Marimekko ♥ National Ballet

Yesterday went by too quickly, so now's the time to post some photos from Friday's first event - the traditional Marimekko's fashion show! This year the models were a bit different from the usual, they were dancers from the Finnish National Ballet. Which happens to celebrate it's 90th anniversary this year. What a coincidence... ;) Theme of the show was a certain Finnish tradition, this kind of a "barn dance". Except that we don't actually dance in a barn, but it's usually a building that contains a huge dance floor (called stage, in Finnish) and a stage for the band. And a bar, of course... :D Waltz, tango, polka, everything like that.

Coreography was by Johanna Nuutinen (dancer herself also at the FNB), fun, lively, captured the spirit of Finnish summer so well. There was a live band, too - drums, accordeon and double bass. They played some "golden schlagers", the sun was shining and everyone seemed to be in a good mood! :)

There are some amazing and fabulous photos of the show in the internet, by some real photographers (google them or find for example Mikael Rantalainen Photography on facebook). But here are some of mine - not so sharp and great, but I still had fun taking them, yes sir!

The directors... :)

Minna Tervamäki herself, grace and elegance.

The kids were so sweet.

Girls got the meet and perform with their idol!

Wouldn't mind dancing there myself :)

Up in the air!

Jamming with the kids again! :)

One of my favorite dresses.

Smiling... :)

Loved her short hair-do!

Who gets the boy? ;)

The Shoe.

The Shoes.

One of my absolutely favorite things in the show was the fact that everyone was SMILING. All the time. Fashion doesn't always have to be so serious, you know... :)

Some shows, I say!

Today was my pre-summer-vacation-day. Went to Helsinki for a meeting with flute society people, after which with a colleague to see the Marimekko Fashion Show. And it was starred by the dancers of our National Ballet! :)

Little preview by me - Minna Tervamäki opened the show! :)

Managed to fetch tickets for next week - the first round of Helsinki International Ballet Competition. Classical variations. Then it was time to take another tourist class - this time with a new teacher I'd heard so much good about. It was a beginners' level (60 minutes), but worth every second. Mrs G. came by many times and fixed things with me. Loved it all.

After class - to a cafe with a ballet (geek) friend, then to the Senate Square -> National Ballet's (free) performance! Bits and pieces of many works, all danced with heart and soul. Weather was as superb as the artists, audience was Big.

Just a small part of us.

Well, there was also my current favorite on stage - the one on the left! :) 

The only thing that didn't turn out as good as I would've liked was the photos. A small digital camera just isn't that much. But still I got some memories captured, so it's all fine and I'm very happy!

Have to write more about this all tomorrow. Or on Sunday. When I'm already officially on vacation. YAY!

Summer Plans

If I were a rich gal... Well, I'm not so have to cope with a little less. And I'm of course talking about summer ballet classes! Last year we had only once a week, 90 minutes on Wednesdays - of which I missed first weeks, because of the ankle operation. This year we're getting double, yay! Monday & Wednesday, 90 minutes both evenings. And a litttttttle bit of pointe work every now and then. (The only problem is that my pointe shoes are no good. Bought a bottle of shellac, will try to bring life to an older pair...)

My dream week would be having a class on Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat. Streching on Sun. But as things are how they are (and I live where I live), I'm taking those 2 classes and taking up running/jogging instead. Last Autumn I won a pair of very good running shoes from a sport store, it's about time to try them out. Found a reasonable "start-running-instruction-set" from the mighty interweb, have to print it and put on the front door. It has stuff to do every other day, for 11 weeks. And it starts quite slowly, so it will probably suit me just fine and dandy. I've Never been a runner, ever. Hated it at school. Riding a bike is okay, dancing is super, playing football/Finnish baseball/etc. is okay. But just running - nope. So you see, I'm really challenging myself here. Luckily I've got a small mp3-player (no ipadspods...), so have to load it up with inspirational music.

So, weekly plan looks like this:

Monday → 18.30-20.00 ballet

Tuesday → running programme

Wednesday → 18.30-20.00 ballet

Thursday → running programme

Friday → home gym & extra streching

Saturday → running programme

Sunday → running programme/home gym & extra streching

There are also 3 "compensation" tickets that I can use in summer aerobic classes, have to check the time table if there's anything interesting. Fridays would be ideal for them (or some Sundays).

http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeandgarden/2010/01/vintage-ballet-posters/

It's here! It's here!

Yesterday I got mail from the UK. Yes sir indeed. The Alice -dvd from The Ballet Bag arrived, autographed by the lovely Royal Ballet Principal dancers! Took some photos :) And shall watch it this weekend.

I like the part "with compliments"... :D

Lauren Cuthbertson (Alice/gold) and Zenaida Yanowsky (the Queen of Hearts/silver)!!!!! :)

Edward Watson (the White Rabbit/gold) and Steven McRae (the Mad Hatter/silver)!!!!! :)

The COOL photo from the back of the leaflet.