Graham
/ 5. mars 2011 19:35
Young Sundays
I'm back after a long absence from the blogging scene with some exciting news............. I taught a Young Sundays workshop! Wow I said it now calm yourselves. But before you rush off to tell all your friends on Facebook how about taking time out from social networking and spend some time with me and the fantastic dancers that turned up to Young Sundays.
Picture this..... A cold Swedish Sunday morning and Peder and I (Graham) preparing the dance house for an action packed workshop event. Both worrying that no body will turn up as they may wake up to realise it is a Sunday after all and should be resting/social networking all day. To our pure astonishment 12 enthusiastic people stroll through the doors ready to dance! CLASS BEGINS..
Thats me ready to unleash the lion from within to get these people moving.
Moments later you can see pure panic in the dance studio.
I decided to tame the lion and focas on some excellent contemporary dance technique.
Fifth position! Need I say more?
We spent some time trying to move fluidly through the floor and these guys rocked it!
We eventually built up to some fast travelling across the floor......
They got faster and bigger and then......
This happened!! Bra!!!!!!!
Normally people clap at the end of class but we decided to bow very low instead!
OKAY you got me we were stretching in the last image but bowing in this one!
We took a short break and got stuck straight into learning rep from 7 Clues.
They learnt, The Paris Hilton phrase, The Armed and Fabulous Phrase, The Attacking Örjan phrase and The Plant into Sunflower phrase.
Its lunch time and the dancers are wondering where all the foods gone????
Oh Jesper ate it!!!
Lunch is over and now into learning the duet Small Hour. There are no more picture of learning the duet as I kidnapped the camera man and made him dance with me! Tack Pedersson x
After learning rep from the show and the duet I set some creative tasks for the dancers. They all went away to make there own Leap Second and here is some images of these guys hard at work!!
You see these guys worked so so hard!! I thought I was there to inspire them but they really inspired me! I asked the group if they would like to have a little sharing of work and they loved the idea. We moved into the theatre and showed what we had made couple by couple.
Quick practice before the world premiere!!
And the dancers in action. (the ones furthest away obviously!)
And here we are one big happy family! Does that make me the Father? hehehehehehe
And heres the video of the dancers performance!
All in all it was a truly inspirational day with these exceptionally talented people from Skåne.They motivated me and I hope to be back teaching Young Sundays soon. Thanks to the dancers and thanks for giving up your time to browse through my blog!
Tack Tack
Kategorier: Grey-hams British Blog | Workshops | Young Sundays
Nyckelord: peder nilsson, skånes dansteater, skanes dansteater, tanya mangalanayagam, tanja mangalanayagam, young sunday, young sundays, åsa söderberg, örjan andersso, örjan andersson, graham adey
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Graham
/ 24. oktober 2010 18:02
Between Silence and Stillness Mini Tour Epic Blog!
Back in May of this year 5 dancers from Skånes Dansteater started work on a new creation. A choreography by Ben Wright danced by Anna Altes, Sam Denton, Hazuki Kojima, Lidia Wos and myself Graham Adey in collaboration with Musica Vitae. After all the hard work, a summer break, a lot of hard work again to get the steps back and then the final preparations to get the show looking stunning we embarked on a sweet Swedish tour to some beautiful concert halls! This is how it all went down...........
Most of the company leave for Helsinki but we stay working hard in Malmö

From now on I'm going to refer to us as ba!group. The reason being is that Ben Wright's (choreographer) company is called bgroup! and we have a on going joke with him that we say BA instead of yes. Hence we are ba!group. Here we are doing company class with just 6 of us instead of 16! YAY

Final Costume fitting and Anna and I are clearly loving it 

After our dress rehearsal Anna and Hazuki grab the video camera straight away to check to see if they pointed there feet or not! Honestly!

Premiere night in Malmö and we managed a standing ovation! Think it was for the snow!!
Växjö

Sunny Växjö is our first destination on the tour and there's the lovely Konserthus.

Hazuki with the locals in Växjö. She put her clothes back on for the photo!

My hotel room in Växjö, very nice 

And this was above my bed????? Is this last years Swedish Democratic Party????? 

Pure exhilaration from Sam och Hazuki before the show in Växjö.

Lovely isn't it
Just ashame nobody lives in Växjö. I joke they are all watching Sweden loose 4-1 in the football!

Now this is a sight that follows us to every gig! Ballet bar, Studio, dancers stretching, dancers complaining, dancers laughing and Anna drinking coffee!

After another successful show with standing ovation we were on the way to the after show party and I spotted this in the foyer! Did they miss a bit when they built the Konserthus?

On our way home after the party and we were so so tired! Honestly! But as you can see if you pull a camera out infront of dancers they always have a little bit of energy for poses 

Leaving Växjö in the morning Hazuki's bag was so heavy she got stuck on the tracks! I saved her don't worry 

I love that lifts in Sweden say HIT! In England we only get to touch or press so a full on hit is way better!

I was greated by this on the train platform. Just 2 questions... Who????? Why????

Morning after the show and we were in the paper! It says the birth of something new and was a damn good review

Vara

On our way to Vara and take note of the knitting as this is just the start of things to come.

Jan (technician) and Vidar (rehearsal director) clearly enjoying each others company on the train to Vara.

And we finally arrived at Vara's huge central train station!

Hazuki this time meeting the locals in Vara. Again she put her clothes back on for the photo but appears to have grown massively since Växjö!!

No this isn't a horror film but our homely home away from home (hotel).

And this is what my hotel room looked like in the daylight! Or was it a nice house in Vara??? I can't remember!

Picturesque Swedish country side. Trees, wooden houses, leaves and rotting Volvo's 

I went exploring Vara with Hazuki and we managed to find a self service bar outside. Didn't cost us a damn thing!! Bra Bra Bra!

Further down the road I found Sam rehearsing in the street for the evenings performance. Great commitment Sam!

Before heading to the theatre a spot of wool shopping first. Us dancers have got to Knit on the train journeys you know!

Here's my ride to the theatre 

This really is our truck for the lighting and set. The thing is we don't really have any set or much lighting so I conclude that the technicians must have a Billiards table and bar in the back!

I jumped off my pig ride and found Hazuki also down last minute rehearsals outside the Konserthus.

Another lovely Konserthus in Sweden except someone stole those last few reds seats nearest to the camera.......

But they sure will look great in my apartment! 



Hard working dancers!

Hard working Rehearsal Director!

Hard working Technicians!

And final preparations before the big show!

Vara's next top models.

And here's one I made earlier! On tour the biggest problem we face is being able to eat after a show. So this time we made a MASSIVE pasta bake for everyone 

Max (Mad London Geezer Technician) and I posing like each other. I fashioned his glasses he tried my smouldering camera pose. Good skills

Sam and Hazuki discussing wheather Anna's Spanish blood had finally frozen in the Swedish cold!

Clearly not!!!!

Leaving Vara after another succesful performance we travel first class to Göteborg on the high speed, ultra modern, always on time Swedish trains!
Göteborg (Gothenburg for you lazy english speakers)
We had a day off in Göteborg so we did a spot of shopping and sightseeing.



Thats the shopping done then!

Sightseeing done!

Harry 'Sam' Potter magically turns up and says all this fun in Göteborg must end and we need to leave. He waves his wand, we vanish and reappear in Kungsbacka!
Kungsbacka

I reappeared in my hotel room in Kungsbacka and the art work has dramatically improved since Växjö.



On the way to the theatre and we find the world famous Disney land Resort Kungsbacka.

Here we are again, new teater and Anna bursting with excitment ready to dance.

Preparing my Michael Jackson moves for caompany class.

This is actually before doing any work but you'd think we were so tired we can't get up!

About to start work and Vidar is giving me one of those looks to put the bloody camera down and get dancing!!!

Anna saying "I can smell something burning"

Vidar says "The show must go on!!"

Sam so proud of his own performance this evening gets ready to hit the Kungsbacka night life. 

Lidia loves her garden so much she always brings a little part of it with her on tour 

Anna loves the sun so much she brings it all the way from Barcelona on tour with us! How nice 

This picture perfectly sums up Max! Interpret as you will.

10 minutes down the road the sun disapeared and it started snowing! On October 21st! What???

Then 10 mins down the road the cloud cleared and as you can see in the distance we re-entered summer 2010!

That good out pastime knitting is way back in fashion at SDT but look at that women behind to the right minding her own buisness........

Yes that really is Sam asking her how to fix his knitting. I'm not kidding!

Then he even started hitting on her! Maybe im kidding??
Malmö

There is one person that has been on tour with us the whole time but its impossible to get a picture of her! Its our costume fitter Lota. Because she is camera shy I asked her to get in side the costume suitecase and let me take a picture. So here she is 

After our final and most electrifying performance in Malmö Anna, Sam and I enjoy some final posing in the foyer

I'm leaving the theatre in Malmö and this is the last thing I see! Once again Who????? and Why oh why oh why????

Tour finished and here Sam, Hazuki and I are enjoying some splendid Weissbier with friends and freezing cold weather 

So ba!group have enjoyed a amazing mini tour around Sweden!! Performing Ben Wrights work has challenged us all but we have thoroughly enjoyed every minute.
For me it was a great chance to do what I love, dancing but also see a little more of what Sweden has to offer even if the majority was seen though the window on the train.
Now we are all back in Malmö and have already started work on Hemma Hos again by Ben Wright which will premiere on Saturday November 20th. You all better be there!!!!!
Oh just 1 final picture for you all....

Lovely
Graham
/ 16. oktober 2010 09:28
Hemma Hos Installation Workshop
So here at Skånes Dansteater we are about to start work on a new show called Hemma Hos. Legend Kenneth Kvarnström's (follow the link!) choreography will be joined with a duet by Marie Brolin-Tani and an installation piece choreographed by my fellow Brit
Ben Wright set in our very own dance house! How cool is that?
The good thing about installation work is that it has no limits and absolutely any one can have a go. You just pick a space, think about where you'd like to dance, see what inspires you, get creating and then if your feeling brave enough show it to someone! So thats exactly what we did. 
But wait a minute.... You need to warm that body up first and the way we know best here at SDT is to get DANCING!
The students from Kulturcentrum Skåne (http://www.kulturcentrumskane.com) came in and we started with a little chat but before they had time to get relaxed I got them running around with a quick little game. I had to stop the game early though because they were too damn good!

So here are all the students, Eva, Micke, Magnus, Mulle, Jacob, Tove and their hard working techers Rebecka and Åsa!

I know what your thinking... and no I didn't teach them the Y.M.C.A..... But if you look close enough I was working so hard I ripped my T-Shirt under the arm. 

Magnus is a the perfect dance student! Even though he hadn't done much dance before he gave 100% and never ever gave in.

I got so carried away with the exercise I forgot I was teaching and started singing away like I was auditioning for Swedish Idol!

Just when they thought the exercise was over I gave them all a little thigh burning minute of bounces. They went from thinking I was kinda cool to a complete maniac during that minute. Ooooops 

Final part in the studio learning some simple contact work. I taught the dancers some counter-balance's and then said remember them as we are moving to the foyer to get creative!!!!!!

Me explaining what Hemma Hos is going to be about and how we can be creative using just the foyer. Not sure if Mulle (closest to the camera) was feeling it though? Funny though as he ended up being the most up for it!

Hej Mulle you can even go up here if you want!! No still not feeling it. hehehe 

So after all our hard work and creative ideas the performance started. Duet 1 was Eva and Micke. Follow the link below for the duet video!
Duet 1 Eva and Micke

Duet 2 Åsa and Magnus
Duet 3 Mulle and Jacob
Duet 4 Rebecka and Tove
And that was that! After all the hard work from the Kulturcentrum Skåne students we finished up with a great little showing and some very moved people. I was so happy with the energy and enthusiasm from all the dancers and couldn't have wished for a better group.
I really hope they all come back again to see how far we can go creatively. I look forward to seeing them at Hemma-Hos and thanks to everyone who has read my blog.
Heydå
Graham
/ 24. juni 2010 12:24
Last days in Kuopio!
I awoke on day 4 filled with energy for some reason! Extremely tired but somehow wanting to make the most of my last full day in Kuopio! I managed however to miss breakfast for the first time but with the sun shinning and other members of the company in the same position we stormed out for a lite brunch at a local cafe.

And here she is our wonderful inside terrace french styled Finnish cafe!


You see with dancers you always get a normal picture and then straight after they have top pose like they are performing all day long!


Jonas and I decided to go for a stroll around the city to do the tourist thing but Kuopio really does have some beauty!

I managed to get this great artsy shot of Jonas but as soon as he turned around.....

Like I said for every 1 serious picture you get........

Just another tourist shot for you but you've got to admit that it kinda wants to make you visit Kuopio!!
Through-out the Kuopio blogs you haven't really seen any Finnish people.. So here's a couple of Finnish men for you! Lovely

And here's a Finnish man who is demonstrating that there are indeed still people out there who wear Shell Suits from 1988! Retro cool?????

Back to the Hotel and it was time to put our best attire on for the evening performances! And no I didn't let her go to the theatre like this!!

You see much more sensible!! Allison and Riku were just bursting to get into see Argentine Ballet.

Sitting in the theatre relaxed and ready to watch this ferocious ballet company!

Interval and we were so inspired we rushed outside as fast as possible to attempt all the moves we had seen. Allison and Jing-Yi in mid flow...

And me showing how a professional does the Argentinian Tango 

Quick pit stop for food before watching Carte Blanche. We ended up in a steak house and this is actually a plate with a pizza on top, with a steak on top, with a whiskey sauce on top. I'd like to tell you it was fantastic but it tasted like frozen pizza with frying steak and go lite BBQ sauce! 

Alison opted for the healthier option of smelling food instead of eating it!!

After an amazing performance from the guys at Carte Blanche we headed to Intro Bar (yes again) where I bonded with the members hoping for an autograph!

Hazuki and Allison on the other hand try a different type of bonding techniques.

Then we bumped into Ime one of our amazing company class teachers where I decided to give her a big smacker on the cheek! Look how happy she is. 
After this the pictures seemed to stop as we danced hard all night long in the Finnish summer sun. What an amazing time we were having in Kuopio and it just seemed like fun times would continue for ever and ever.......

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh early morning bus to airport = Sleep deprivation and uncontrolled bus activity!

All was okay though and we managed to get to the airport safely but notice how still in her tired state Alison (far right) still manages to strike a pose for the camera.

I check the board for departures and get completely confused by the choice of destinations!!!!!!!!

But last night is all to much for Hazuki and she passes out.

The Sex in The City girls were still hard at work filming part 3.

And suddenly Peder and Allison discover a magazine with a picture of them so what do they have to do right in the middle of the airport?? Of course!!!!!

There it is our state of the art propeller plane! Fingers crossed 

Jing-Yi and Alison loving the free on board Finnair magazine. They found it so entertaining they ask for a monthly subscription!

Landed and the beautiful people of Skånes Dansteater begin to say there farewells!

Back in Sweden then and the sun was shinning, the wheather was warm, a smile appeared on my face, I got on my bike (named the Golden Queen), cycled home and reflected on my time in Kuopio.
Finland and more importantly Kuopio was great. The festival was well organised and the locals made a real effort to show the best of their city. My favourite shows were Carte Blanche, Danish Dance Theatre and best of all Skånes Dansteater! You see i'm not biased as how could we not be the stars of the show. We brought along the amazing Fragile|Entity by Susanna Leinonen (top Finnish choreographer) and Black Water by the No.1 Finnish celebrity/choreographer Jorma Uotinen. Oh and how could I forget the Black Cloud also!! So all in all it was a great success and i'm sure Skånes Dansteater will return to Kuopio in the near future.
For all those that have followed my blogs over the last few days thankyou so much for reading them and I wish you all a great summers break!
Signing out for now..
Graham x
Graham
/ 23. juni 2010 19:28
Kuopio Day 3
Yes I know I'm late!
The thing is blogging after partying at a festival and trying to eat, sleep and see more performances is a difficult job! Feel sorry for me? Didn't think so!
So as you may have guessed Day 3 also started slow for me but like a true trooper I battled on for the sake on the festival and made it down for breakfast at 9:30am

This is how i'm greeted everyday by Claes Nilsson our Producer! He waits for every single dancer to walk in and hands them a cup of Coffee! What a guy 

Then I walk over to the breakfast buffet and Peder and Alison wait to serve me the morning Riisipirakki (finnish rice thing I never know the name of!). See here at Skånes Dansteater we have a company motto that is to spread the love to one and all. Charming no?

Also discovered something new this morning which is some kind of fish bread thingy! (Update: Have just been informed its called Kalakukko) Which is fine but why the duck with a scarf on next to it?

So between breakfast and 18:00 not a great deal happened in my life but i'm sure the festival marched on swimmingly. I however got myself all spruced up to go and see Jin Xing Dance Theatre at the Music Centre. Example A. Is my ticket above!

Example B. Here is my view of Jin Xing Dance Theatre! Turns out (here comes a travel tip) when you plug your iPhone into your computer it sets the time on the phone to the laptop time. Laptop set to Swedish time.... 1 hour behind Finland..... Graham leaves hotel early to arrive 30 mins before show... Graham walks in and theatre is empty.... Graham sees TV screen with live dance on.... Graham panicks as is really 30 mins late.... Trys to force his way into theatre.... Finish women with stern face says eieieieieieieieieieieiei (means nonononononononononono!)...... Graham watches outside on old Plasma screen with VHS quality.... Life commences as normal!

After the excitement of watching live dance on a TV screen I joined our Admin team for dinner. They took me to a place that some how resembled a Northern English pub mixed Swedish plessure and Finnish novelty! And yes in the the cabinet there was indeed a shaver, knife, whiskey time badge, binnoculars and more. Why not?

Claes as always leading the girly chat!

On set with Sex and The City 3 - Kuopio Fling.

Claes refuses to walk anywhere so I have to carry him! He also forced me to smile for the camera!

Vidar in victory pose as this was his last time performing as a dancer! This picture is best viewed simultaneously with the link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvEnIkz82A0

All members of Skånes Dansteater waiting for the end of season festivities to start with the exception of one....

Ms Altes glued to the TV screen to watch her beloved Spain. Just one note to to world. Never ever sit next to Anna whilst Spain are A. either winning or B. Losing. Why you ask?? Because if the team are winning she hits you with excitement and if the are losing.... OMG!!!!!

Jorma and Åsa duelling to give the most praise to the exceptionally talented Skånes Dansteater!

The Duel intensified and we all bowed at Jorma's feet!

Vidar listening to all the amazing words being said about his career at Skånes Dansteater and emotions were running high!

Sara presents Vidar with a poster of all the great and loving moments in
his career! The tears turn into big smiles 

Jing-Yi demonstrating how to use her tear catcher!

Have a guess where we are heading now????....... Thats right Ladies and Gentlemen Intro Bar! You see how happy they are?

Just in case you were wondering from the previous picture yes it is the Arthur Fonzarelli (Fonzie) from hit TV show Happy Days. Sunday, Monday Happy Days........

Do you think the exclamation mark means something?

Peder not happy with Anne-Claire hiding behind the napkin grabs it off her and shoves it straight into his mouth!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh.... Very sweet 

Katarina Wallmo contemplating wheather or not to steal that last chip on Sara's plate????

The dancing starts and Anne-Claire decides to go through notes from the final performance of Black Water!

Anna, Hazuki and Alison decide its time to let their hair down! Literally!

Hazuki posed in this position for 5 minutes hoping i'd take a picture! Put it on the blog just for amount of effort.

To all the men out there... do not! I repeat do not dance in Alison's space on the dance floor!

Unless your Peder then it seems to be fine 

The night comes to an end and the remaining survivors head down the lonely street to relax by the lake.

Just gorgeous with that morning sunshine!

And these are the views that we were gasping at before we all heading off to bed 
Day 3 Kuopio done done done! I'm exhausted but will march on for the sake of the blog.
Skånes Dansteater had an amazing second performance day with another standing ovation and the people of Kuopio seemed to genuinely love have us here. Emotions and spirits were high with the whole company together to experience the final chapter of the season. Everyone has had a great season together and although thoroughly looking forward to the summer break also looking forward to the season ahead!!!!!
Kuopio Day 4 coming soon so stay tuned.
OVER AND OUT!
Graham
/ 21. juni 2010 14:06
Kuopio Day 2
Huomenta
Thats Good Morning in Finish in case you were wondering but I'm not sure how to pronouce it so i'll stick with English for the rest of the blog!
I must admit to a slow start on day 2 but as mentioned in the previous blog those Finish rice things are a little bit of breakfast magic
I feel Kuopio is like a little dream town as the sun never goes down and seems to feed you energy.Kinda like you could live off 1 hour sleep and achieve more in a single day than you do in a week at home. Sadly thats not true hence the slow start!!

I must find out the name of these things... Warm, oaty and rice! A bit like Marmite you either love'em or hate'em!

So the buffet breakfast at Sokos Hotel... Plenty of food but that scrambled egg is funky!

Okay you got me!! Their not real Seaguls but I was going to tell you how here in Kuopio your constantly greeted by Seaguls and that they look a bit different to the Guls in Sweden and UK. I couldn't find a picture of the real thing but enjoy this one instead 

Once I had re-established myself, out and about I went. Here you can see the world famous Sokos hotel where we just happen to be staying!


This is what greets us directly oposite the hotel and on the way to the Theatre to!! Lovely Jubbly 

Where for art thou Jorma? Well everywhere actually! He's so famous he's replaced the Finish flag!!!!

Kaupunginteatteri.... The name of the theatre we are performing at and here it is..... not much else to say.

For those that haven't worked it out i'm not performing at at Kuopio this year so am kind of on my own time table. I turn up to the theatre whilst the dancers are all ready hard at work and follow the signs and grunts from the dancers to find the stage.

Undercover Paparazzi shot from the rear of the stage behind the cloth. Its just ashame they are all behaving themselves!

Rehearsal Director (Anne-Claire) in her natural environment. Ready to pounce on the unsuspecting Skånes dancers

And the Star of the Show...... The wonderful.... The amazing....... Mr Black Cloud.

Adel clearly can't hold back the excitement of being under the cloud.

Sam telling the others... "look guys this spot light is for me, myself and I so back off already!!!"
p.s. I may have made that up!

I think Sam is now teaching Lidia a good old Yorkshire handshake. You need a firm grip Luv!
The Handshake clearly went wrong!!!
As you can see we have a relaxed atmosphere here at Skånes Dansteater! You can either work hard or just sleep right there on stage!

Anna ferociously praying to the cloud for a good performance tonight as its her premiere for Skånes Dansteater. You go girl 

Jonas and Sara playing twister during a technical rehearsal!

Anna-Claire singing Respect by Aretha Franklin down the microphone to the dancers. Its a bit of a tradition for her to do this!

After the show (which got standing ovation) we headed for some food. I sat down with our Vietnamese dancers and all they could say for 15 minutes was 3 words.. We Want Beef! The conversation picked up after we ate 

Other dancers just getting sat down at Intro restaurant literally gasping for food. You see dancers generally only do 3 things in life 1. Eat 2. Sleep 3. Dance... but 1 and 2 are repeated much more than 3!

And this is the view from my room just before I went to bed... Beautiful except Kuopio started feeding me midnight energy again.
Day 2 Kuopio done! The opening night in Kuopio for Skånes Dansteater was a great success and as I mentioned earlier we got a standing ovation. Fragile|Entity was hot with a capital H and Black Water simply mesmerised the audience! I sat in the audience a proud member of Skånes Dansteater and wish all the dancers the best of luck for day 3 and our final performance here in Kuopio for 2010.
Thanks for reading and stayed tuned for what i'm sure is going to be an amazing day 3 here in Kuopio.
Heydå
Kategorier: Grey-hams British Blog | Kuopio 2010
Nyckelord: skånes dansteater, sarah åhman, samuel denton, sam denton, åsa söderberg, västra hamnen, graham adey, lidia wos, black water, fragile | entity, kuopio, finland malmö opera, malmö opera, malmö, anne-claire theissen, jonas svensson
Permalink |
Graham
/ 20. juni 2010 12:25
Kuopio Day 1
So it all started on a sunny saturday morning in Malmö. I had a number of questions in my head;
1. Where's Kuopio?
2. Is it going to be colder (surely not) than Malmö?
3. Is it water or Vodka that comes out the taps?
4. And most importantly do we get Breakfast at the Hotel?????

In good spirits at Central Station Malmo even though our first train got cancelled!! Just like being in the UK 

A packed train with the driver asking the passengers if we can make room down the aisle in case of an emergency!! Turned out to be the best joke of the day!!

Now we could breath again the smiles came back at Copenhagen Airport and here is a perfect example from Peder! Only moments later though Peder found out Jing-Yi and himself had been double booked and had to stay behind and get the next flight. The smile like a little more like this afterwards ------> 

Now in Helsinki Airport Adel decides with only mintues to spare that he needs a Burger. Only a burger will do..... So we run.... He Eats..... He's happy.... He gets the Bill..... 18 Euros.... He's not so happy.... So we run.

Sam and Alison on a short Taxi ride across to our second and final flight to Kuopio. Look at the excitement and anticipation on Sam's face!

OMG!!! Look at Finland... Looks just like an episode from Lost... Hope its better than the series finale

We finally arrived to Kuopio and greeted by our uber friendly tour guide/Kuopio Mastermind Timo Neuvonen on the right and Eric on the left about to attempt to get all the inside information. Question 1 was answered in less than 10 seconds!

Rumiko clearly filled with the same joy as myself when we realised not only is Finland not that cold but its also beautiful in the sun. Question 2 completed!

Our Technician Jan trying to come to terms with being outside of Sweden!

Off the coach at Kuopio and straight out to sample the local culture! Jazz band + Blonde Afro + Outside in Finland = Awesome

Less Awesome was the local beer called Sandels! Actually tasted a little like a pair of sandals. So I asked for a tap water wondering what I would get and I can safely say its water. But some of the best tap water i've ever drank!! Question 3 done.

Adel demonstrating men can indeed multitask as he is drinking beer, conversing with me and Facebooking all at the same time. I must point out that this is a normal Pub with each table having free access to a internet ready computer! Interesting seen as the pub also had and retro library, Leather headrests over the mens urinal just incase you sudenly have bad posture (drink related I think?) and a slight London Dungeon feel to it. What a mix!

After our half a pint of beer each we strolled along to the lake in the Midnight Sun. Honestly was the perfect blend of beauty and clamness 

The walk home to the Hotel also in the midnight sun, equally as fascinating.
Thats it Kuopio Day 1 done and as it turns out its a pretty cool place to be! Just one last thing we did get breakfast (Question 4) this morning and what ever those Finish warm rice cake things are I want a whole lot more...... Just avoid that sweet scrambled egg though!
Heydå
Graham
/ 17. juni 2010 15:06
Welcome to my first ever Skånes Dansteater blog! My name is Graham Adey and have recently started dancing for Skånes Dansteater.
Yesterday was my first venture out of the wonderful Malmö to a sunny town called Lomma. I had been asked to teach a 2 hour workshop to a group of kids on a summer dance camp!!
I turned up to Lomma in good spirits after seeing all the patriotic Swedish flags flying high above peoples houses. People seemed very happy to see me when I arrived and the kids shocked that the whole class would be in English. Of course it only took them around 1 minute to work out that getting me to say words in Swedish could be very ammusing for them!!
Dance Students sitting waiting looking a little confused as to what they should expect! What is contemporary dance??????
Me (Goofy looking one on the right) explaining that they should not look confused about what contemporary dance is! Only problem is they got more confused as I was talking in English!
Good job you dont need to talk much when your dancing and we got straight to it.
Looks like a ballet class but I promise we were doing contemporary
You see!!! Look at that contemporary pose and these kids pick up super fast!!!
Is he laughing at me or with me?
I threw some difficult stuff at them but these swedish kids just dont give up!
Thats me again and look we are all in time... kinda
aaaaaah my world famous reggae routine. Dancing to Bob Marleys - No More Trouble.
Near the end of class and trying to make them sweat by doing some good old travelling across the floor.
We finished the workshop some creative exercises and this looks like she is asking me a serious question by i'm sure she really asked me why the hell I had a Batman T-Shirt on?
So there we have it my first blog and class for Skånes Dansteater. I had a great time teaching these kids as they were up for having a go at everything always with a smile on their faces! I left Lomma with love
So thanks for reading and look out for my next blog... which could be arabesque of the week!!