Helsinki seasons: Autumn!

Perhaps you read my earlier post of Helsinki all year round? Now it's time for the first part of my "Helsinki seasons" series:

Autumn in Helsinki!

In Helsinki you'll find all the four seasons. Autumn starts roughly at the beginning of September and turns to winter sometime during November or December. In terms of climate, autumns in Helsinki can be warm and sunny, cool and sunny, cool and rainy, very cold rainy or very cold and snowy. Hmm... Prepare for everything! It's not unusual that every day (or every ten minutes) the weather is different. Average temperatures are slightly above or below 10 C. Still in September you may experience summer-like temperatures (+20 C or above), if you're lucky. Winter officially starts when the daytime temperatures go below 0 C and by then, usually, city is covered with snow.

The end of the autumn can be quite dark. November and December are considered the darkest months; day light hours hit their lowest point at Dec 20-21st but the few weeks before that can indeed be gloomy if there is no snow - with snow, things (and moods) are a bit brighter! To fight the dark & cold, people do whatever they can to keep their minds off of it; work, hobbies, going out on dinners and drinks... The Pre-Christmas party season (pikkujoulu, literally: little Christmas) starts already at the end of October and by the end of November you'll see the city sparkling with Christmas lights.

But it's not all dark, wet and cold. For many, the autumn is a season of new beginnings: school, new hobbies, healthy lifestyles, autumn fashion... Crisp morning air brings on a certain inspiration and feeling of a fresh start. And it's the season of new colors, as shades or red, orange and yellow brush over the city!

Dance: It's good for you! -- 15 benefits of dancing

Anybody who has even a little bit of experience in dancing knows that it does wonders for your mind and body. But there's no harm in reminding you about it! 

Zouk autumn season in Helsinki - 2014

While the summer is still going strong, the autumn season is starting in the dance schools! Oh no! Oh yesss!!

Dates are subject to change and more classes & parties are sure to appear - always check with the respective organisers for their latest schedule. You can also keep up-to-date with all the events via the "Zouk in Finland" calendar!

ZOUK CLASSES

Rio Zouk

Teachers: Freddy Marinho and Andressa Castelhano
Dance school: Rio Zouk Style

What: Rio zouk (= a style of Brazilian zouk style originating from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).*
When: 26 Aug - 4 Dec:

      Wed 19:45-20:45 progressive course / Fundamentals
      Tue and Thu 19:30-20:30 progressive course / Team A (beginners/improvers)
      Tue and Thu 20:30-21:30 progressive course / Team B (improvers/intermediate)

Where: Etnofitness
More info and register via Rio Zouk Style site.

Mzouk

Teacher: Ossi Kimmelma

Dance school: Spiral Dancers
What: Mzouk (= Brazilian zouk style developed in Mallorca, Spain).*
When: Starting 3 Sep:

      Wed 19:30-20:30 beginners at SalsaStudio

      Sun: 16:00-17:30 improvers at TapahtumaSali

More info on Mzouk classes in Finland in the Spiral Dancers Finnish Facebook group.

Brazilian Zouk

Teacher: Soile Vedenpää
What: Brazilian zouk and zouk-lambada for beginners and improvers.*
When: Weekend workshops 13 Sep and 22 Nov.**
More info via Soile Vedenpää on Facebook.

Helsinki all year round!

I've been traveling around the world since I was just a toddler. While I love to see new places, I love even more dearly my country, Finland, and always remember to tell all the great things about it to people I meet around the world. If you've been reading my blog, you have probably noticed me mentioning Helsinki quite often. But I think I've never taken the time to give a proper introduction! So here goes.... Welcome to HEL!

Helsinki in a nutshell

As I'm more than biased, here's in stead how my travel bible, Lonely Planet, introduces Helsinki:

Helsinki is cool without - as yet - being self-consciously so. Unlike other capitals, you sense that people go to places because they enjoy them, not to be seen. Much modern décor is ironic and humorous, and achieves stylishness by daring to differ rather than trying too hard. 

While not an ancient place, much of what is loveable in Helsinki is older. The style of its glorious Art Nouveau buildings, the spacious elegance of its cafés, the careful preservation of Finnish heritage in its dozens of museums, restaurants that have changed neither menu nor furnishings since the 1930s are all part of the city's quirky charm.

It has a very different feel to the rest of Finland, partly because before the days of the hi-tech society it was the country's sole point of contact almost with the rest of the world. Like all of Finland, though, Helsinki has a dual nature. In winter you sometimes wonder where all the people are. In spring and summer they are back again, packing green spaces and outdoor tables to get a piece of blessed sun, whirring around on thousands of bicycles and kicking the city's nightlife into overdrive.

Helsinki Market Square and Cathedral - the icons of the city.

Facts: Helsinki (est. 1550) is the capital of Finland, stretching along the country's southern shore and bordering with the Baltic Sea. It is Finland's political, cultural and business center; it's where most people live, study and work, and you'll find the highest concentration of services and activities in Helsinki.

In international surveys Helsinki is continually ranked among the top ten cities to live in the world. Life is safe, clean and highly enjoyable - despite the fact that us Helsinki citizens love to complain about it. About 600.000 people live in Helsinki, altogether about 1.4 million in the metropolitan area that includes cities Espoo and Vantaa. This is the largest urban area in Finland. Though when you look at it from above, it doesn't look all that urban but in fact surrounded and scattered with green areas and water. The city center is compact and manageable by foot with public transportation available everywhere, connecting the city and its surroundings from all corners.

Helsinki city center and islands, from above.

You will find in this post:

Helsinki mapped and interesting parts of the city

• Center
• South
• East
• North
• West

Helsinki by themes

• Architecture, historic sights and landmarks
• Eating in Helsinki
• Drinking in Helsinki
• Dancing in Helsinki
• Culture and entertainment
• Shopping
• Helsinki al fresco and active
• Helsinki tours
• Best views of Helsinki

Practical information

• Getting around
• Public holidays
• Climate

In the flow part 2: zouk flow (with flowing videos)!

 Continuing from the previous post:

>> In the flow - The magic of dance flow: how to reach it and why?

Why is it that so often we zoukers go on about connection, the art (and mastery) of leading & following, musicality - and now about flow?

Perhaps it's because these things are the essence of zouk. They're what makes zouk so great, so magical... do I dare even to say unique? At the very least, these are the things what many of us identify in zouk and fall in love with.

In the flow - The magic of dance flow: how to reach it and why?

It is when we act freely, for the sake of the action itself rather than for ulterior motives, that we learn to become more than what we were. 

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, in his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.

Flow is a moment in time when you’re both challenged at the activity that you’re doing, and when you also have complete autonomy in the task you’re conducting.

Everett Bogue, in The Hidden Art of Achieving Creative Flow.

Have you experienced flow?
Dance flow? Creative flow?

I have. One thing that's so great about dancing - and dancing zouk is what I'm writing about here in particular - is the flowing motion. When you're in the dance flow, you will certainly have one of the most pleasurable moments on the dance floor (or anywhere).

To me, simply put, flow in zouk is when one move follows the other in an effortless way. You and your partner dance seamlessly together, with a gentle lead & follow or even without touch, and - as it feels like - without thought.

But what makes flow happen?

The orange Amsterdam

Q: What can you do in Amsterdam if you're not interested in "coffee" shops or peep shows?

A: Plenty.

Introducing Amsterdam: the capital Netherlands, the country's most populous city, its cultural hub and probably the most popular tourist & transit destination. Known around the world for the lenient drug (and various other) policies, the canals, clogs, tulips, windmills and a history of commerce, Netherlands is one tiny European giant. Tiny? The country is smaller than the island state of Dominican Republic and its famous capital has a mere population of about 800.000 - that is one tenth of London, one third of Paris and even slightly less than in Stockholm.

The name Amsterdam comes from Amstelredamme, as in "dam of the river Amstel". Historically the city was one the most important ports in the entire world (in the 1600s) and the global center of commerce. No wonder you find Amsterdam sights also on the UNESCO World Heritage List. But enough about the history..

Zouk in the Netherlands .....gezellig!

There are a couple contenders in Europe for the title of the biggest zouk city. For quite a while Prague, Barcelona, London and Amsterdam have been at the top of the list. All the aforementioned cities have a large number of zouk teachers, dance schools, congresses and party nights and are pretty much neck and neck for the #1 zouk destination in Europe.

Lately, I've been hearing that the zouk scene in Amsterdam is not like it was in its heydays and perhaps Prague and Barcelona are now in reign...? Be that as it may, I was in Amsterdam last week and certainly had to go check out the local zouk scene!

See the end of the post for full list of zouk in Amsterdam & Netherlands!

Gdansk and Sopot - Polish city & beach holiday combination!

It's been a busy spring and start of the summer for the blogger - but still time for small trips! During Easter, mid April, we headed to Gdansk (or formally Gdańsk - and in German, BTW, Danzig), Poland. My second trip to Poland this year!?

Gdansk is the biggest city in Northern Poland, located on the Baltic coast. It is Polands main sea port and home to about 450.000 people. It's also part of Tricity (Trójmiasto), together with Gdynia and Sopot. Gdansk has an interesting history, as a free city, as part of the Hanseatic league as well as under German rule. It is and has been a part of Poland since 1945.

The most famous view of Gdansk

AfroLatin Flow - a hot dance weekend in Helsinki!

It was the warmest weekend of May when AfroLatin Flow arrived to Helsinki. Not just hot artists and sensual dance styles but also warm weathers, yay! Those three put together means we were in for a very steamy weekend!

Helsinki in the end of May - yay!

AfroLatin Flow is a three-day festival for the kizomba, zouk and bachata dancers, organised by IDNZ. There was quite a number of talented artists involved:

Kizomba, Semba and Tarraxinha: Sara López, Mafalda Amado & Alphonse Delette, Zé Barbosa & Marta Miranda, Rui & Catarina from AfroLatin Connection, Jazzy Cubango & Giselle Dias, Nemanja Sonero & Laura Zaray, Greg Martin.

Brazilian zouk: Pasty Pieternelle & Josta Ruby, Kwok One, Ossi Kimmelma.

Bachata: Carlos Cinta, Iñaki Fernandez, Andre Haikal & Arina Vesman


From the line-up you could notice that the kizomba-semba-tarraxinha team was the biggest one! It certainly was the main style in the parties but in the workshop tracks you could spend pretty much the whole time doing just one style (kizomba, zouk or bachata) - but surely those that wanted to mix styles got the most out of this event!

I was "taking it easy" that weekend - which meant I only signed up for the five night party marathon, and skipped the workshops this time.

Zouk summer season in Helsinki - 2014

The summer has started in Finland! This summer-loving country pretty much slows down to a halt ... but we keep on zoukin'!

Check out below the summer schedule for zouk!

Dates are subject to change and more classes & parties are sure to appear during summer - always check with the respective organisers for their latest schedule.

50 signs of zouk addiction

For my fellow zouk dancers.... I was going to make just a short list. But hey, I managed to stop at 50!!?!

1. You go shopping for clothes or shoes and see something you like. The first thing you think is "but can I dance in this"?

2. The clothes in your wardrobe are getting a lot smaller, shorter, lighter and less modest.

3. You become to know a new level of how bad your shoes can smell.

4. (Zoukeiras:) You start looking at other people's long hair with admiration and envy.

5. Most of the websites you visit contain the word "zouk" or "dance" in their url.

6. You've already decided to shut your laptop but then you think "I'll just watch one more dance video".

7. You have to get a new hard drive because your old one runs out of space from all the dance videos you have.

8. You start changing your user IDs and profile names to something that contains the word "zouk".

9. Your ringtone is a zouk song.

10. You think it's completely normal to get extremely close A) a person you don't know at all and B) a completely sweat-drenched person.