Category Archives: Dance

Twirling World tonight in Amsterdam! Welcome.

I’m performing Twirling World tonight with Sonja in Melkweg, Amsterdam at 9pm. So if you happen to be here, you are most welcome to the show. The space is great, Melkweg’s crew is fantastic and we are soon heading to Melkweg to start building the set up. Long day ahead of us. But tonight should be fun!

We were rehearsing yesterday in a studio in DasArts but Twirling World is very difficult to rehearse without the set up and the right space.  But I think we are ready and prepared and at least for me, the logic of the performance is very clear.
Ooh, and it’s so nice to be in Amsterdam! What nostaligia, what memories. It’s all a bit too much really.
And yesterday it was so great to see Maija and Jyrki and Tuovi and Pia…

Well, hope to see you tonight!

Johanna

lots of work & fun

What a luxury to be at home for a few days. I’ve gone for runs, dentist, library, ice-skating with my daughter, Zumba, Pilates, seen friends, wrote comments for a MA thesis and have read some stuff. But not nearly enough! I have a huge pile of books that I need to read, articles and essays to write and performances to warm up and work on. I’m so fully booked until Christmas that I just hope I won’t catch a flue or anything. I’m very excited to travel to London to work with Rebecca French in the beginning of December. We’ll continue our collaboration which we started in June in Kuopio. And after that, I’ll be performing Twirling World with Sonja in Melkweg, in Amsterdam. They have a very exciting Finnish programme for a couple of days and I’m very happy and proud to be part of that.

More later!

Here’s a picture of my daughter ice-skating on Saturday in Leppävirta. She’s so gorgeous! Although the competition didn’t go very well for her –she was so nervous- she did much better than last time and I love her what ever she does!

Johanna

reading, writing, thinking, reflecting

Uuuh, I’ve been reading books and articles related to my studies all day. I have no idea how I’m going to pass all the exams, write articles and research plans related not only to my studies but also my work. Well, one thing at a time but I do feel a bit helpless at the moment. But I am excited like a little child about everything! It’s such a privilege to be able to study, develop my thinking and challenge myself and my thoughts. I love it.

And I’m so exited about my upcoming working period in London and a performance in Amsterdam! My weeks are extremely full but it’s so exciting to be giving talks, performing, writing, working on a new project and of course studying that I’m positive that I will somehow survive the upcoming intense months. We’ll see.

Today I finally managed to squeeze in a Zumba class at the Functional Studios and a bike ride there and back. Oh it was so good and soooo needed.

I’m so happy about my new sister Maija being part of my chosen family. At least one person to remember my birthday! Well, at this age birthdays are not very important events and it takes at least five minutes to calculate my age, but it’s still nice if someone remembers it. Well, my dad called me in the evening and I did get a card from my grandparents so I can’t complain. To treat myself, I bought a limited edition bottle of Codorníu Gran Plus Ultra and it’s amazing! If you can get hold of any, get as many bottles as you can – if you love cava as much as I do! What a treat. It’s a great wine.


Yesterday I went to town with my daughter and I had to go and try this I’m your queen dress on which a saw a couple of days ago. And when I put it on, there was no way I could leave it in the shop. It fitted just perfectly for me and I know I will wear it a lot. So since no-one else is treating me, I have to do it myself (sounds a bit perv but you know what I mean…)! Anyway, Nanso’s autumn collection is very nice so go and have a look at their collection. The best collection is of course in Helsinki in their shop on Mikonkatu but Kuopio’s Sokos has a surprisingly good selection at the moment. It’s about time…

I also saw two dance performances yesterday which made me really happy somehow. It was great to see my old time collaborator Jukka Ristolainen to perform and I’ve been enjoying getting to know Terhi Kuokkanen more as a performer, too. She is young, but gorgeous.

Hope you’ll have a great week!

Johanna

 

 

 

work & study

Oh it was lovely to be in the ANTI office today with Laura! At the moment we are working on dozens of grant applications so we went through plans for 2012, the projects, the artists, the budgets, the questions, the issues… I’ve made a draft of the programme which is a really great starting point. But yes, so many things to find out, sort, schedule and to work on. And we need some MONEY! But it will be great.

I’ve tried my best to study Bourdieu’s Field of Cultural Production lately but somehow I’m not getting very far… Last night I slept only a couple of hours so trying to force myself to study in the library felt like a torture today… But I had a coffee with my collaborator Jukka Ristolainen and I’ll see his show tomorrow so that’s good. All is good!

Johanna

Kuopio, a lively city?

What an intensive week I had. Spent a day in Jyväskylä and another one in Helsinki. Had a lot of thoughts about cultural policy, arts funding and arts management. In Helsinki I saw a performance by a graduating MA student – a very highly educated dancer entering into this insecure, unstable, problematic and debated field and business. Maybe it’s because I’m evaluating her final work that I’m somehow very conscious of all these rather negative issues in our field. And I’m not sure what I think about it. Part of me of course wants to encourage her and everyone and a part of me is really sad because it will be hard. On the other hand, it might not be hard for her at all and what is hard for each person varies so much anyway…

I gave a talk about ANTI in a seminar on Wednesday and it was kind of inspiring to hear and learn about other festivals and events in the city of Kuopio. The city is finally making or renewing its marketing strategy and festivals and events are of course a big part of the brand and image of the city. And if Kuopio wants to be a lively city, I think ANTI is doing the best job in the cultural sector.

So I was in Helsinki on Friday and realized that I wasn’t at all interested in going to the Habitare fair. This is a bit strange as I’m usually very interested in design. I’m not even sure when it was that I last visited Habitare (maybe last year?) but it was a bit of a disappointment so this year I didn’t really even consider it. But my desires were fulfilled last night in the 20th anniversary birthday party of Visio which was an inspiring event combining style, fashion, design and gourmet. I was so happy to participate and very, very proud of Kari and Sari. The venue was great, the old VR-makasiini factory building, which could be this amazing venue for all kinds of events, parties and performances in Kuopio but is hardly ever used. I know they had a lot of problems to get all the necessary permissions to organize this event there but I’m so proud they did and I really hope more people would start doing the same. Kuopio needs something like that! And Kuopio wouldn’t be the same without Visio = Kari & Sari. Think about this: these two very inspirational people who didn’t have to do anything wanted to organize this event which included a fantastic hair/fashion show, very well designed and organized venue with music, lights, BMX performer, lots of sparkling wine and gourmet deserts. And they invited about 500 people to enjoy all this for free! All I can say is thank you. And I love you!
With Kari & Sari

And I got to wear my golden Finsk shoes! Lovely.

We took a lot of pictures from the show…hopefully I’ll get to post a few later.

Johanna

Can’t believe it’s already the end of August!

I haven’t had a proper summer holiday for a few years so this summer it was such a luxury not having to work very much. Of course as an artist I’m always somehow working on upcoming projects and preparing new works, but I didn’t work in terms of waking up early in the morning, sitting in the office, rehearsing or warming up shows nor performing. It was pretty nice. I didn’t do anything special really – slept, cooked, exercised, wrote, thought…but what was pretty special for me, was that I had time & peace to read. Meaning anything; novels, newspapers, short stories. I really really love reading and drowning myself in the thoughts of a writer, but unfortunately this is something I find hard to find time & space to do in my normal everyday. I think I should change that – so much I enjoy reading. This summer I read some books I should have read years ago (like Mereta Mazzarella and Kari Hotakainen) and some new discoveries like Siri Hustvedt (how amazing? And how amazing that I haven’t read her books before?). Unfortunately, I didn’t have money to travel anywhere or to do anything special, but maybe that was good. Not to do too much. Less is more.

So when last weekend when we went to our friends’ house warming party 150km away, I felt like I was abroad! The sun was shining, there were good friends around, we ate amazing foods, drank a lot of wine and got to spend a night in a house designed by Alvar Aalto! I really need to make sure I have time to see my friends and spend proper time with them. I love them. The house warming party was pretty special as the couple whose house warming party it was, announced that they had gotten married last December. So there were a lot of tears of joy and happiness! We ended up talking a lot about marriage as another friend couple has also decided to get married. And I was trying to explain why I don’t understand this institute. I just don’t. I’m not against it but I don’t get it. So everyone kept saying that it’s only us who’s left to organize a love parade…but somehow I don’t see it happening.

Of course I’ve gone back to work and the autumn looks pretty…busy. I’m not sure how I will manage everything when the daylight is getting less and less, it’s getting darker and colder and one has to get up insanely early every f*king morning. But of course, there are amazingly exciting things coming up as well! It’s time for the 10th ANTI Festival, I’m performing in Tanssin Aika Festival in Jyväskylä and in the city theatre of Kuopio, I have talks and lectures in Joensuu, Helsinki, Kuopio, we are preparing UP TO NATURE EU funded project for 2012, I have a work period in London etc etc. It’s all very very exciting but at the same time feels like it’s a lot. And besides that I have my basic training to do. I’ve also registered our lovely Yorkshire terrier Pimu to a puppy training…  By the way, Pimu was voted for the pet of the week in July, see link here!

Autumn is the time to pull out warmer clothes from the wardrobe, get inspired by new colours, trends, prints, textures… I’ve sold two pairs of Minna Parikka shoes and had a stall in a second hand shop in Kuopio for a week where I sold clothes, shoes and all kinds of little items like plates, puzzles, games and bags. Maybe it’s time for something…new? I think this pair of Minna Parikka’s A/W 2011 shoes with the snake from ‘Women are dangerous animals collection’ is pretty awesome. Don’t you?

Highlight of the summer was a long weekend we spent on our friends boat Gerda boating. The weather was great, the kids were great, Pimu was behaving well and we had enough food & drinks! On board were the hosts Vilja & Jari (THANX SO MUCH!!!), Zulani, Justiina & Pimu and Pekka & me. A selection of photos here:


The gorgeous Gerda:

















Looking forward to more active blogging period!

Johanna

perception

I’ve been warming up Twirling World show with Sonja, working on the ANTI 2011 programme details and the upcoming book. I’ve been cycling, doing Kinesis and Zumba. Went for a day to Helsinki. And wondered about the flowers in the garden. You cannot imagine how much joy the rhododendrons bring me! And they are all going to bloom this year – very soon.



Johanna

a week of sports

Today I did a longer aerobic workout and went for a Nordic walk for about 95 mins. I took it very easy as I’ve been exercising a lot this week (about 10 hours including Zumba, functional training, Kinesis, cycling and Nordic Walking) and my body feels a bit tired. But I wanted to do one longer aerobic exercise so this afternoon was a good moment to do that. It was surprisingly warm and it was ok to just have a t-shirt on as I walked the Jynkänvuoren pururata twice. As I was Nordic walking and listening to music, I was thinking why I feel so tired. This week my body has physically felt tired because of rather hard exercise but I’ve also felt tired in relation to my work. Strange as this hasn’t been the busiest time ever. But I guess I have a few processes going on which always take more energy than expected. Two new works that I’m planning and working on, the ANTI Festival programme and our upcoming book…

I’m so excited about being invited to perform Acts of Clothing in the autumn in few festivals. I was so happy to get a phone call last week from one artistic director and to be invited to a festival I’ve never performed before. Great! And of course we have a show of Twirling World in June at the Paikallisliike event as part of the Kuopio Dance Festival.

Oh well, now it’s time for the ice hockey world championship final!

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