Kuopio Days 4 and 5

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!!

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

Kuopio Day 3

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!

Kuopio Day 2

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

Kuopio Day 1

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