Forecast: SNOW…and DANCE
HE’S everywhere
Wednesday, December 12th, 2012. Slept the sleep of the righteous dance traveler. From 8pm to 4am. That Lapin Kulta did help. At 6:30am I will go down for a proper breakfast…as northern Europeans do it. I’ll take a picture to carry with me when I’m stopping at the Holiday Inn Express in Nowhere, Kansas for pre-cooked eggs and frozen waffles with margarine and fake maple syrup.
For you Marsha, playing “guard the market” from the fluffier creatures walking by
This is my last dance booking trip. Hopefully just the right dancer/company is here to wrap up the last JOURNEYS/Global DanceFest in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. I am a little sad…but only a little…because it is time. I need to devote every travel dollar and minute to getting to those last 108-countries-in-the-world-before-I-die. But I will return to Finland and Norway for sure. A trip to visit my Norwegian cousins. A trip to Lapland where a great grandfather on mom’s side was from. A trip to Finland as the starting point for a summer’s journey on the Trans-Siberian Express.
Scott and Steve, this is where all the small stages were set up with people basking in the summer sun
Now 3am Thursday. Yesterday was good. Bundled up after breakfast and headed for the Christmas market. First half hour of walking on ice and slush terrifying of course—just like that first drive of the season on slippery roads—and then one adjusts. But that experience of a broken bone from falling tends to stick in my mind and movement. Finally I adjust and creep along rather briskly!
Leaving hotel at 9:30am. Dark and cold. But soon it feels normal
The market is not so very different from any holiday gift fair except that it is in snow and there’s more silver snowflake and reindeer pendants and newly forged candle holders and miniscule northern lake fish fried to perfection and blood sausage and cranberry-centered candies than would be the case in New Mexico.
Mrs. Claus I do believe
Funny. The cold becomes just normal in a little while. And you stroll along like it’s….Minnesota perhaps.
Back in the day….
Back to the hotel for a nap and then off to the evening’s events. Two art center/theaters far apart but nice work accompanied by ample grog (mulled wine?) and champagne. Tero Saarinen’s new work led off the evening. I liked it very much. A sextet—the dancers so fluid in swoops and generous wide arms (outarching, my friend called it), always reforming as solos, duos, threesomes, all together, in new relationships. The score seemed unusual to me—almost like found sounds peculiarly arranged with lovely musical bits and interludes. A darkish piece but with beautifully-clear light focusing moments and actions. Called “Scheme of Things.” Susanna Leinonen presented “And the Line Begins to Blur,” Beautiful strong dancing, complicated but with a slightly murky feel. And finally Jyrki Karttunen danced a portrait of an aging drag diva. The audience mostly seemed to love it…with good reason for the powerful imagery he created. I didn’t get some of the humor but that is okay—says nothing about the quality of the performance.
Let there be music
Walked home on the ice-slush surface with Paul and Walter from White Bird since I did not want to go to one more talky-talky place even for euro vegetarian food. Ate a blueberry muffin, read murder. Life on the road.
Looks a little..snowy there. I would only go to Helsinki in the winter with you, Marjorie because it would be fun. All this snow and cold would make me whine..a lot. The pictures are great…thanks for the look into this part of the world…Tom