The National Opera and Ballet is making the largest domestic tour in history. There are almost 300 people at work.
Privacy is on its way out when a group of opera singers sit in masks in a studio in Vantaa.
The premises seem cramped, and they are compared to the opera house.
– We are away from home and from the opera. On tour, we share a lot of space between us. It’s cramped in every way, says Lehesvuori.
The National Opera and Ballet is making the largest domestic tour in history. Almost 300 people will hit the road: the opera’s orchestra and chorus, soloists, dancers, costume designers, make-up artists and technicians. The list of professional titles is long.
The tour starts in Oulu on May 6. and ends in Turku on the 25th of the same month. Sometimes we stop in Rovaniemi, Joensuu and the ice rink in Helsinki.
The opera house in Helsinki is under renovation. It is a point of pride that the National Opera and Ballet solves the situation by performing outside of Helsinki all the way to Lapland.
The National Opera could not fit in the studio
The program bearing the name of the arena tour is built on certainty. In the performance, the pieces overlap and intertwine with each other. Beloved numbers from both opera and ballet will be seen on stage. There is also entertainment music.
He has experience in creating an entertaining evening.
In 2022, Erkkilä directed the National Opera’s *CirkOpera 2.0*, which successfully combined opera with contemporary circus.
Moving the national opera and ballet is a logistically challenging operation. The technology, costumes and Stages travel on eleven full-length trucks. The artist community, on the other hand, travels by train. Seven wagons are needed for that.
For the rehearsals of the tour, Opera House rented what is known to be the largest studio in Finland near Helsinki-Vantaa airport. It was designed for film and TV productions, but the ceiling and walls came in handy.
– This is too small for the National Opera. Our stage fits right here, Erkkilä says with a smile.
\”I love tours\”
– We toured a lot with the Hamburg Ballet. The best thing about the tours is that we get to make dance, high culture, available to everyone.
The work itself, dancing, is no different on tour from working in the opera house, the home of the National Ballet, but the performance venues change.
– Every city has a new stage. And this time they are arenas, we perform in halls. You never know what’s going to happen, but it’s exciting and fun, says Kilpinen.
– Uotinen’s work combines modern dance and classical ballet very nicely, and my character gives room for interpretation. This is where you can put your personality into play, Kilpinen is happy.