in it.
So if you are in Oulu or somewhere near, see you on Sunday at 4pm!
Johanna