Baltic Circle

Baltic Circle is an International Contemporary Theatre Festival which is organized every November in Suvilahti and in different performance specific venues in Helsinki. Baltic Circle functions at the core of the European contemporary theatre and it functions as a ground for developing new trends in field of theatre and contemporary art. Baltic Circle collaborates with the focal European and local theatre festivals and production centers and it organizes training programs, seminars and workshops. Baltic Circle is a meeting point for artists and audiences, where genuine, real-time performance art experiences are born.

Baltic Circle 2012 Trailer from Baltic Circle on Vimeo.

Art Direction: Tsto
Animation: Niklas Ekholm
Sound: Eero Pitkänen (on a Roland Juno 106)



News

27.11.2012

THANK YOU!

Photo: Tiziana Niespolo.

Baltic Circle Festival would like to say a big thank you to all amazing artists, staff, volunteers, audience and partners who made the festival happen!

The festival gathered 3 250 visitors this year, with over hundred of them coming from abroad.

Baltic Circle Festival produced three premieres. In addition it co-produced two other performances and the Show Your Sisu project.

Baltic Circle Festival’s free Festival Lounge was very popular this year as well. The additional programme included seminars, workshops, discussions, brunches and an installation.

The next Baltic Circle Festival will be held November 13-17, 2013. See you then!






05.11.2012

FESTIVAL’S OPENING PERFORMANCE: FINAL OF SHOW YOUR SISU

Sorry, this entry is only available in suomi.






29.10.2012

JAKE & PETE

Jakob & Pieter Ampe (BEL): JAKE & PETE’S RECONCILIATION ATTEMPT FOR THE DISPUTES FROM THE PAST


JAKE & PETE’S BIG RECONCILIATION ATTEMPT FOR THE DISPUTES FROM THE PAST -teaser sec- from CAMPO on Vimeo.

Jakob (voice coach & a singer with The Germans) and Pieter (dancer, choreographer) Ampe are brothers, both born in Burundi, both with a lot of good and bad memories from their youth. The piece Jake & Pete’s Reconciliation Attempt for the Disputes from the Past  plays with the expectations of the spectator on the verge of catastrophe. The performance is sympathetic and fun,  it  involves extremes as well as subtleties, it became a study where the brothers examine to what extent they can raise each other’s game. Quite apart from this, there is something else that unites these brothers, namely their penchant for facile humour. They cannot wait to share it with the audience!

A creation for CONNECT CONNECT, international mentor program of Spielart Munich. Mentor Alain Platel.






25.10.2012

LEFTOVERS FROM THE WAR

In the performance Janne Saarakkala (FIN), Nina Larissa Bassett (DEN), Ivo Briedis (LAT) and Elin Petersdottir (ISL) are researching their family histories, and the possible wars connected to these histories.

LEFTOVERS FROM THE WAR teaser from LOFTW on Vimeo.

Baltic Circle Festival produces in co-production with TEKIJÄ – Theatre Touring Network project two residency periods. One of the upcoming performances being Leftovers from the War.The whole group is now in Finland and are staying in HIAP residency apartments in Suomenlinna.

Follow the process of Leftovers from the War on their blog.

Premiere 8.11. at the Finnish National Museum.






24.10.2012

AINO VENNA OPENS FESTIVAL LOUNGE

Live@Belly, photo Jonna Koivumäki

At the Baltic Circle opening club on Wed 7th November at KokoTeatteri will perform a Finnish singer-songwriter Aino Venna. Venna’s EP Waltz to Paris was released in the spring of 2012 and received a warm welcome. Venna, who has been compared to Leonard Cohen, flirts with the chanson and old rock n’ roll. Aino Venna’s debute album Marlene will be released on 26.10.

At the same night Baltic Circle Festival Lounge offers performance art in the spirit of DO TANK throughout the evening, for example Pia Lindy’s (choreographer, writer, live-art artist) solo called Oh Lightness. DJ duo is Wonderlust, two visual artists who combine music with elements of visual and performing arts.

Baltic Circle Festival Lounge offers every night stunning performances, amazing gigs and great DJ’s. Free entrance!

Listen to Aino Venna’s new single Devil Take Care, from the debute album Marlene.






05.10.2012

NYA RAMPEN / INSTITUTET / MARKUS ÖHRN: WE LOVE AFRICA AND AFRICA LOVES US PREMIERE TONIGHT IN BERLIN

From the last collaboration of Nya Rampen (FIN), Institutet (SWE) and the artist Markus Öhrn (SWE) was born the noted performance Conte dʼAmour (2010), co-produced by Baltic Circle, that has been presented in theaters and events around Europe, among others Avignon Festival of 2012. Today their new performance We love Africa and Africa loves us will have a premiere in Berlin, Ballhaus Ost theater.

We love Africa and Africa loves us continues from where Conte dʼAmour ended. The family that escaped the horrors of Joseph Fritzl ́s cellar is now searching for new defining borders. The solution is called Africa – the western concept of Africa – as something not yet civilized, wild, original and authentic  that defines the family and motivates it to structure anew. We love Africa and Africa loves us takes the audience on a journey into the heart of European darkness.

The performance will have its premiere in Finland on November at Baltic Circle Festival  Fri 9.11. 18:00 at Media Center Lume. Other performance on 10.11. & 11.11. 16:00.

Performed in English & German. Duration 2 h 40 min. Tickets 25 € / 15 € from Ticketmaster Finland (www.lippupalvelu.fi) and Q-teatteri (Q-teatteri.fi).

Produced by: Institutet, Nya Rampen, Baltic Circle, Ballhaus Ost, Garage X & Inkonst

http://ballhausost.de

http://www.nyarampen.fi

http://institutet.eu






27.09.2012

SHOW YOUR SISU COMPETITION STARTS TODAY!

Show Your Sisu project uses the format of a TV talent show and invites the public to explore what sisu has come to represent in the contemporary Finnish culture.

Sisu is something essential for understanding the Finnish character. Do any national characteristics exist anymore in a time when all meaning is individual? Show Your Sisu starts with a campaign where anyone create a video demonstrating why they have sisu. Contestants can do anything as long as they do it with sisu!

Everyone can follow the project on Show Your Sisu webpage www.showyoursisu.com, which is officially launched today as the project and competition starts. Public can vote and comment online all participating videos, both on the official website and through other forms of social media.

The live final of Show Your Sisu will take place at Baltic Circle Festival where the contestants with most votes will be invited. A panel of judges will crown the winning contestant as the Face of Sisu.

Show Your Sisu final on Baltic Circle Festival Wed 7.11. at 19:30 in Media Centre Lume

Produced by Baltic Circle in co-operation with Stadi.TV
Artists: DashNdem – Dash Macdonald & Demitrios Kargotis, curated by Aura Seikkula






18.09.2012

THE ADVENTURES OF HEIDI KLEIN

Baltic Circle Festival, in collaboration with Theatre Touring Network project (TEKIJÄ), produces two residency periods. One of the upcoming performances being  Heidi Klein.

Heidi Klein is a performance about names, identities, families, cuckoo-clocks and alpine views. It is a personal story about the lives of Heidi Soidinsalo (formerly Lind) and Anni Klein (formerly Ojanen). Both artists changed their last names for this performance.

During the fall 2012 Klein (formerly Ojanen) and Soidinsalo (formerly Lind) are working four weeks (3.-21.9. & 1.-5.10.)  in the residency at the Centre for Practice as Research in Theatre in the city of  Tampere. Follow the creation process of the performance on the blog  (only in Finnish) The Adventures of Heidi Klein.  The premiere of Heidi Klein is 7.11. at the Baltic Circle Festival.

Artistic Residencies are a very significant production model for touring performances. When several partners have committed to the production, a functional network for touring is usually formed. Therefore residency as a production model prolongs the lifespan of a production, enables freelance artists to network and refine organizational skills, and thereby, strengthens the continuity of touring activities.

http://theadventuresofheidiklein.blogspot.fi/






14.09.2012

DO TANK HELSINKI 2012

Photo: Verena Holzgethan & Paul Neuninger

DO TANK is an experimental program spanning a variety of different art forms, which invites artists to act on behalf of a world with a more diverse base of values, joint responsibility and sense of community. It is a series of different performances, spaces, processes, gatherings, installations, workshops and dialogues that are based on the theme of the event – the possibility of change in society through art.

DO TANK seeks not so much outspoken declarations as actions which might expand and open up the different horizons in which art can participate in building and changing society, above all on a personal and communal grass-root level. DO TANK seeks actions that lead to perhaps small bot nonetheless concrete steps. The project wishes to support local communities, building bridges between international artists and organizations and participate in building a new, active sense of working in the middle-ground between art and activism. The work is in no way related to party politics.

DO TANK spawned from an idea to create a space where artists react with concrete actions to the social and political challenges of their societies and global environments. The First DO TANK was held in Munich from Nov. 18th to Dec. 4th 2011 as a part of the international Spielart Festival. Satu Herrala works as the curator for the event together with Angelika Fink, the artistic director of Pathos München.

Read Satu Herrala’s Curator’s statement

Follow the projet:

http://dotankhelsinki2012.blogspot.fi

www.facebook.com/toDOTANK






07.09.2012

PROGRAM PUBLISHED AND TICKETS ON SALE!

The entire Festival program is now officially published and tickets are on sale. Tickets can be purchased from Ticketmaster (Lippupalvelu) Finland and Q-teatteri. Further information on page Tickets.

Baltic Circle International Theatre Festival 7.-11.11.2012

Ant Hampton & Tim Etchells (UK): The Quiet Volume / DashNdem (UK): Show Your Sisu / Heine Avdal & Yukiko Shinozaki (NOR / JAP): Field Works –hotel / Todellisuuden tutkimuskeskus & Club Real (FIN / GER & AUT): The Other / Lind & Ojanen (FIN): Heidi Klein / Jakob & Pieter Ampe (BEL): Jake & Pete’s Reconciliation Attempt for the Disputes from the Past / Kaja Kann & Juha Valkeapää (EST / FIN): It seems a good place to build a house / Public Movement (ISR): DO TANK Debriefing Session Helsinki / Nina Larissa Bassett (DEN) / Ivo Briedis (LAT) / Elin Petersdottir (ISL) / Janne Saarakkala (FIN): Leftovers from the War / Markus Öhrn & Institutet & Nya Rampen (SWE / FIN): We love Africa and Africa loves us / Maija Hirvanen (FIN): Our Social Democratic Bodies / Sublimi (ISL): Abyss / Búmm Bang (ISL) / Barbara Balsei (GER) / Mårten Spångberg (SWE): DO TANK Saunalectures / ONGOING Reality Research Center (FIN): metaFestival / DO TANK Sleep for Africa / Pia Lindy (FIN) / INTERIORS






16.03.2012

New seminar publication: TOURING IN SCANDINAVIA AND THE BALTICS: BRIDGING REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

Photo by Tani Simberg. In the photo: Johanna Hammarberg & Martina Marti

Baltic Circle and Tekijä – Theatre Touring Network Project have organized an international seminar TOURING IN SCANDINAVIA AND THE BALTICS: BRIDGING REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES in Helsinki, November 17-18, 2011.

The seminar has resulted into a publication, that includes 12 presentations, and comments by art theorist Max Ryynänen. Publication was edited by seminar moderators Martina Marti and Johanna Hammarberg, layout by Riitta Yrjönen.

DOWNLOAD A PDF PUBLICATION HERE






12.03.2012

2012 TINFO Award goes to Baltic Circle Festival Director Eva Neklyaeva

photo by: Alice Pittacolo

At the annual Thalia Gala organized by Finnish theatre organizations on March 11th in Swedish Theatre in Helsinki, 19 awards where given to theatre makers, organizations and productions, including the Tinfo Prize. The Prize is awarded by Theatre Information Centre  to honor theatre producers, critics, researchers and innovative projects and to highlight best practices in theatre communication. This year, Tinfo Prize was awarded to Baltic Circle Festival Director Eva Neklyaeva.

The Jury’s Criteria:

Eva Neklyaeva has a personal, ambitious style of leading the festival.

Neklyaeva has had long experience as a producer of contemporary theater. With her personal, dedicated approach to work Neklyaeva has brought visibility to contemporary theatre field. Neklyaeva’s way of producing a festival is content-driven and thoughtfully curated – a combination of festival shows, clubs and workshops create a living organism that exists by its own laws. Baltic Circle has become a risk-taking, openly communicating festival that offers the audience and theatre makers a wide range of meeting grounds.

Neklyaeva is a producer of theatre(science), who has brought forth Finnish theatre expertise and created new networks in the performing art field. In this sense, Neklyaeva has carried on and developed the honorable traditions of Baltic Circle Festival.

Especially last edition of Baltic Circle made Helsinki look like a diverse and lively theatre city. The festival used innovative communication and networking strategies, received a lot of public attention and succeeded in attracting new audiences.

By awarding the prize to Eva Neklyaeva the jury wants to honor the curator who brings together dramaturgical and production-based approach in her work.






09.03.2012

(suomi) TEKIJÄ-hanke etsii esityksiä yhteistyötahoilleen Baltic Circle – ja Lain§uojattomat –festivaaleille.

Sorry, this entry is only available in suomi.






13.12.2011

New online diary for 10 Journeys to a Place Where Nothing Happens

photo by Tani Simberg

“We woke up at 9. Came to the tent at ten. Cleaned and washed the dishes. Then we went to sauna.”

Ten journeys to a place where nothing happens tries to avoid too much performing. The biggest challenge for the makers of the performance, Juha Valkeapää and Taito Hoffrén, is to do nothing. Simply to be. In this they sometimes succeed, sometimes not.

10 Journeys to a Place Where Nothing Happens by Juha Valkeapää & Taitto Hoffrén premiered at Baltic Circle Festival 2010, and is still touring. Next time you can catch it in brut, Wien on January 19-21, 2012.

Check out new online diary from the tour!

Photo by Tani Simberg






28.11.2011

THANK YOU!

Photo: Tani Simberg

A big thanks to all absolutely amazing artists, staff, volunteers, audience, partners and participants who made the festival of 2011!

The international theatre festival Baltic Circle 2011 attracted a larger audience than in previous years. The festival featured 50 performances and other events, attended by 3555 spectators in all – which is more than ever.

At the festival there were five premieres, which were produced or international co-produced by Baltic Circle. Three of these productions have started touring abroad. The Festival Lounge offered every night awesome and free shows at the Universum theatre.

Baltic Circle Festival Additional Programme included four workshops, a panel debate The Role of Audience in Contemporary Performance, a book release by performance group Kukkia and a seminar Touring in Scandinavia and the Baltics, which was organized together with the Theatre Touring Network Project TEKIJÄ.

The next Baltic Circle Festival will be held in November 7-11, 2012.

Until next year!






19.11.2011

BALTIC CIRCLE FESTIVAL IN THE MEDIA

Kansan Uutiset 13.11.2011, Arbetarbladet 18.11.2011, Hufvudstadsbladet 18.11.2011 and Voima-lehti 9/2011 interviewed Festival Director Eva Neklyaeva about the performance Two in Your House by Teatr.doc. The articles are in Finnish and Swedish.

Yle Kultakuume 18.11.2011. did a radio interview about Teatr.doc and Eva Neklyaeva. The interview is in Finnish.

YLE TV News (14.11.2011) reported about Build Me a Mountain! by Verk Produksjoner. Scroll video to 0.18.04. The report is in Finnish.

Hufvudstadsbladet (16.11.2011) interviewed Verk’s director Fredrik Hannestad. The article is in Swedish.

Min Morgon (16.11.2011) interviewed Nya Rampen’s Jakob Öhrman, director of the performance Worship! Scroll to 8.05. The interview is in Swedish.

Radio Vega (Scroll to 0.38.00) and YLE Pixel interviewed actors from Nya Rampen. The interviews are in Swedish.

Journalist Sanna Uuttu saw the premiere of Nya Rampen’s Worship!. www.fifi.fi The article is in Finnish.

Critiques of the performances Worship! (HBL 19.11.2011), Build Me a Mountain! (HBL 18.11.2011) and Fat Bastards (HBL 22.11.2011) by Hufvudstadsbladet. The critiques are in Swedish.






16.11.2011

BALTIC CIRCLE FESTIVAL STARTS TODAY

Drama Reloaded: Yerma © Jack Balance

International contemporary theatre festival Baltic Circle starts today 16th November with three Finnish premieres:

Drama Reloaded: Yerma

Fat Bastards

Worship!

Today’s two international performances are more than enough by Doris Uhlich and MADE IN RUSSIA by Andrei Andrianov and Oleg Soulimenko. In more than enough Uhlich asks herself and her audience how the body can become a trademark and what this means. MADE IN RUSSIA is a hot, post-communist war battle of eastern and western cultural clichés.

This year artists arrive from Finland, Norway, Austria, Russia, USA, Iceland and Estonia. The heart of the festival Festival Lounge offers every night 16.-20.11.2011 awesome and free shows.

Let’s Festival!






14.11.2011

TICKET SALES DURING THE FESTIVAL WEEK

TICKET SALES
Q-teatteri
Tunturikatu 16, 00100 Helsinki
Tel.  +358 9 4542 1333

Q-teatteri opening hours during the festival week:

ma 14.11. 10:00-15:00
ti 15.11. 11:00-15:00
ke 16.11. 10:00-19.00
to 17.11. 10:00-19.30
pe 18.11. 10:00-19.30
la 19.11. 12:00-19:00
su 20.11. 12:00-18:00

Ticket Service Finland
Tel. +358 (0)600 10 800 (1,96€/min + local network charge)
www.lippupalvelu.fi

Tickets are sold at the venues 1 hour before the perfomance, if it’s not sold out.

Read more






13.11.2011

OJANEN & IIVANAINEN: MAKING OF FAT BASTARDS

Fat Bastards from joonas tikkanen on Vimeo.

Fat Bastards is a girls’ attempt to grasp the essence of ice-hockey through an off-the-wall lecture. It is a do-it-yourself performance about passion, repulsion and creative destruction. “Football is erotic, ice-hockey is porn.”

WED 16.11. 20:00, THU 17.11. 20:00, FRI 18.11. 17:30 & SAT 19.11. 17:00
Suvilahti, Tiivistämö, Kaasutehtaankatu 1
20 / 15 €
Read more






08.11.2011

SKENET: Internationally acclaimed Nya Rampen presents Shakespeare interpretation at the Baltic Circle Festival

Journalist Martti Mäkelä (Skenet 2.11.) interviewed Jakob Öhrman, the director of Nya Rampen’s new performance WORSHIP!

WORSHIP! will be premiered at Baltic Circle Festival November 16th. In the performance Nya Rampen takes hold of the most renowned plays of all time, taking a look at mortal sins trough Shakespeare’s tragedies. WORSHIP! examines the characteristic human need to believe in and belong to something, be it a religion, an ideology or art. Nya Rampen ponders why fiction such as Shakespeare’s tragedies still reaches audiences. Do we need stories in order to understand reality?

Read the article (In Finnish).






04.11.2011

FESTIVAL BRUNCH SAT 19.11. & SUN 20.11.

Photo: Nikolai Botvinnik

Baltic Circle invites you to the Festival Brunch Sat 19.11. & Sun 20.11. where you can enjoy delicious food and drinks, meet new people and old friends as well as recover from the previous night’s celebrations at Festival Lounge. Buffet and a glass of sparkling wine guarantee a perfect start for the weekend’s festival experience!

During the Festival Brunch you are welcomed to visit Johanna Lecklin’s live-ar t installation Confessions in the lobby of Puoli-Q Theatre where you can reveal your darkest or funniest secrets. After the brunch you can see the performance Build Me a Mountain! by Verk Produksjoner (NO R) at Q-teatteri at 2pm.

Festival Brunch
19.11. & 20.11. 12:00-14:00
Q-teatteri, Tunturikatu 16
10€
Food tickets can be purchased in advance from Q-teatteri or Lippupalvelu (Ticket Service Finland).

Q-teatteri
Tel.  +358 9 4542 1333 (Tue-Fri 11:00-15:00)

Ticket Service Finland
Tel. +358 (0)600 10 800 (1,96€/min + local network charge)
www.lippupalvelu.fi






31.10.2011

Sue magazine reported about Fat Bastards performance and musicians Emily Cheeger & Juho Alajuuma

Photo: Andrea Brandt

Finnish music magazine Sue reported about the Fat Bastards performance at Baltic Circle Festival and the collaboration between musicians Emily Cheeger, Juho Alajuuma and the directors Anni Ojanen and Hili Iivanainen.

Read the article (in Finnish) here.






20.10.2011

Free Bus Transport to Festival Lounge from Suvilahti, Media Centre Lume and Cabel Factory

Baltic Circle Festival offers free bus transport to Festival Lounge from Suvilahti, Media Centre Lume and Cabel Factory after the last performances of the day. Please see departure times from the links below.

Wed 16.11.

Fat Bastards / Suvilahti, Tiivistämö

Worship! / Media Centre Lume

Thu 17.11.

Fat Bastards / Suvilahti, Tiivistämö

Fri 18.11.

Worship! / Media Centre Lume

Sat 19.11.

Two in Your House / Cabel Factory, Hurjaruuth

Worship! / Media Centre Lume






11.10.2011

The compelling trailer for Nya Rampen’s new performance Worship!

Worship! trailer from Nya Rampen on Vimeo.

Once again in November Nya Rampen challenges preconceptions about what theatre should be through seeking new means of expression from other fields of art. Worship!, premiered at Baltic Circle Festival, examines the characteristic human need to believe in and belong to something, be it a religion, an ideology or art.

Read more






23.09.2011

BALTIC RE-CIRCLE COLLECTION IS OUT!

The clothes of the BALTIC RE-CIRCLE fashion collection can now be purchased at the design and art store Myymälä2 in the center of Helsinki and also in November at the Baltic Circle Festival.

Milja Nevalainen and Hannele Äijälä from School of Art and Design have designed the redesign clothing collection of Baltic Circle Festival.

Tsto Agency has designed a BALTIC RE-CIRCLE label that can be seen in the clothes inspired by the colorful days of Twin Peaks, black coffee, cherry pie – jazz and the darkness of the night.

Shop till you drop!

Myymälä2

Uudenmaankatu 23, 00100 Helsinki

Opening Times:
(Mon & Tue closed)
Wed-Sat 12-18
Sun 12-17






20.09.2011

Verk Produksjoner’s performance The Eternal Smile was awarded in Norway for the best performance of the year!

Photo: Bjørn Moe

Verk Produksjoner’s The Eternal Smile (Det eviga leendet) has won the Norwegian Hedda Prize for the best performance of the year 2011. The jury finds the performance among other things meaningful, clever and philosophical.

The Hedda Prizes are presented annually for significant achievements in Norwegian theatre.

Read more about the prize here. (the information is in Norwegian)

Verk Produksjoner’s new performance Build Me a Mountain! will be premiered at the Baltic Circle Festival in November.






09.09.2011

THE 2011 BALTIC CIRCLE FESTIVAL PROGRAMME IS PUBLISHED

The programme of Baltic Circle Festival for this year is now published and tickets are for sale. In addition to international guest performances the festival features international co-productions and performances produced by Baltic Circle. These performances put on stage the emerging artists and new trends of performance art at the moment. At the festival there are five premieres, which are produced or international co-produced by Baltic Circle. Festival takes place in Helsinki from 16th to 20th November. Get your tickets now!

This time it’s personal

The festival presents a new international generation of theatre artists as well as several rising talents of the Finnish performance art. Baltic Circle Festival includes a number of performances, which take their inspirations from personal experiences, comment on the role of art and take part in social issues through art. As Festival Director Eva Neklyaeva puts it “This time it’s about reclaiming the stage. This time it’s personal.”

Read more about the entire programme here.

Photo: Timo Wright






02.08.2011

FINNISH THEATRE GROUP NYA RAMPEN WAS SELECTED FOR THE 2011 IMPULSE AWARD!

Conte D’Amour by the two groups Institutet and Nya Rampen and Berlin-based director Markus Öhrn was selected as the best off-theatre production at the Impulse Festival 2011 in Düsseldorf. As a result Conte D’Amour will be shown at next year’s Berliner Theatertreffen and at the Wiener Festwochen as well as the Polish Krakowskie Reminiscencje Teatraine Festival.

Baltic Circle is one of the international co-producers of Conte D’Amour and it was presented at Baltic Circle Festival 2010. Nya Rampen’s newest production Worship! will be shown at Baltic Circle Festival in November 2011. Worship! is a co-production of Nya Rampen, Baltic Circle and Nordwind Festival (GER).

For more information: www.festivalimpulse.de






27.06.2011

NORWEGIAN THEATRE COMPANY VERK PRODUCTION VISITS FINLAND IN AUGUST

The Norwegian theatre company Verk Production visits Helsinki and Tampere in August. Verk is working at artist residence at the Centre for Practise as Research in Theatre at the University of Tampere. The residence period will be from 8th to 12th of August. The premiere of Verk’s new performance Build Me A Mountain! will be at Baltic Circle Festival in November. Baltic Circle is one of the producers of this international co-production.

The starting point of Build Me A Mountain! is the historical meeting of two renowned authors Hella Wuolijoki and Bertolt Brecht during the 1940 peace. Verk Production together with Danish playwright Daniel Wedel has found diaries, letters, stories and plays written by Wuolijoki and Brecht. Build Me A Mountain! combines documentary material and fiction to bring up the still current issue that was the main question Wuolijoki and Brecht examined: “the art of being human in an inhumane and complicated world.”

Read more






01.06.2011

THE NEW GENERATION OF THEATRE ARTISTS SHINES AT BALTIC CIRCLE FESTIVAL IN NOVEMBER!

Summer is starting, but Baltic Circle Festival is already looking towards the upcoming autumn. Baltic Circle Festival takes place from 16th to 20th November and the programme is due to be completed soon In addition to international guest performances the festival will be featuring international co-productions and performances produced by Baltic Circle. The festival includes a number of premieres starring the new generation of theatre artists.

To celebrate the summer’s arrival to Finland, Baltic Circle wants to publish some of the highlights of the 2011 programme. Detailed information and photos of the performances are now available on Baltic Circle’s website!

The complete programme will be published at the end of August. Baltic Circle Festival will take place in Helsinki both in and out of theatre venues. Known as a meeting point for artists and audience, Baltic Circle offers an opportunity to be impressed by new talents and phenomena of contemporary theatre and to participate in seminars and workshops as well as party until morning every night at the Festival Lounge!







01.06.2011

Coming in November 2011! Cereal Box Generation: FAT BASTARDS

A Cheerful Buddha and a tormented Michelin-man lay on the floor, sliced into pieces. How has it come to this? Read more






01.06.2011

Coming in November 2011! Verk Production (NOR): Build Me A Mountain!

During the 1940 peace, writers Hella Wuolijoki and Bertolt Brecht who was exiled from Germany were sitting on the terrace of the Marlebäck mansion drinking coffee and discussing world peace. They were optimistic, telling stories to each other and creating a utopia in the midst of Europe that was burning. Read more






31.05.2011

Coming in November 2011! Nya Rampen: Worship!

Nya Rampen takes hold of the most renowned plays of all time, taking a look at mortal sins trough Shakespeare’s tragedies while wearing panty-hose. What does Nietzsche’s famous quote “God is dead” mean to the modern world that is struggling in a chaos after the humanistic era? Read more






31.05.2011

Katariina Numminen / Reality Research Center: Drama Reloaded: Yerma

Are you the actor, director or spectator of your own life?

What is the effect of acting, directing or watching a scene of drama in terms of real life? What does life do to drama? Read more






12.05.2011

Baltic Circle Club is here soon!

Baltic Circle is proudly announcing that the Baltic Circle Kick-Off Club for the year 2011 is taking place tomorrow, 13th of May at Club YK in Helsinki! Baltic Circle Club enriches the club culture in Helsinki by presenting new, international music stars in addition to stunning performance shows.

BALTIC CIRCLE CLUB
13.5.2011
21-04 (K20)
Club YK
Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 21, Helsinki
Tickets: 12€, Presale: www.tiketti.fi


Programme:

22.00 Minä ja Ville Ahonen
23.30 JOKAklubi (FIN/GER)
00.30 IIRIS (EST)
01.30 HANG THE DJ: ANTTI H & SAMI






03.05.2011

BALTIC RE-CIRCLE Redesign Collection for Sale at Baltic Circle Club!

Baltic Circle Festival starts the year 2011 by organizing a club evening on Friday 13 May at Club YK in Helsinki. In addition to magnificent artists and performance art Baltic Circle presents a new redesign clothing collection. Last Autumn Baltic Circle was the first theatre festival to launch an own fashion collection designed by Milja Nevalainen (Taik). The collection gets an expected addition in the spring and summer patterns.

Tsto Agency’s Graphic Designer Johannes Ekholm has designed a BALTIC RE-CIRCLE label that is now seen in colorful dresses, shirts, pants, scarves and baby overalls. The trendiest redesign fashion of this summer will be on sale at Baltic Circle Club!

Talented leading actors Elena Leeve and Eero Ritala together with baby Veikko are starring the BALTIC RE-CIRCLE collection. Photographer: Tani Simberg






31.03.2011

BALTIC CIRCLE CLUB 13.5.2011

Baltic Circle Festival makes a kick start to the year 2011 and organizes a club evening May 13th at YK-klubi in Helsinki. Baltic Circle Club enriches the club culture in Helsinki by presenting new, international music stars in addition to stunning performance shows.

IIRIS by: Kristjan Lepp

IIRIS

The international guest artist of the evening is Estonian singer-songwriter Iris Vesik. With her captivating personal sound and energetic live performance IIRIS has been compared to Kate Bush and is now a  rising star of Estonian electronic pop. IIRIS is working on a debut album that combines pop, rock, unique innovations, the synthetic and classical piano, electronic soundscapes and catchy pop melodies. Year 2010 IIRIS gave concerts in Finland, Turkey, Latvia and two performances at The International Music Business Market Popkomm. The winner of the public vote of Tallinn Music Week has performed also in the opening ceremony of European Capital of Culture, Tallinn 2011 -event.

Minä ja Ville Ahonen

Baltic Circle Club presents also a rising star of Finnish music, Minä ja Ville Ahonen. The band released their debut album Autumn 2010. It was praised by critics and got a lot of attention in the Finnish music circles and in the media. Songs composed by Ahonen and written together with Jussi Moila create a very beautiful and melancholic atmosphere that combines sometimes even cheerful dance beats. Minä ja Ville Ahonen crosses the boarders of music genres and manages to create texts that form into small plays.

Minä ja Ville Ahonen by: Hanna Käyhkö

JOKAklubi

Established by Niina Lehtonen-Braun, Mirka Raito and Tellervo Kalleinen, JOKAklubi is a sovereign perfomance group combining music, arts and performance. Their projects are breaking out from their interest to create surprising visuals into even more surprising situations. Their sharp humour is playing big part in the shows – touching absurd sides of human life. During THE ENDS performance at Baltic Circle Club audience has a change to create “the end credits of their life’s”.

JOKAklubi by: Maija Blåfield

Reality Research Center

At Baltic Circle Club Reality Research Center will carry out their Theft Project that explores the potential forms of aesthetic stealing. Unexpected situations can be expected!

BALTIC CIRCLE CLUB
13.5.2011
21-04 (K20)
YK-klubi
Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 21, Helsinki
Tickets: 12€, Presale: www.tiketti.fi






30.03.2011

IIRIS: Astronaut

“Estonia’s IIRIS has the eclecticism, the smarts, the innovation, the pop sound, not to mention the adorable image to become a huge mega star.” Halley / MTV Iggy  READ MORE

See IIRIS live at Baltic Circle Club May 13th at YK-klubi, Helsinki!






30.03.2011

Minä ja Ville Ahonen: Sano

“Sano” is the starting song of Minä ja Ville Ahonen’s debut album. It is a great introduction to the beautiful and melancholic world of Ville Ahonen.

See them live at Baltic Circle Club May 13th at YK-klubi, Helsinki!






14.02.2011

Finnish Theatre Magazine: Baltic Circle is an insightful and ethical festival!

Finnish performing arts magazine, Teatteri-lehti presents a comprehensive review of the Baltic Circle festival last year’s programme.

Find the latest edition of Teatteri-lehti and read Laura Kimari’s fascinating analysis of the last year’s highlights!

Read the Finnish article: OIVALTAVAN EETTINEN FESTIVAALI






22.12.2010

We Wish You A Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2011

The 8th edition of Baltic Circle festival will be in November 16 – 20, 2011.






23.11.2010

THANK YOU.

BALTIC CIRCLE 2010 thanks everybody who made our festival unforgettable. 

The International Theatre Festival Baltic Circle 2010 featured 67 performances and other events, attended by 2 457 spectators in all. The festival was organised by Q-teatteri in co-operation with KokoTeatteri, Universum, Theatre Info Finland, and HIAP – Helsinki International Artist-in-residence Programme.

The festival supporters are City of Helsinki Cultural Office, the Ministry of Education and Culture, Finnish Cultural Foundation, EU Culture Programme, Nordic Culture Point, Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, the Finnish-Swedish Cultural Foundation, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, British Council, Netherlands Embassy in Finland, and Ars Baltica.

Next Baltic Circle festival will be held in November 16–20, 2011.

Read more






20.11.2010

Soffa.tv interviewed Simon Will from Gob Squad

Simon Will talks about Gob Squad and Super Night Shot performance with Nina Ruotsalainen from Soffa.tv. Check out what happens when Gob Squad launches a war on autonomy in Helsinki 19.-20.11. at Baltic Circle Festival! SOFFA.TV






18.11.2010

Hans Rosenström’s sound installation leads to the illusion

READ AN ARTICLE IN HUVUDSTADSBLADET
Read more






16.11.2010

BALTIC-RE-CIRCLE: FESTIVAL’S OWN FASHION COLLECTION!

Boring festival T-shirts are out. Baltic Circle is the first theatre festival which has an own fashion collection from recycled clothes. Festival is selling recycled clothes and accessories with a “BALTIC-RE-CIRCLE Second Hand Clothing” -label designed by graphic designer Johannes Ekholm. The collection includes for example retro patterns, eighties coats, different kind of shirts, shorts, scarves and baby clothes. The collection is on sale at Festival Lounge every evening from 17. to 21. November starting at 9pm. Recycled clothes project was implemented by Milja Nevalainen and Hannele Äijälä (Taik). Baltic Circle Festival wants to thank Suvi Saloniemi from the Kunsthalle who gave the idea for the project.
Read more






08.11.2010

Are you ready for the Super Night Shot?

“Hello. My name is Simon Will and tonight I will sacrifise myself for the cause. Tonight I will prepare myself the role of hero.” THREE, TWO, ONE, GO!

Read more






22.10.2010

EVERY STORY IS A LOVE STORY: CONTE D’AMOUR AT BALTIC CIRCLE FESTIVAL

Baltic Circle Festival presents performance CONTE D’AMOUR created by two theater groups, Swedish INSTITUTET and Finnish NYA RAMPEN. The performance is an international co-production created in co-operation with Ballhaus Ost (Berlin), Inkonst (Malmö) and Baltic Circle. Conte D’ Amour is a theatrical investigation of the grotesque case of Joseph Fritzl. The premiere was at May in Berlin and the performance takes place 17-18 November at 6pm at Korjaamo as a part of Baltic Circle Festival.

Finnish journalist of Helsingin Sanomat, Maria Säkö visited Berlin to see the performance: ”Conte D’Amour is delightful – its artful acting is complimented by the combination of modern media art and theatre”. (HS 16.5.2010.) Read the interesting Finnish article:  “Joseph Fritzl onkin jokamies”.







22.10.2010

DOOD PAARD FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FINLAND!

Famous Dutch group DOOD PAARD visits Finland for the first time at Baltic Circle Festival. Theater collective was founded 17 years ago and is very accomplished on the international theater field. Dood Paard has performed on many international theater festivals. Baltic Circle Festival will present two of their performances in November.

MEDEIA is a contemporary version of the Medea myth about love and its many truths and lies. The text is interlaced with lyrics of American and English pop songs. These lyrics are, like Greek mythology, part of our collective memory.

Fri 19.11. at 8pm
Mediakeskus Lume, Hämeentie 135
20/15 €

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In the ANSWER ME five interrogators with kitschy costumes want to hear the truth they say they already know – they just want to hear the words from prisoner’s mouth. In the performance language turns into an instrument of abuse.

Sat 20.11. at 8pm
Sun 21.11. at 7pm (meet the artists)
Mediakeskus Lume, Hämeentie 135
20/15 €

Read more






27.09.2010

Find Your Own Route

BALTIC CIRCLE FESTIVAL CREATES NEW TRACKS!

What kind of Baltic Circle would you like? Are you in the mood for a walk on the dark side of human mind or would you just like to spend a Sunday differently? Use these suggestions to plan your own route through the festival.

EXPLORE THE CITY
Gob Squad: Super Night Shot – Juha Valkeapää & Taito Hoffrén: Ten Journeys to a Place where Nothing Happens – Reality Research Center & Natsuko Tezuka, Megumi Kamimura, Taiyo Tochiaki, Daisuke Kishii, Yoko Ishiguro: Sacred City – Lounge

SUNDAY OFF
Brunch – Leif Holmstrand: Wearing the Territorial (Down) – Hans Rosenström: Three Apart – Reality Research Center: Three Little Sisters – Lounge

ON THE DARK SIDE
Dood Paard: Answer Me – Oblivia: Entertainment Island 3 – Teater 90º: Aniara – Lounge

TWISTED LOVE
Institutet & Nya Rampen: Conte D’Amour – Peeter Jalakas & Von Krahli Teater: Magic Flute – Dood Pard: medEia – Lounge

WORKSHOPS
Please click the button on the right.