Alma Harmaa - The Dance Production

Picture Juhamatti Julkunen

It has now been one week sense the shows.

I'm still wrapping my head around everything that happened.

Being a part of the working crew,

was a huge privileged for me

and I want to believe it shall open some new doors for me.

Guide me on a new path in life.

I'm hopeful and little bit scared.

Hopeful for it will give me new opportunities on my career

and working with things I actually want to work for.

And scared for if it's not going to work

and I would need go back to the old path.

To the path I ended up accidentally

and unintentionally in the first place.

I really really don't want to go back there.

Picture Juhamatti Julkunen

About the dance production.

It all started,

when I happened to mention to the artistic director, Miikka Ryytty,

that I would love to write a book. 

Where he asked, 

if I would first like to write a script for the dance production

and make a book after that.

We agreed.

I didn't have any clue about writing a real script,

but the director had ideas

which kind of elements he would like to have in the show

and based on these ideas I started writing.

A few times he gave the script back to me

suggesting somethings that didn't work like that.

And I took it home and figured out other ways to write the scenes.

And needles to say,

I'm really proud of the out coming.

It was and is,

one of the most powerful feelings I have experienced.

To be able to watch the dancers and actors (me included)

practicing the scenes and moves,

the lights and music tracks coming together.

To actually see how the story and the words

I had written on the paper

came into a life.

Picture Juhamatti Julkunen

Same collaboration went on with the stage settings.

The director had idea and I had an vision how it would be

the most authentic way to carry it out.

As I was supposed to create a Northern swamp on the stage,

and as I love natural materials,

it was clear for me to head out to the forest

to collect the elements for the stage set.

And it worked perfectly.

The beetroot dyed cucumber maggots

and the bonfire I'm especially proud of.

They turned out to be really authentic looking.

Picture Juhamatti Julkunen

I had also privilege to create the outfit and the whole appearance

for the character I was performing.

A creature, whom was once an elf,

but had been living alone in the swamp for a long time.

The base of the dress I actually had already.

My friend found it from a secondhand store

and gave it to me couple years ago.

The story tells it has been one of the costumes

in the Finnish movie called Rölli ja Metsänhenki (2001).

I have watched the movie,

but back then I didn't know to look for the dress.

But it is nice thought,

that now the dress made for the stage,

could shine again in front of an audience.

Picture Annele Halmekoski

The bone jewelries I made from the bones I had at home,

and which I had been collecting from the wilderness on my adventures.

The round tube kind of bone pieces

were actually collected at the restaurant

I was working some years ago.

The certain dish included bone meat

and the bones where obviously coming back to the kitchen.

On the necklace I also used a piece of reindeer backbone as the center piece

and rowan wood pieces with some Scandinavian runes on them.

For the earrings and claws (or bone fingers)

I used reindeer rib bones,

which I tied with hemp yarn.

The hemp yarn turned out to be really bad quality

and the sharp bone edges were cutting it,

so that I needed to fix the bone fingers after every show.

For the future I will undone them and change the yarn to Calcutta hemp,

which seems more strong and tolerates better the bones.

Picture Juhamatti Julkunen

As for the make up, well

the point was to make something, which would look really scary,

so that the contrast to the sympathetic swamp creature,

when you get to know her, would be as big as possible.

I think I managed to pull out this one too.

Picture Annele Halmekoski

During the rehearsals it came out,

that I'm a natural dramaturge.

 The director pointed it out,

when I tried to help the actors by helping them to understand

what kind of feeling we were wanting from them.

I know I'm sensitive for nuances of feelings

and that I'm good with describing them in words,

but it came as an surprise to me,

that this makes me a good dramaturge.

So this also came to be one of my job during the production.

And I really enjoyed it too.

Picture Juhamatti Julkunen

I think the hardest part for me was the performing.

I love acting and I do all kind of performs for my friends just for fun.

But it was totally different to perform for a real audience.

On premiere I was so nervous,

that on the scene were I was supposed to lift my hand

on the spot light above me,

I could see my finger shaking.

For my favour no one else noticed this.

And it came out it was only for that one time.

The rest of the shows were fine

and I wasn't trembling anymore.

Picture Juhamatti Julkunen

It has truly been too long

sense I have had an opportunity to be part

of any kind of artistic project.

And I can't wait for the next one.

I have already so many ideas for the next dance production

that will premiere on next Yule!