For now, we’re trying to sketch the big picture of the performance: what we have, what to say and how to say it, what kind of space to create on stage. Our aim is to have a working process where music, movement, light and scenography have an equal impact on the final result. That is, movement material may be affected by musical ideas, or melodies might appear from a discussion about the space. A great help in realizing this comes from our previous processes: through these, we have been able to test ideas both during research and performances. By now we also have a large bank of experiences which serves as a platform, which will help our different backgrounds to become a resource rather than a source of confusion.

In our previous process in Russia, we were more busy making things than documenting them. We will try to make up for that along the way. For now, we have a large unsorted collection of images to show you here, and very soon we will share some video material from our performance at the Body Navigation festival in St Petersburg.

There are also finnish buses to St Petersburg, but the russian bus departs from a secret parking lot a few blocks behind the Helsinki bus station. We were the only non-russian on board, just as advertised.

The bus is the main means of transportation for a large group of russian women on 24-hour visas, buying tax free detergent and Nescafé in the border shop for reselling in Russia.

Our first stop: Galleria Grasnaja, St Petersburg. An old apartment which will serve as base for a projection-based, live streamed experiment together with Flat Corner, starting the 2nd week of July.

In Moscow, we had a three day hit-and-run rehearsal and performance at Café OGI. A very nice place, with large screen football in the basement and contemporary art upstairs.

Coming closer to the arrival time to Odessa, we found out that the train was delayed for more than one hour. As it seemed, we would miss the bus to our final destination, Vilkovo. Fortunately, our helping hand from the touristic base in Vilkovo, who would meet us at the train station, succeeded in persuading the bus driver to wait for us.

We rushed through the train station, following the man in the green shirt. Classical opera was playing through the announcement speakers. Somehow we managed to get in to the already crammed minibus, with loads of equipment. And somehow nobody seemed to be that bothered about our late arrival and enormous space allocation. Tobias even found a Ukrainian to talk to about Norway and fishing. We drove west, crossing the Moldavian border and back again, towards the delta of Donau.

I had imagined a dark green cottage close to a foggy river with willows and frogs and dogs running around. I was right about the dogs. When we arrived, picked up by some guy in a diesel smelling Niva, the first thing we saw and heard was a small amusement park, sporting three carousels and loud euro trance. Looking a bit further along the street, we saw a number of bars trying to outperform each other with colored flashy light chains and one man Casio keyboard orchestras. With dogs running around our legs barking, our very friendly host showed us to our house, and we soon went out to further explore the night life.

It is really hard describe the kind of place we have ended up in. While I write this, i hear a symphony of different pop musics from a distance, all with the famous umph umph umph umph bass drum which seems to more than any EU proposition unite the people of Europe. A bit further away, a Colosseum-inspired building is glowing in green. While inside, we are greeted by a laser laden light show, umph umph umph umph music and a young master of ceremony in sunglasses somewhat desperately trying to make the night one to remember.

It would be foolish to mock with the urge for trying to have a good time. Still, I must admit that after imagining John Baueresqe swamps, this lo-fi Las Vegas came as a surprise. But we got everything we wanted in mud and narrow canals the next day, when meeting the friendly people of Vilkovo.