Surprise

As I mentioned in the description Finland is a country full of surprises. One of them was summer this year, which was actually a proper, warm summer. Who could have guessed - warm summer? In Finland??

I know that it was hot all over Europe and people have been craving for some cooler weather, but usually the heat waves don't reach us here, in the far north. Even water in big lakes was exceptionally warm (actually it still is). For 2 weeks in my apartment there was 26-30 Celsius degrees and I have never complained, just enjoyed the weather, went to the beach, spent evenings outside, enjoying warm nights. I was lucky to have my holidays at that time :)
I didn't take any pics while being on the beach, but all beaches have been really crowded. But best proof ever that it was hot is this: a fan in the office where I work. Usually it is one of the most chilly places in the whole building and I'm freezing most of the year. It is now so warm that my workmates tried to cool down a bit by using the fan. It doesn't really do the trick, but my workmate said: flying papers at least give me an impression that the fan helps.

I am enjoying last warm moments, today most likely was the last hot day of summer. Next summer like this maybe in 20 years. Yey...

Kuopio wine festival

Summer is a good time to be in Kuopio - many events taking place. Just few days ago Kuopio wine festival has ended - more information here.

It was taking place 2-10th of July. I was hesitating long if I should go, because the entry ticket is ridiculously expensive - 24€ just to enter! The explanation might be concerts taking place in the area of the festival, but I haven't found any band that would catch my attention. Well, maybe apart from Samantha Fox ;) whose songs have been played from the playback anyway.
The last day I decided to go just to get an idea how does it look like. The star of the evening was Paula Koivuniemi - a star for those who are in their fifties :) I just didn't pay attention, chatted with a friend and enjoyed my wine.

I think that this was my first and last time buying the ticket for the festival unless:
- organisers will provide bigger selection of wines or
- organisers will provide extremely famous and delicious wine or
- organisers will find some music which suits more my preferences

Oh, and a tip for those who will in the future happen to be around July in Kuopio when the wine festival is going on: I've noticed that after the concerts bouncers would let people inside without tickets. So maybe that is the way - just to wait until the concerts are over and go to try some wines :)

Kuopio dance festival - been there, seen some

As I promised myself I have finally managed to go to Kuopio Tanssii ja Soi festival. I have seen three performances:
- Lost blanket - free entrance, for kids
- Skånes Dansteater - contemporary dance performance
- Ballet Argentino

I went to see the first performance because an acquaintance was performing there. I also thought that because it is meant for children I might be able to understand it :D The show was lovely. Main plot: a girl loses her favourite blanket and travels around the world with her "friend" - button to search for the blanket. So she visited snowy part of the world (picture), she travelled seas on a chest (picture), went to Africa to finally find her blanket and return home. There was live music - band and some vocalists making various sounds that created the atmosphere of different places visited.

Second show (by Skånes Dansteater) was quite a different one. Contemporary dance, at least as I have seen it in this show, is about creating a message to the audience with the bodies and music. So I couldn't make out any plot and focused on impressions. There were two parts. The first part of the performance was very dark and even frightening at some points. Dancers weren't like humans, there was something mechanical about them. Music was dark and gloomy. Second part was more lively, more dancers at the stage at the same time, but still it was not the most cheerful show I have seen.Maybe the reason for the dark, gloomy atmosphere was the fact, that one of the choreographers was Finn :)

The third show was my favourite: it was lively, with great music, at some points it was even funny. Smaller parts of the show were combined by a lady singing with a strong voice in Spanish. Unfortunately I was not able to understand her singing, but her voice conceived passion, love, tragedy on a different than linguistic level. If somebody has seen Mulholland Drive by Lynch there is also a lady singing in Spanish - the lady during the show was singing in a similar manner. Also in Almodovar's High Hills this motive has been used. It spices the show with emotions.

So apart from the entertaining part with some ladies-gentlemen plot there was a room for a bit of thinking, consideration. Therefore I think this was the best show I have seen. Taking pictures was forbidden so I didn't take any, therefore unfortunately I have no visual material to share with you. All in all it was worth to go and see different dance styles and different ways of creating atmosphere with music and dancing people. Hopefully next year there is also an interesting programme to choose from.

I hope you liked my report! Until next post!