Category Archives: Life

Love in the air

My friends Anniina and Tatu got married yesterday in a moving ceremony followed by a fantastic party. It was so wonderful to be one of the guests, hear the beautiful speeches celebrating the lovely couple, see great performances of music, dance, singing and poetry performed by their family members and friends. Everything went well, the food was delicious and I had a great time. Although I do not personally understand the urge to get married, I’m very very happy for Anniina and Tatu about their love, relationship and the wish to share it with all of us. So THANK YOU.

My daughter lent me a pair of earrings for the occasion.

I was wearing my new pink Minna Parikka Women are dangerous animals boots and was surprised I didn’t have to change into anything lower during the whole night. They are high but surprisingly comfy to wear (and even dance in!).

I bought them on sale (-50%) in Minna’s online store where for example now the gorgeous Corona handbag in pink is also on sale. I saw that at least Nelliina and MouMou have purchased that bag which I also desire but I went for the shoes… this time.

This week I’ve had a place in the CityPörssi second hand shop and went to take it down today. Before I’ve been really satisfied with the sales but not this time… Well, I did sell something but not nearly as much as the last time.

Yesterday I drove my daughter to Chrystal Cup in Mikkeli, an international ice-skating competition. Woke up before 5am and left Kuopio at 5.50am… the weather was ok but I was so tired and it was really boring to drive there and back on the same day.

On the way back, we stopped in Unnukka, in the Iittala outlet store and bought a couple of the very thin Kartio glasses designed by Kaj Franck. They are divine, thin, hand-made glasses to celebrate 1oo anniversary of the birth of Franck. By the way, for Iittala members they now have -20% until the 15th of Jan!!!!

Tomorrow I’m back working full time after the Christmas break – meetings, appointments, dentist, a day in Jyväskylä – a busy week ahead.

Johanna

happy New Year everybody!

I spent the New Year’s eve peacefully visiting my parents and grandparents in Hailuoto.

Now I’m happy to be back home, catching up with my own work, reading, writing and exercising this week. Just what I like. And this week my daughter has a ice-skating competition and my friends are getting married so I’m really looking forward to it all.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, the sale started today in Minna Parikka’s online shop. Pretty amazing shoes and bags -30% and  -50%…I’ve already check out from the shop…

Have a great week!

Johanna

images of Amsterdam

Before Christmas I spent five days in Amsterdam where I performed Twirling World as part of the Nordic Gold event.
I haven’t been to Holland since my graduation in 1997 (besides the Schiphol airport) so it was great to visit Amsterdam again. Walking down the canals and narrow streets of Amsterdam brought back so many memories and emotions that it was all a bit overwhelming. Amsterdam has such a special character and feeling and I must say that I’ve missed it!




Walking on Nine Streets, I came across this pop-up party:

And I swear I wasn’t looking for and didn’t even know where the Marlies Dekkers‘ shops are, but this came on my way:





In one of the vintage shops I saw the exact glittery top that I bought in the 1980’s from London and which has been stolen from the performance I don’t have anything to wear.


I had a wonderful Saturday morning at the Farmers’ Market in Nordmarkt and the most delicious apple pie and coffee in Cafe Winkel. I bought tons of Dutch cheeses for Christmas – they are the best. I’m a very big fan of old gouda, especially the ones made of goat’s milk.






We performed Twirling World in Rabozaal, a new space between the city theatre and Melkweg. The space was great, a huge stage with a big seated audience. We just used the stage, cutting of the seating with a metallic wall.



The performance itself went ok, I think, but the day building up the show, trying to do a run through, warm-up, prepare and to get all the necessary stuff was very stressful. Two things I learned: Twirling World cannot be toured without my own technician and I need to have my own private accommodation.
This is the painting of the Amsterdam show:

I’m sorry I haven’t been a very active blogger recently. I’ve been extremely busy and therefor a bit too tired and stressed at times. But now I’m trying to relax and take it easy. A party with a group of girlfriends today – really looking forward to it!

Johanna

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

ANTI SHOP

At ANTI we are concerned of your well-being, health and your sexual health. For those in long-term relationship, we sell the ANTIVERSARY book which highlights our history of 10 years with beautifully documented imagery. It is a great example of growth and development and a fabulous study book for those still waiting for the first anniversary. For the more adventurous, we still have a few PUBLIC SPACE MY ASS hand made t-shirts left. Please visit the ANTI SHOP to get what you want. And remember, our mission is love, wellbeing, health and sexual health!




Have a great time shopping!

Johanna

happy Father’s Day!

With Justiina I baked today a chocolate blueberry cake and it was delicious! It didn’t look that amazing and I was surprised how different (and difficult!) it was to handle white chocolate compared to dark one. So it was a bit of a mess but anyway, happy Father’s Day!



Do you remember my chili plants? They grew very well and I’ve used the harvest already for a while. And this is what I’ve left to dry. Beautiful & very very hot!


Today I’ve been reading and writing an article but there’s much more to read and write. Tomorrow I’m off to Jyväskylä. And I’m performing Acts of Clothing on Saturday so need to rehearse, go through the clothes, the stories of my life… So it will be a busy week.

Johanna

last few days…

I’ve been a bit up and down. My plans for this week changed completely because of an unexpected situation at work and I’m now behind my schedule in many ways. Well, I guess things were going too smoothly for a couple days – something just had to happen. Well, I won’t get into that more.
I went to Helsinki on Thursday for a meeting and also had a chance to visit Suvilahti where Esitystaiteen keskus has their new office and rehearsal space. I had a lovely talk with Annika Tudeer, Anna Krzystek and Timo Fredriksson from Oblivia. It was really great to see them and I miss them! Their new space is great and even the Kalasatama tube station welcomes you with posters of environmental art projects and the importance of arts for the area. How cool is that?





But I did get my new glasses today so I’m happy!


Glasses Kenzo. Dress Nanso Black Dress collection, model Can I call you dear?

Have to get some sleep now.

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