Every Monday, This Week in Oulu brings you highlights of the latest events and activities happening in and around Oulu.  Stay tuned and stay informed!

Photo: Pekka Mäkinen

Waltzing their way into Oulu this week are two big dance events.  The Dance Abundance Festival, September 15-19, fuses pure dance with performance and even multimedia elements. Performances take place at OAMK,  Kotkankatu 1, and Valve Cultural Center Dance Hall, Hallituskatu 7.  Performances not to be missed are international group Aerowaves, with performers from Spain, Italy, and Germany, September 16, 20.00, Valvesali, 12€ / 10€ tickets from the Valve ticket office; hobogold, featuring the ‘balkan beats’ music style, a fusion of electronic tango and flamenco funk, September 17, 22.00, pub Never Grow Old, Hallituskatu 17, free admission; and circus-based Human Timing, September 19, 19.00, Valvesali, 12€ / 10€ tickets from the Valve ticket office.  For more information about other performances, times, places, and prices, go to http://www.jojo.fi/dance_abundance_festival.html.

Ballroom dance specialists Telemark Team presents their Big Dance Gala, September 18, with performances at 14.00 and 18.00, at Pohjankartano, Suvantokatu 1.  Dancers of all ages showcase their best skills accompanied by live music from Settlement Big Band.  Tickets are 27€ / 22€ and can be bought in advance from Kaleva Point, Kirkkokatu 11, or at the door, one hour before each performance.

In celebration of its nomination as the European Capital of Culture 2011, the city of Turku presents Showcasing Turku, an exhibition of the people of Turku, September 14-19, in the Oulu Marketplace.  The exhibition, which is making its way south from Rovaniemi, consists of two shipping-containers’ worth of interactive media allowing visitors the chance to see how their personalities match up to those of the people of Turku and to give feedback about what they think of people from Turku.

In the market for building and designing your own home?  Check out the Building and Interior Decorating Fair, September 18-19, Oulu Halli, Ylioppilaantie 4.  The fair includes showcases from Bosch, Tikkurila, and Värisilmä, among many others.  The fair is open 10-17 both days.  Tickets are 10€, under-12s accompanied by family go free.

The Symphony Concert Series kicks off this week with Oulu Symphony Orchestra’s sampling of Mozart,  Brahms, and Mäenpää, September 16, 19.00,  Madetoja hall, Lintulammentie 1-3.  Tickets are 19€ / 15€ / 6€ from Stockmann, Oulu10 at Torikatu 10 (no service charge), or R-kiosk with event number 22866.

Start your opera-viewing season with dramatic productions of Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, both of which explore the darkness of the human soul, September 17 and 18, 19.00, Oulu City Theater, Kaarlenväylä 2.  Tickets are 42€ / 37€ / 22€ from the theater ticket office, Lippupalvelu, and R-kiosk.  More information in English can be found from http://teatteri.ouka.fi/en/repertoire.

Other musical happenings this week include Heavy metal Marduk (SWE), Ragnarok (NOR), Valkyrja (SWE), September 14, 21.00, Nuclear Night Club, Uusikatu 23, 17€ (in advance from Tiketti); a free organ concert, September 15, 12.15, OAMK, Kotkantie 1; 50′s rock’n'roll with Art Alta & The Hit Birds, September 17 and 18, Ravintola Gloria,  Torikatu 21-23, and September 19,  Petrellin Saluuna, Rantakatu 4; a classical concert with Jaana Pöllänen, vocals, and Ville Uusitalo, piano and guitar, September 17, 19.00, Karjasilta Church, Nokelantie 39, 10 € program donation; blues evening with Sugar Ray Norcia (USA) & Otis Grand (UK) with Nite Time Jumpers Chicago Bar, September 17, 21.00, Uusi Seurahuone, Rantakatu 4, 25 € / 20€ (from Musiikki-Kullas, Torikatu 12); Beatles cover band The Cavern Beatles, September 17, Club Teatria, Rautatienkatu 84, 25€ / 30€ at the door (advance: Lippupalvelu, Tiketti and Levy Kauppa Äx, Hallituskatu 29 B);  ‘Evening of Memories’ with the war veterans choir of Oulu, September 18, 16.00, Madetoja hall, Lintulammentie 1-3; UUC Blues Band, September 18, 22.00, Ravintola Lentävä Lautanen, Kirkkokatu 9, 3€

Ongoing events:

Traditional Finnish-style dancing, Hietasaari’s open-air dance floor, Hietasaari tanssimajakka, Hietasaarentie 13, every Saturday from 20.30-2.00. http://www.hietaviihde.fi/hietasaari/index.htm.

Arts and crafts exhibitions going on in Oulu:

‘Strange Collectors—80 Years of the Oulu Stamp Club,’ exhibition of stamps, postcards, and postal history in Oulu, August 31 – January 9, Pohjois-Pohjanmaan Museo (Northern Ostrobothnian Museum), Ainolan Park, Ainolanpolku 1, Tuesday – Sunday, 10-17, 3€ / 1€, free on Fridays.

Lauri Rankka, Oulu-born graphic artist and sculpter, September 18 – January 2, 2011, Oulu Art Museum, Kasarmintie 7.

“An empty nest,” oil paintings by Susanna Romppainen, September 16 – October 17, 10.00-22.00, Valve Culture Center, Hallituskatu 7, Minttu Cafe, free admission.

Paintings by Reima Lihavainen, September 12-October 10, Kiiminkijoki Opisto, Theater vitrines, Revontie 45 (Haukipudas), Monday-Thursday, 16-20.

Elina Maalismaa, wood crafts exhibition, until October 2, Galleria Colmio, Kajaaninkatu 25, Tuesday-Friday 11-17, Saturday 12-16.

Knife exhibition of designer and artist Esko Heikkinen’s work, until September 30, Tietomaa Science Center and Museum, Nahkatehtaankatu 6, http://www.tietomaa.fi/eng/index.html.

‘Icons,’ images in religious art, until September 26, Kiiminkijoki Opisto, Theater vitrines, Revontie 45 (Haukipudas), Monday-Thursday, 16-20.

Paintings by Riikka Soininen, until September 26, Wednesday-Friday, 10-17, Saturday and Sunday, 12-16, Galleria Harmaja, Kirkkokatu 11 b 2nd floor, free Admission.

‘Graphics,’ Pirjo Sohlo, August 31 – September 26, Oulu Museum of Art cafe, Kasarmintie 7.

‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and ‘Men’s Salon,’ exhibitions of naivist art, until Sept. 26 and Jan. 2, Oulu Museum of Art, Kasarmintie 7.

‘Wood, tar and ships,’ photographic exhibition of ship models and maritime artifacts from Oulu’s past by Pentti Väisänen, until September 23, Oulu City Library,  Kaarlenväylä 3.

‘Kaarlo Mikkonen: Memorial Exhibition,’ tribute to the creator of Oulu’s Market Police sculpture with sculptures by Raili Mikkonen and paintings by Veli-Pekka Mikkonen, September 2 – 22, Neliö-Gallery, Asemakatu 37, free admission.

‘Works in Progress,’ photo exhibition of the works of Gregoire Alexandre, August 14-September 19, 10.00-20.00, Rantagalleria, Valve Cultural Center, Hallituskatu 7, free admission.