Helsinki Reflections...2007

Terve! What a beautiful experience to be in Helsinki in June for the AIN EU 2007 conference! Part of my ethereal body is still lingering there — connections with the group are calling to me from across the seas, and now, back in San Francisco, if I close my eyes I can hear again the singing Nordic birds, feel the rhythms of our dances, recall the taste of reindeer meat...

About 40 participants visited from Finland, Sweden, France, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, Estonia, UK, The Netherlands, and 5 of us from the US — some old friends, some new ones we will cherish.

We were hosted by Simo Routarinne and Pia Serkamo at the Stadia Helsinki Polytechnic - a quiet and peaceful setting next to the water (suitable for an afternoon dip), with dance floor and nap room (very important)... our own little corner of the world.

A heat wave, combined with the peculiarities of Northern exposure meant that it was light and warm until 2:00 am every night, creating a feeling of the Longest Afternoon in the World. One evening, yes indeed we did visit a traditional Lapland restaurant where almost all the food served was reindeer meat - braised tongue, jerky, tenderloin, and stew. The Finns idea of "vegetarian" is to offer you fish.

Similar to the US conference last year, we had a few scheduled presenters, and then filled the other 80% + with Open Space sessions. Personally, I really enjoyed offering something called the Spontaneous Clown Explosion (in Extreme Slow Motion) on the last morning.

Also consistent with other conferences I've attended, I enjoyed most the AIN trademark yummy delicious experience of making deep and meaningful connections with other improvisers. I love us — we offer heartfelt service, we are lots of fun, and we think we can save the world with this stuff. I hope we succeed before it is too late.

Lastly, Rita Venturini and I went to Helsinki with a not-so-secret agenda — to increase the Body Quotient (BQ) of the AIN. We wanted to continue our efforts to promote movement, somatics, and dance as part of AIN, along with theatrical improvisation. I think we achieved our goal — we presented a 3 hour session on Day 1 of the conference, and with the help of others, started spontaneous contact improvisational dances on the metro/trams, at coffee breaks, and at evening events. More and more people kept jumping in (except on the tram) and by the end of the banquet evening we had a whole bunch of us bouncing off each other, rolling on the floor, lifting, flying, feeling.

Helsinki AIN 2007 — what a fantastic way to experience ourselves in new ways, to become more than what we are...together. Onward, to Banff , Canada in November!

Posted by Denzil Meyers on June 18, 2007 11:40 AM in Annual conference
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