Jyväskylä Arts Festival is doing its audience a real cultural favour by bringing to Jyväskylä an international flamenco star who has not performed previously in Finland. Sevilles Isabel Bayón is known in her home country as a child star who before the age of ten was already appearing alongside the best flamenco dancers. She subsequently established her own dance school and has produced numerous choreographies. The performance to seen in Jyväskylä on 12.7. La Puerta Abierta won an award at the highly regarded Seville Biennial in 2006.
Other Finnish multidisciplinary festivals cannot offer such a comprehensive programme of non-verbal theatre as Jyväskylä Arts Festival. This year one sure-fire success with the crowd will be the British ensemble Spymonkey, which returns to Jyväskylä after a break of seven years with a black comedy entitled Stiff (11.12.7.). The group has also been involved in the Cirque du Soleils Zumanity production in Las Vegas.
South Africa is represented at the festival in the form of the Emmanuel Lutheran Church Choir (12.7.). The choir of 40, which has won recognition at numerous festivals, is made up of a variety of different ethnic groups.
Jyväskylä Arts Festival, an urban festival with a proud 53 year tradition, is expanding into the neighbouring municipalities.
Petäjävesi Churchs idiosyncratic statue of St Christopher has acquired its own cantata, which will be performed at Petäjävesi Old Church. The cantata was written by the German playwright Manfred Kargea and composed by the Finn Toni Edelman who studied under Kargea. The touching story of a young womans last journey is dedicated to the church and the individuals who built it.
Petäjävesi Old Church is a real attraction in itself. The Old Church was built in the years 17631765 under the supervision of master builder Jaakko Klemetinpoika Leppänen. In 1994 Petäjävesi Old Church gained inclusion on the UNESCO world heritage site list. This Lutheran country church built of logs is a wonderful example of an architectural tradition unique to eastern Scandinavia.
Jyväskylä Arts Festival 8.13.7.2008, www.jyvaskylankesa.fi
By Pia Tervoja, Photo by Tommi Anttonen