Tag: Finland Ballroom Scene

fugitive frequency, season 2, episode 5: (sonic) postcards from Helsinki

A scene with a giant sculpture of a giraffe in a snowy landscape. Two figures in silhouette stand before a sign and leafless trees sway in the background.

A montage of field recordings, performances and other audio documents collected since August 2020, when fugitive radio began. Recordings include Vallilan vapputanssit Finnish Tango dance in the Vallila neighbourhood for the vappu May Day celebrations; Thomas Moose speaking at Pride Is A Protest in 2021; Pekka Pylkkänena from the musicians union interviewed in 2021; MC Ghepetto at Elements mini-Ball 2022 and Suva Das performing playground equipment at Pixelache Festival #BURN____2021.

fugitive frequency, season 2, episode 2: Missy & Thomas Moose #FinlandBallroomScene

Missy on the left wears a covid mask and faces the camera, her back pressed against Thomas Moose’s chest. Thomas wears a black muscle shirt and also faces the camera, their left shoulder to the front. The Image rendered in low resolution greyscale.

Episode 2 is a conversation with Thomas Moose (Instagram) and Missy (Instagram), two young spokespersons from the Finland Ballroom Scene (Instagram) founded by choreographers Virpi Kurkihovi (Instagram) and Venla Vuorio (Instagram) circa 2010. The recording was made in November 2021, as Thomas and Missy were preparing to ‘walk abroad’ as part of the Finnish delegation led by Angel Ninja (Instagram) in the Scandinavian Ball in Oslo, December. We discuss their entry into the scene and the history of Ballroom in Helsinki, how the scene is structured workshops with Kiki House of Angels (Instagram), and their experiences as ‘guests’ in a culture found by queer Black and Latinx people in 1970s New York. I am most grateful to Eveliina Tuulonen for introducing us.

The episode features music made by Lucian for the Oslo Ball. Other music and media used in the podcast is below:

House Of Ninja Ball in Paris! Serving Runway!, Paris Ballroom TV 2017 (feat: Venla Vuorio) (Facebook)

 

‘Wuhan’s vogue dance finds life after lockdown’, Reuters 22 December 2020