Saturday 27 June 2015

After performances in Edinburgh

Can´t believe it is over!
The two and a half weeks I have been dancing a lot in Dance Base (company classes, evening classes and working on the new piece at studio), doing Aerial Yoga in Meadowlark studio, going into impro jams in Edinburgh and in Glasgow and of course showings and performances of the working process piece. And of course meeting new lovely friends!

My last day in Edinburgh was lovely! I was the whole day in Glasgow. In evening at 9 pm was the Cottier Dance Project Watch this space performances and my working process from To Drown was one of the performances that evening. Big thanks to Freya Jeffs for organizing the Cottier Dance project. There were a lot of nice performances in the program and she really made me feel like home at Cottier Theater!

I was really nervous how everything will go in the evening, because last week when I did the Company showing in Dance Base, my piece was 24 min. And it felt good.... It was also really nice to get good feedback and thoughts that really opened my eyes also. But how will I get all that done in 10 min? That was really hard... Because I really wanted to show what I have been doing, so showing just one part felt weird. So I got something off but still tried to show some from every part.

Mostly everything was in my mind.. I hope I don't speed up everything, because having the in my mind the 10 min. I wasn´t so happy of the performances, but I know I´m also very critical for myself. It was so nice that some of the Dance Base people and people that I have met in jams came to watch, and I was really interested to hear from them who has seen the 24 min and now saw the 10 min, was it different... And it was really nice to hear their feedback. :)

Over all the residency time for me was:

  • amazing, 
  • inspiring, 
  • connection time (meeting new people),
  • working time (having all my focus on the piece and me as a dance artist),
  • learning time (surprising myself many ways, piece came contemporary/Street piece...where did that come from... :D), 
  • getting a energy boost,
  • breathing and stopping for this moment.
What the residency time in Edinburgh gave for me:

I learned a lot of my working tools and I learned that for me these kinds of residences are good to getting all my focus into the piece that I´m working but also it gave me space to work (and I mean space in many ways!). I learned a lot of my working methods what works and what helps me to get open. Because some times I feel too shut down after working so intensive with the Company.
It was also very teaching to do the two showings, getting the feedback and having new ideas from that. But also as a performer I learned of myself a lot, mind is really powerful weapon to make you too critical and getting you shut down.

Being in other peoples classes and teaching people on other city taught me as a teacher. Getting ideas also in my own work and it is inspiring to notice that I would have so many new things that I would like to teach fro these people in here and also what these students and teacher could teach me.

But over all this time gave me new ideas in my artistic work and teaching works and also running the Company. I was open for everything and I really feel I got a lot. And that was the best reminder, be open and everything goes well, don't shut down any way.

I felt like dome and mostly it was of the lovely people on Dance Base, in the Jams and in Meadowlark yoga. So from the bottom of my heart I thank all the people that I met! <3

Also big thank´s for Jarkko believing in me and really doing everything that I got this change. And thanks for JOJO`s people to giving me the opportunity! <3

Now at home, but feeling that now everything is just starting!

Guys next year you will see the To Drown!

Blogging soon of life as a artist and company owner. :)

-Pirita









Monday 22 June 2015

Tomorrow is the perfomance in Cottier Theater

I had lovely weekend at working the piece and visiting Glasgow.

Everything I have done in now two weeks with the new piece, came together for 24 minutes small working process performance. And for the Cottier Theater Watch this space I have only 10 minutes. Iiikk.. :) I still wanna show in there what I have been doing and cutting everything in half is going to be interesting... But I got it done.. Now I´m just little bit nervous how it feels for the audience. But we will see that tomorrow. :)

Sunday I went to visit Glasgow. First in Glasgow contact impro jam. In was really great, there were lots of people! It was really nice three hours. That really got be this feeling that we have to this also in Oulu. And it will be my first task in there when I get back, start organizing it!

After the jam I went to see a performance in Cottier Theater Lauda Adrianna by Stephen Pelton Dance Theater with the Gavin Bryars Ensemble. It was really beautiful live music and really talented dancers, It was also great to see the venue before my own performance. The Cottier theater it´s an old church, what has been change into a theater. It is really beautiful space. And I feel so good that I have the change also perform there.

Today was my day off. And I felt sad going last time in Dance Base and saying everyone goodbye. And it was even sadder to start packing and cleaning the apartment. Tomorrow I will be the whole day in Glasgow and really early in the Wednesday I´m leaving. So everything had to be done today. But I have a good feeling that I will come back here again. ;)

P.s. I have to say, I have been cleaning with many different machines but never with this kind! It looks like vacuum from 70´s hahahahha.... Well job well done so no complaining. :)





And this stair I have been walk up and down two weeks. It has good warm up before morning classes. :)



Blogging you soon about how the performances went. 
-Pirita

Friday 19 June 2015

Second week in Edinburgh



More dancing, more aerial yoga and working

It has now been my second week in the residency and everything feels like home.
This week the weather has been more like in Finland, cold. But still most of the time really bright and of course it has been raining, but not so much that you would have thought.

I have done many company classes and also in evenings aerial yoga @ Meadowlark yoga and Bollywood and Afro Cuban classes @ Dance Base. I have met really nice people and I have had lots of fun in the classes.


I have had also good sessions in studio, working on the piece. First I started in studio with the interview material, so I wrote three main areas in three different papers. I first went around the studio and tried to find the right place for every interview paper.
After finding the right place I just walk around and read the interviews again. Just going with feeling or with some words or how it felt for me. And then started do improv throw that feeling, words or what came to me from that paper.


After that came five really different elements/parts. This week I have started to go deeper into those elements/parts. The parts have now gone really far already. Lots of sweat, tiers, weary body, has put into the working process. But also I have laughed so hard that my abs knows it. That was at first really weird for me, that I work on piece that is really intense (because it is something really personal also) I go really crazy and I most of time I have laughed so hard that I couldn´t stop it. :D

Today I did pre-showing for some of the Dance Base people and tomorrow is the Company showing. So anyone can come and watch what I have done.

I really got a good feedback today! Can´t wait tomorrow and next weeks Cottier Dance Project  Watch this space performance, where I do 10 minutes from the whole 20 minutes that I showed today and show tomorrow.
http://www.cottierchamberproject.com/ctp_website/gig/watch_this_space/

Tomorrow is also really emotional day.. <3 Telling you more later.

And in Finland starts the midsummer celebration, so good midsummer celebration for everyone in Finland!

Hyvää Juhannusta Suomeen!

And Blogging to you later this week.

 -Pirita



Sunday 14 June 2015

First week in residency

First week behind and it had been so inspiring to work at new piece. First two days I did lots interviews at the streets and in Dance Base. I also tried to get know the city... Many times got lost, that was good for myof research also. But thank god I have good memory where I came from.. But it is really easy to get lost in Edinburgh, because they have the city in different layers. 

The weather and film festival
The weather was at first really hot and sunny! It was nice to work also at the gardens. Then on Friday it became colder like in Finland. Now it is really sunny and warm, but also cloudy and I feel that ut can change quickly. Despite the weather I went still to the outdoor movie festival watching great movies like Life of  Pi and Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory (the original one). Umba Lumbas are the best!

Dancing and yoga

I have also done company classes in Dance Base and evening classes like Bollywood and Afro Cuban class, It has been great! At Thursday I also taught a company class, we did contemporary dance mostly of the floorwork. They were really great energy in the class. So I have been dancing and walking a lot and my legs was shouting that "we need aerial yoga". So I went this place called Meadowlark Yoga. And did their Aerial yoga class. Oh my... The place was really the best ever and the teacher was also! After the class my legs were shouting " We wanna do splits on the road". And then I.... Well.. almost did it. But I said to them "guys save the energy for the studio time".  Good that I said that.. In the last few hours working I found really loose legs going every were

Workdays

So now on the piece To Drown, it´s about drowning yourself of feelings, losses and motions. Drown into all the "bad" things that has happened to you. How it all changes you? From January I have been working in Finland one part of the piece which is about the injuries and now in Edinburgh residency I´m working the other part of the piece which is about loosing a close person in your life. First two days I did interviews about it and whit that material I started to work on the piece. I took four of the interviews and wrote it down on the papers. Then I started working on the raw material. I will write on that in my next blogging next week.

Lovely Sunday
On my interviews I met this guy who told me that in Dance Base in Improv class in Sunday. So today I went there and it was great! It was so soft and at the same time speedy movement with influenced by everyone in class. It was really great day improv jam with great people and cellist. Thank´sSkye Redolds and others! #lovelysunday
JOJO´s t-shirt also with mee in the class, marketing done! :D

Next week more working throw interviews, dancing and yoga.

Working process showing in Dance Base Company showing on Friday 19.6. at 5 pm.

Feeling good and ready for next week :)
 Blogging soon -Pirita

Wednesday 10 June 2015

Start on my residency in Edinburgh Dance Base

First time in Edinburgh

It took me a two months really to get in my head, that in June I will travel in Edinburgh. :)
It was just so hard to believe that I will have the time just for working one thing, on my new dance performance. Now for three years I have been 24/7 multitasking worker; dance company owner, producer, dance teacher, dance artist, cleaner and many more. Now for two and half weeks I have just one thing: working as a dance artist.  It feels like holiday!

I arrived here in Sunday evening it was already very late so mostly I was tired from traveling. But the first feeling from the city and the people was good. The Dance Base people were so great that they had already pre-ordered taxi for me to my new "home". So now stress of finding the place at the late evening. The people in Dance Base are so great! Really helpful and warm hearted! And  the apartment were I´m staying is like my other dream home were I could live. Really beautiful house, and the women who gave me the keys said that this part of Edinburgh lives wealthy people... Hahhahah.. :D

First two days has been really getting to know the city and interviewing people for my performance.
It is really big city and here are lots of tourists, that little bit have made the interviewing´s harder. Because they doin´t want to give interviews and some didn´t even speak good english. But I have really got to know the best places where to interview and I have been talking with people from Edinburgh, Latvia, London and many more. Also really funny thing happened with one interview, he does a lot contact impro, and he told me that at on Sunday they have this jam in Dance Base.. Crazy right.. So on this Sunday I try to go there also. :) I have now lot´s of interview material for me to work on.

Also when I was doing one interview one guy started the street performance (I think he was called) Great Scotty.. And he asked me to help him at the show... So of course I helped him. I have now the feeling that you never now were you can find you´re self next time when walk throw busy streets at Edinburgh.

Today I also did the professional morning class with Matthew Hawkins. It was good contemporary class. And this evening I went also in Bollywood class, they have it in Dance Base. It has been nearly five years that I have been in somebody else´s Bollywood class! And it was great fun! :)

Tomorrow working at the studio... Write soon of the working process.

Dance Base site:
http://www.dancebase.co.uk/international-exchanges/pirita-tuisku-313