Category Archives: Dance

weekend

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to fully enjoy the long weekend with the Independence day as I performed Acts of Clothing on Saturday night. But the performance went well and was fun to do. The audience consisted mostly of people who don’t spend so much time with art and many of them were positively surprised, enjoyed themselves and asked me where they could see something like this more often. So that was nice. But yes, I’ve had two days off which has been more than needed. My flu is now finally better and I’ve managed to catch up some sleep. I just don’t understand why I couldn’t fall asleep tonight… Well, I do understand actually. I’ve so many things to do and finish, emails to answer, meetings to attend and arrange that they all just twirl in my head. And I’m also doing a little performance tomorrow so that worries me a bit.
Anyway, we had a lovely dinner tonight with sweet potato pie, crayfish paste and rye bread and grilled salmon. Delicious! I also had time to hoover and go for a run. Not bad.


Last week I had a few meetings in different café’s in Kuopio. I seriously don’t understand why Burts Coffee, Kaneli or Fado cannot make their latte’s or cappuccinos with skimmed milk??? Latte for example has a lot of milk in it and tastes completely different if they use the so called ‘coffee milk’ (which tastes awful) or the full fat milk. I don’t understand why the owners of the café’s don’t get this point. So I couldn’t have a coffee in Kaneli or Burts last week. They have seriously lost me as their customer which is a shame as it would be nice to support the small business as supposed to the chains.

Johanna

we did it…

…only twice but it was great.

I don’t want to give the show away and post too many photos…(by Pekka Mäkinen)

Some audience members were crying, hugging me real tight, saying very beautiful words. Some were very distant. That’s ok, too.

Today has been very slow for me. I’m down with a flu and don’t feel that good. But I’m performing tomorrow and on Saturday so I’m trying to gather my energy.

Somehow strange days, strange thoughts. Feeling the vulnerability of a live show. Donating my body.

Candles, fires, warmth, closeness. How wonderful to spend a day at home. Do some laundry, dishes, cook food, sit by the fire, set up Christmas lights, listen to the kids arguing. Thought about my sister, too.

Yes, death. Yes, time passing.

Johanna

welcome to the Twirling World starring… Miss Privilege & Miss Million-Ways

Nov 30th at 7pm & Dec 1st at 1pm in Sotku, Kuopio, Finland.

Bookings: itak@itak.fi or call +358 40 742 9091

You can download the brochure as a pdf here Twirling World.

See you there!

Johanna

ajankohtaista

Johanna Tuukkaselta uusi teos Twirling World

Tanssitaiteilija Johanna Tuukkasen uusi teos Twirling World starring… Miss Privilege & Miss Million-Ways nähdään Sotkulla Kuopiossa 30.11. ja 1.12.2010. Tuukkasen kanssa teoksessa esiintyy tanssi- ja live art –taiteilija Sonja Jokiniemi.
Miss Privilege & Miss Million-Ways liikkuvat maastossa, joka muuttuu kutsuvasta kysyväksi ja vinksahtaneeksi. He asettavat itsensä asetelmallisiin kohtauksiin ja samalla kyseenalaistavat, rikkovat ja muuttavat niitä. Miss Privilege & Miss Million-Ways lahjoittavat merkityt kehonsa tapahtumiin, joissa he leikittelevät kimaltelevilla stereotypioilla, itsensä esineellistämisellä ja katsotuksi tulemisella.

Lippuvaraukset: itak@itak.fi / +358 (0)40 7429091

Huippusuosittu ACTS OF CLOTHING vierailee Yksin Sateessa? –festivaalilla Joensuussa 27.11.2010

Marraskuussa 2009 kantaesitetty ACTS OF CLOTHING perustuu brittiläisen Marcia Farquharin konseptiin. Esityksessä Johanna Tuukkanen on yksin catwalkilla koko elämän läpi ulottuvan vaatekomeronsa kanssa kertomassa tarinoita vaatekappaleiden johdattelemana. Hyvinkin paljastavat ja henkilökohtaiset tarinat avaavat kuvaa tämän päivän naisesta ja kertovat häikäilemättömän suorasukaisesti noloista väärinymmärryksistä, syrjinnästä, rakastumisesta, äitiydestä, irtisanomisista, onnistumisesta, taiteilijuudesta, perheestä, täyttymättömistä pyrkimyksistä ja irtiotoista. Arjen tragikoomisuus ja Tuukkasen itseironisuus ravistelevat catwalk-tradition puhumattomuutta.

Johanna mukana Tanssivassa Joulukalenterissa Kuopiossa

Itäisen tanssin aluekeskuksen tanssiva joulukalenteri on todellinen vaihtoehto joulun aineelliselle hössötykselle. Kalenterin luukku avautuu entisen elokuvateatteri Maximin ikkunassa joka päivä tarjoten liikelahjan, joka ei saastuta, ei jää nurkkiin pyörimään ja on aina sopivan kokoinen. Ja niin kuin hyvä lahja aina, Tanssivan joulukalenterin lahjat myös yllättävät. 
Joulukalenterin on ideoinut tänä vuonna freelance tanssitaiteilija ja koomikko Johanna Keinänen yhdessä tanssitaiteilija Anniina Aunolan ja Johanna Tuukkasen kanssa. Luukut avautuvat 1.-23.12. klo 16.30 ja aattona klo 11.00. Haapaniemenkatu 23:n ja Maljalahdenkadun kulmassa Kuopiossa. Johanna Tuukkanen esiintyy joulukalenterissa kahdeksan kertaa.

Juuri kolmivuotisen taiteilija-apurahan Taiteen keskustoimikunnalta saanut Johanna Tuukkanen tunnetaan erityisesti intiimeistä, esiintyjän ja katsojan vuorovaikutukselle perustuvista teoksistaan. Tuukkanen lähestyy teostensa teemoja usein itseironian kautta ja hän on kiinnostunut tuomaan esille ajan, paikan, fyysisyyden, hetkellisyyden ja arjen käsitteitä. Maija Hirvasen mukaan ”Arjen lisäksi Johannan töissä ovat 10 vuoden ajan näyttäytyneet leikkisästi erilaiset naismyytit ja sukupuoliset todellisuudet. Hän on diiva, äiti, olento, humoristinen luomu-bitch, Niskavuoren emäntä viettelevässä versiossa.”

Nähdään esityksissä!

sneak preview of my upcoming show

Performers: Miss Privilege & Miss Million Ways.

Photography: Pekka Mäkinen

So what do you think??? Comments?

Johanna

October 16th

At this age, birthdays are not very special events but I was delighted to get a book about Burlesque from Pekka and this lovely home made note holder from my daughter! I’m working on my upcoming performance in which I use some Burlesque imagery so the book is just perfect. I’m very happy.
Despite my birthday, I decided to bake an apple pie and the kids baked Finnish pulla, yam! I cannot recall when I last baked pulla -it’s years ago- and this was definitely the first time in this house… I also managed to go for a run so the day was not so bad after all.

Johanna

Helsinki days

Shows of Acts of Clothing in the Ateneum theatre in Helsinki went really well. It was great to experience so many people being touched and moved by the work. It was also a real pleasure to be hosted by the producer Mika Väyrynen and the technical crew which was just great. I want to thank especially Timo who run all the shows. Everything went smoothly and well.

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Mika took me to the concert of Paula Koivuniemi which took place in the Huvilateltta. It was just great! And I became a fan of Paula Koivuniemi. So much that I sent my son today in the rain back to town to buy Paula’s Rakkaudesta cd.
In Helsinki I managed to have some business meetings, see some work and some friends, too. It was a luxury to stay in Töölö which is a very nice and central part of Helsinki. At last I remembered to return my Lustwear socks which I’d bought sometime last year but which didn’t suite me at all. Hammi promised me to change them but I don’t know how many times I’ve been in Helsinki and not remembered to take the socks with me… I changed the socks into a kind of scarf since there’s no way I could afford at the moment one of their wonderful coats… In Stockmann I found the new Shock Absorber run bra on sale so now I’m also a very happy owner of a new black running bra.
The only down fall was that I caught a cold which didn’t really effect my show last night but today I woke up in the middle of the night feeling just terrible. The train journey home was a nightmare and I’ve been feeling really ill and bad all day, mostly sleeping and sipping tea. I really would like to go to work tomorrow but I don’t know if I can.

Maybe more about Helsinki in the next post and about one rather disappointing performance I saw…

Johanna

upcoming shows on Acts of Clothing

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I’m so excited to perform Acts of Clothing on Saturday the 21st, Sunday the 22nd and Tuesday the 24th of August in Ateneum Theatre in Helsinki.
Reservations: ainfo@ateneum.fi or call +358 (0)9-1733 6401.

Hope to see you all there!

Johanna

busy and sweaty summer days

The last weeks have been crazy in the ANTI office. We finally launched the 2010 programme and new website on Monday and I thought I’m able to have some holiday… it didn’t really work out as something unexpected came along and I’ve been busy sorting that out. Oh well. I still have to go to the office on Monday but after that I will be on holiday until the conference in Cesis, Latvia. That isn’t much so I really have to try hard to get my mind off work but it might be a challenge as I have to prepare for my talk in the conference… But I’m really looking forward to spending a few days in Riga and Cesis! 

It has been a bit busy at home, too.

Many passersby on their summer holiday lodging for a few nights and my daughter’s birthday party. But today was a celebration as we finished the home made table for our roof terrace. So far we haven’t had any table and I’ve been complaining about that so much and just dreamed of being able to dine outdoors. Now we finally can and already did! So nice. The table might not be 100% perfect but I love it already. I didn’t do much, only some painting…

The Toy chairs by Philippe Starck, Essence Pitcher by Iittala, design Alfredo Häberli.  p1020633.jpg p1020635.jpg

It might be that Iceland is calling again…
Essence glass, wine is my new summer favourite Lindemans Early Harvest Semillon Sauvignon blanc, MacBook Pro, Mondo travel guide. p1020639.jpg

Although it has been really hot, I’ve tried to push myself to runs regularly. The running skirt has been excellent in this kind of weather and I’ve really enjoyed my runs. Acts of Clothing shows are coming up so I’ve also been motivated. My operated knee has been better but I’m not up for really long runs with it yet. But that’s ok.

Sunglasses Jackie Ohh Ray Ban, running top Nike Fit, running skirt & shoes Asics, footpod Polar, iPod suffle.    p1020622.jpg
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So yes, my daughter turned 8 and got this gorgeous bicycle as a present from the whole family including grandparents and great grandparents… She was so happy and I’m really pleased we can cycle more together. Her bicycle is Helkama Jasmine, mine is Aino and my son’s Jopo…

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Birthday cake and muffins baked by her sisters…

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Wishing you all beautiful summer days.

Johanna

On a rollercoaster

Last weeks have been unusually emotional and tough. In the end of May and beginning of June I worked long days in the ANTI office with Kaisa and Gregg to renew and complete the festival printed brochure and website. Then on Monday the 7th of June, my partner called me and said that my father had tried to reach me many times during the day. I had forgotten to turn the phone forwarding on from my home number to my office phone and my father didn’t have my work number. I was still in the office at about 9pm when I called my dad who told me that I no longer had a sister. My little sister had died at the age of 31. Of course, everything turned upside down, I had to take some time off and we missed the outlined schedule with the brochure. I was forced to spend time with my family, my children, my mom and dad to deal with this unexpected tragedy that left all of us very very sad and full of unanswered questions.
My sister was buried in Hailuoto on the 17th of June in a small, intimate, simple ceremony. Although it was a really hard day, full of sorrow and tears, it also felt like a kind of completion and a really important ritual.
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The next morning we drove back to Kuopio and I went straight into rehearsals and prepared for my performances on Sunday and Monday. I think I performed pretty amazing shows of ACTS OF CLOTHING and Physical Artistic deeds 1; Milk. Of course, I could have canceled them but I felt it was important for me to redirect my energy and put some of the very personal emotions on stage. Both of the performances were very packed, there was more audience that we were allowed to take in and we couldn’t fit everyone in to the Milk performance. I got so much positive feedback of the shows and people praised ACTS OF CLOTHING so much that I was all humbled. In the show I talked about my sister’s funeral and many people were very moved and touched about that. Although it felt like a really hard job to pull the performances together, I’m glad I did.
We also managed to get the brochure to the print and we’ll launch the ANTI 2010 programme and website on Monday the 5th of July! Exciting.
Last week I counted my work hours of the spring and realized that I’ve worked overtime more than 235 hours! No wonder I’ve been tired. So I’m desperately waiting for my summer holiday. My family needs my attention, our home and our garden needs attention but I also need to get my mind off from work. I’m trying to organize a long weekend or a small holiday with my children and with my mom somewhere…maybe in Greece, maybe Iceland… we’ll see. But I’m also really really looking forward to performing ACTS OF CLOTHING at the Full Moon Dance Festival in the end of July and in the Ateneum theatre in Helsinki in August.

Now, I wish you all very well.

Johanna