Category Archives: Festivals

working hard

acts of clothing1
Last month I’ve been working on ACTS OF CLOTHING, my upcoming show which is a concept by British live artist Marcia Farquhar. It has been a rather thought stimulating process to go through my past by looking at items of clothing and stories & incidents related to them. Marcia has been a great support and I’m so honoured to be working with her in this process. 
half marathon 1
half marathon 2
half maraton 3
Last weeks have been an emotional roller cost as I run my first (and maybe last) half marathon and felt really flat after achieving the goal I had been training for about nine months. A few days later I learned some sad news about funding and felt totally devastated. All that has to be dealt with later on as now it’s the best time of the year in Kuopio because the ANTI Festival kicks off on Wednesday. For about a week, Kuopio turns into the hotpot of live art as international artists, programmers, and festival visitors gather to create amazing work – thanks to me. Not just me, of course, but I’ve started the festival and I guess one could say that I’m the ‘force’ behind it. So tomorrow I’m having dinner with Gregg Whelan, Guillermo Gomez Pena and Roberto Sifuentes among others and later during the week will be spending time with Jennie Klein, Dee Heddon, Gwendoline Robin, Cindy Baker, Alex Bradley, Antti Laitinen, Essi Kausalainen, Leena Kela, Pilvi Porkola, Pirjo Yli-Maunula, William Petit, Samo Gosaric to name a few. How exciting!

Hope to see you all at ANTI. It will be great. I promise.

Johanna

 

 

cover girl

Today I was positively surprised to find myself on the cover of the Finnish Dance Magazine (Tanssi-lehti). Inside the magazine was a review of my work HUIPPUSUORITUS – OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE at the Full Moon Dance Festival in Pyhäjärvi and it was very positive and a bit flattering. That’s always nice. So if you haven’t seen it yet, you have to go and get your copy of the Tanssi magazine. I might translate some bits into English but these days are so filled with writing grant applications and preparing for Acts of Clothing rehearsals next week that it might take a while.
The only ‘problem’ with the great cover & review in the Tanssi magazine was that the cover photograph was not credited correctly. For about the last 9 years, all photographs of my works have been taken and created in collaboration with photographer Pekka Mäkinen and it’s really really a shame and a big mistake that the front image (which is just amazing) is credited to someone else than him.
The image -by Pekka Mäkinen- is this one, of course:
HUIPPUSUORITUS 1

Johanna

aftermath

I’ve realized how stressful the spring was and now that I’m easing into the summer and a bit of a holiday, I start to feel all the workload in my body. I even haven’t had the time to sit down in peace to write my blog and there are numerous things that I haven’t managed to complete the way I would have liked or needed to. I have some issues with my lower back and neck which need a bit of focus, time and energy.
My performances during the Kuopio Dance Festival as part of Paikallisliike 09 event went well but left me with a lot of questions. I was very happy that some collegues, people from the Finnish Dance Information Centre and at least one international writer were present at the performances but I don’t understand why the Kuopio Dance Festival cannot collaborate with the regional dance centre more thoroughly. Many dance professionals say that the Paikallisliike programme is much more exciting than the actual Kuopio Dance Festival programme but still there are a lot of writers that were in Kuopio who did not bother to see the full Paikallisliike programme because they don’t consider the program seriously. Jussi Tossavainen from Helsingin Sanomat and Eeva Kauppinen from the Finnish theatre magazine and Kaleva newspaper -among others- were here but did not attend the full Paikallisliike programme (they also didn’t bother to attend the launch of the ANTI Festival 2009 programme). I saw Eeva in one of the performances, which consisted of two worst works I’ve seen for a while. I don’t know, but I think she was there because one of the works was a premiere by Rimpparemmi, a folk dance group from the same region where she lives. Jussi Tossavainen I only saw in the Veljmies supermarket gambling and didn’t feel like saying hello to him. I don’t know – I just don’t understand why writers across Finland and Europe come all this way but instead of seeing as much as they can, they gamble, take salsa classes or otherwise just relax as supposed so showing interest to contemporary dance artists’ works? This really depresses me. Well, an exception was Ann-Marie Wrange from the Swedish Dans Tidningen who came to see several nights of the Paikallisliike event and who also attended both of my works. That was really lovely and I enjoyed her presence in BODY/HAIR a lot.

There’s a lot I would like to blog about but I will have to continue tomorrow. Today I went to functional training and cycled back and forth and feel pretty exhausted now. I’ve promised to my trainer that I will run a half marathon in September so I’m in the middle of my running programme. I’ll write more about that soon.

Johanna

performing on Saturday & Sunday

I’m performing HUIPPUSUORITUS – OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE on Saturday and BODY/HAIR on Sunday as part of Paikallisliike 09 event. Hope to see you there!

NOTE! Both works has a limited audience capacity and pre-booking is required. Please email aluekeskus@elisanet.fi or call +358 50 581 6300.

Huomaathan, että molempiin on rajoitettu katsojamäärä ja siksi pakollinen paikkavaraus! Varauksen voi tehdä Itäisen tanssin aluekeskuksen tuottaja Vilja Ruokolaiselle aluekeskus@elisanet.fi tai +358 50 581 6300.

HUIPPUSUORITUS – OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE on Saturday the 13th of June at 7.30pm:

Pink bra √
Miss Privilege √
Book called Huojuva talo (trl. Swaying House) √
Book called Perhosten valtakunta (trl. Empire of Butterflies) √
Overhead projector √
Items of clothing √
Treadmill √

Johanna Tuukkanen’s work OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE, created in collaboration with performers Sami Henrik Haapala and Vaatu Kalajoki, deals with concepts of time, daily routine and gender, all of which have been central to Tuukkanen’s body of work, formed by 15 pieces over 11 years.

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Pinkit rintaliivit √
Miss Privilege √
Huojuva talo √
Perhosten valtakunta √
Piirtoheitin √
Vaatekappaleita √
Juoksumatto √

Johanna Tuukkasen teos HUIPPUSUORITUS – OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE yhteistyössä Sami Henrik Haapalan ja Vaatu Kalajoen kanssa käsittelee ajan, arjen ja sukupuolen teemoja, jotka ovat olleet keskiössä hänen tähänastisen taiteellisen työnsä aikana toteuttamissa 15 teoksessa.

Concept & Choreography: Johanna Tuukkanen
Performance: Sami Henrik Haapala / www.samihenrik.me, Vaatu Kalajoki, Johanna Tuukkanen
Music and sound: Tatu Metsäpelto
Costumes: archive of Johanna Tuukkanen
Photography: Pekka Mäkinen
Light design: Sami Henrik Haapala, Jari ’Piki’ Lappalainen
Johanna’s fitness coaching by Riikka Valve, Pilates instructor Pipsa Rautsi / Functional Team / www.functional-team.fi
Treadmill: Sportia Kuopio / York Fitness
Supported by: Regional dance centre of Eastern Finland, Arts Council of North Savo, Arts Council of Finland and National Council for Dance
In collaboration with: Functional Team, Kuntokeskus Fressi, Sportia Kuopio

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BODY/HAIR on Sunday the 14th of June between 12noon-4pm:

BODY/HAIR is a one-to-one performance.

Each performance lasts approximately 30 minutes, during which the viewer can reflect compassionately and/or critically on the body; the questions it raises,
its beauty and its ugliness. Look / discuss / listen / experience.

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BODY/HAIR on yhdelle katsojalle kerrallaan esitettävä teos.
Teos kestää noin puoli tuntia ja katsojalla mahdollisuus pohtia ruumiiseen, sen kauneuteen ja rumuuteen, omaan lempeään asenteeseen tai kriittiseen katseeseen liittyviä kysymyksiä kokien ja keskustellen tai vain katsoen ja kuunnellen.

Consept & choreography & performance: Johanna Tuukkanen
Music & sound: Tatu Metsäpelto
Costume: Janna von Becker
Lighting design: Jari ’Piki’ Lappalainen
Supported by: Regional dance centre of Eastern Finland, National Council for Dance
In collaboration with: Emilia Tengvall/Kuopion Sirkus

finally a weekend at home

Last weeks have been super busy for me as I was performing in Sweden, then went to Brussels and every chance I got, I was working on the new one-to-one performance BODY/HAIR which I premiered last Wednesday in Kuopio. It was a kind of work-in-progress day of performances but I’m pretty happy with it all. It was quite exciting as to get the soundscape, the costume, the stage equipment and all that together was a real challenge in terms of time and budget so I’m kind of proud that I was able to pull it together. The performance is quite tough for me to do –not so much one but to keep repeating it one after the other… I was really exhausted, friction burned and bruised afterwards. I was also very tired because it has been more than a month since I had a day off. Anyway, I survived it and have the weekend off now. What a luxury.
My performance shoes are the corset boots by Minna Parikka:
corset boot

Brussels was real nice and green. Kuopio was still very winter like when I left so it felt like a real luxury to see so much green (I stayed near Botanica) and walk in summer shoes. It was a lot of work though as I did a presentation with Gregg about ANTI Festival, then worked with Gregg on completing this year’s festival programme, saw as many performances as possible in the Trouble #5 Festival and also we had an audit of our A Space for Live Art EU project. Lot’s of work indeed! But it was great to see Gregg and some other artists there like Rosie Dennis, Essi Kausalainen, Guillermo Gomez Pena, the xxx group, Johanna Lecklin etc…. The nice thing also was that Kuopio had a kind of a heat wave whilst I was away so when I got back, practically all the snow was gone and the weather had really changed.
Brussels:
Botanica1               Botanica2

grand placa               Brussels01

mussles               in a cafe

Now I have a couple of days off and I’m just trying to relax and do stuff that at home. Then I’m staring to prepare my trip to New York. Lot’s of exciting things happening!

Happy Labour Day weekend to everyone! Hauskaa Vappu-viikonloppua kaikille!

munkkivuori

Johanna

on my way to TUPP

milk cartons

Busy busy days! I’m on my way to perform in Sweden as part of TUPP Internationell scenkonstfestival in Uppsala. Exciting! I heard that the milk cartons I sent to Uppsala have arrived safely so I’m all set and ready to Physical artistic deeds 1; Milk.

Last weeks I’ve been working on a new one-to-one performance BODY/HAIR of which I’ll show a first draft in just a couple of weeks. So I’ve had a lot of meetings related to that work and I think it’s now finding its shape and form.
Must hurry now.

See you in Uppsala!

greetings from Glasgow

Visiting NRLA and Glasgow was great in many ways. It was good to see new work, catch up with artists and friends I haven’t seen for a while, work with Johanna and Gregg and of course, to have the A Space For Live Art meeting with all the European partners. A lot to digest.
As always, I feel disappointed I missed some works and performances that I really really would have liked to see, but then again, I also got so see a lot. I queued endlessly to see Dominic Johnson’s performance but that was kind of fun as I was lining up with Jennie Klein, Dee Heddon and Steven Hodge. So that wasn’t too bad. I also had to work hard to get to see Kate McIntosh who, despite all the hype around her, didn’t really do it for me. But I was really happy to see Alexis O’Hara whose work I’ve always missed before. And of course Ivana Müller and Raimund Hoghe whose work I absolutely loved.
But all my time in Glasgow I felt really stressed and slept very badly and restlessly. My plans to buy new underwear from Marks & Spencer failed as I was simply too tired to focus on looking for something nice and trying it on. Actually, I didn’t buy anything for myself, except some cosmetics from tax free, but I found a few nice things for the kids from TK Maxx. And some whisky for my partner – of course.
So it’s been great to be at home and sleep in my own bed! I’m finally catching up with sleep –and work.

Johanna

on my way…

…to Glasgow with Johanna, ANTI Festival’s new full time producer. I’m really looking forward to seeing a lot of interesting works at the NRLA but also meeting collegues, friends and collaborators. The last days have been just crazy as I’ve been trying to introduce Johanna to the organization and practicalities of the ANTI Festival but also I’ve worked my ass off with the last year’s accounts and EU reports –which are nowhere near finished…
Last weekend went with transcribing and translating the DVD of HUIPPUSUORITUS – OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE. I was hoping to have that finished by now but didn’t manage. It seems I never get rid of this feeling of not having time to do all the work at hand. I guess that’s because there’s simply too much work for me accomplish but I just don’t know how to change the situation.
In Glasgow we’ll have a whole day meeting with the partners of A Space for Live Art EU project but we also have ANTI Festival staff meeting with Johanna & Gregg, Edge of Europe meeting with Maija Hirvanen and I’ll meet artists like Marcia Farquhar, Kira O’Reilly, Frenchmottershead and writers like Jeannie Klein and Dee Heddon.
I took my trainers with me so I’m hoping to have the time, discipline and energy to go to the gym of the hotels more than once…

Johanna

thank you’s and updates

Thank you everyone who was there at the performances of HUIPPUSUORITUS – OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE. We had a great time and I really enjoyed them. If you are interested in reading the review (in Finnish) of HUIPPUSUORITUS – OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE titled ‘Johanna Tuukkanen lets the perfect woman to take off’ from Iisalmen Sanomat, it’s here.

Now that the performance period is over, I’ve been resting a bit more and catching up with stuff that has been neglected. The spring is going to be a busy one including a tour of soft skin / harsh life, warming up the classic Milk performance and working on a new one to one performance. Exciting.

I’ve been busy with the DVD of HUIPPUSUORITUS – OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE, ANTI Festival stuff and spending some time with my family. In February I’m visiting National Review of Live Art in Glasgow with the new producer of ANTI Festival, Johanna Hänninen. We’ll also meet my co-artistic director Gregg Whelan there, have meetings with some of the artists who will show work at ANTI 09 and of course, we’ll have A Space For Live Art meeting with all our partners. We’ll be busy! I’m really looking forward to all that. In April with Gregg, we are going to present ANTI at the Trouble Festival in Brussels which will include a great selection of Finnish artists, by the way.

My exercise programme is a bit looser at the moment but it includes functional training at the Functional Team in Kuopio or at a gym, running and Pilates. I’m very motivated. I’m maybe planning to participate in two running events this year. How strange is that?

Johanna