Fairy Tales in the Sand

[:no]It has been quite the journey. In May 2015 I was at a crossroads (people who know me will tell me that being at a crossroads is my MO, but even so). I maxed out my credit card to go to Ghent in Belgium to create something with my colleagues and dear friends Markus Luukkonen and Tom van Outryve.

In our work together, I found something I had been searching for without knowing it. Community and brotherhood. A reconnection to why I am called to the art of storycrafting and storytelling. We became 3Troubadours and our show Mobile Dreams has since toured in Norway, Sweden and Finland (2015), Belgium and The Netherlands (2016) and this year in the UK.

We have always used a mix of our native tongues and English in our show, but up until our tour in the UK we have been performing in countries where at least one of us would be understood speaking his mother tongue. UK was a different story. On our travels throughout England, Scotland and Wales we wanted to experiment more with the use of our languages. We believe that different languages communicate more than just meaning. Each language is a world entire, a certain sense of music, tonality, rhythm, coloration. A language is a landscape and an invitation.

One of the best performances we had during our tour was in Wales, at the peninsula of Llyn, in Felin Uchaf, a centre for community, archaeology and mythology. Wales is a bilingual land, and Llyn is one of the remaining strongholds of the Welsh tongue, a living reminder of a time before Anglo-Saxon and Norman dominance. As our tour van crossed the Welsh border, I was learning my first words of Welsh on Duolingo. The landscape that opened up for me, both within and without, was ancient. Yet weirdly familiar, as if remembering a long-forgotten lullaby from infancy that has always been lingering as a shadow on the outskirts of my adult mind. In an Iron Age-style roundhouse, around the fire, in Welsh-speaking Llyn, we shared our stories and our tongues in a way that was more musical and integrated than ever before.

We hadn’t considered the effect our performance would have in a post-Brexit UK. European performers and languages felt especially welcome to our audiences – a calculated guess would put let’s say…98,6% firmly in the Bremain-category. Others were also happy to see male performers with both strength and heart. We three embody very different archetypes, yet many commented that we in a way felt like not three, but one complete person on stage. A few actual quotations can be found below:

If the 3Troubadours are bringing their UK Tour anywhere near you this month – see them! You are in for an absolute treat
– Pwllheli 15th of April

A wonderful blend of languages, cultures and imagery. Loved it.
– Birmingham 19th of April

3Troubadours are original, engaging, funny, poignant & moving with a fresh way of combining their unique renditions with improvisation, song, native language…A must see.
– Sidmouth 21st of April

3Troubadours are able to speak of their dreams and cares, of death, of life; buckets of blood wisdom found here; all was male vulnerability and male strength, strong medicine, and good hearts.
– Newhaven 11th of April

This is probably the last time we will tour with Mobile Dreams. Third time’s the charm. It doesn’t mean we will stop performing it, though. In June we were part of the fabulous WORDS-festival in Elsinore, Denmark. And in October we will return to Scotland to open the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, a direct result of our performance in Edinburgh as part of TradFest in late April.

Why do we do what we do? We are, I believe, on the same path as the Welsh bards of yesteryear, travelling both without and within, reciting their sacred poetry to the chthonic darkness of Neolithic barrows, communing with the depths of the Earth. Trying to connect to a landscape, a forgotten memory lingering on the outskirts of our modern minds. We tell stories about our common spirit, to remind again and again that we are but mirrors to one another. Specks of dust in the wind, singing our part of the cosmic song, writing fairy tales in the sand.

A great thanks to all of our supporters and helpers, among them Nordic Culture Point, Norwegian Arts Abroad/STIKK and City of Helsinki Cultural Office.

Diolch y Galon. Thanks from the Heart.

[:en]It has been quite the journey. In May 2015 I was at a crossroads (people who know me will tell me that being at a crossroads is my MO, but even so). I maxed out my credit card to go to Ghent in Belgium to create something with my colleagues and dear friends Markus Luukkonen and Tom van Outryve.

In our work together, I found something I had been searching for without knowing it. Community and brotherhood. A reconnection to why I am called to the art of storycrafting and storytelling. We became 3Troubadours and our show Mobile Dreams has since toured in Norway, Sweden and Finland (2015), Belgium and The Netherlands (2016) and this year in the UK.

We have always used a mix of our native tongues and English in our show, but up until our tour in the UK we have been performing in countries where at least one of us would be understood speaking his mother tongue. UK was a different story. On our travels throughout England, Scotland and Wales we wanted to experiment more with the use of our languages. We believe that different languages communicate more than just meaning. Each language is a world entire, a certain sense of music, tonality, rhythm, coloration. A language is a landscape and an invitation.

One of the best performances we had during our tour was in Wales, at the peninsula of Llyn, in Felin Uchaf, a centre for community, archaelogy and mythology. Wales is a bilingual land, and Llyn is one of the remaining strongholds of the Welsh tongue, a living reminder of a time before Anglo-Saxon and Norman dominance. As our tour van crossed the Welsh border, I was learning my first words of Welsh on Duolingo. The landscape that opened up for me, both within and without, was ancient. Yet weirdly familiar, as if remembering a long-forgotten lullaby from infancy that has always been lingering as a shadow on the outskirts of my adult mind. In an Iron Age-style roundhouse, around the fire, in Welsh-speaking Llyn, we shared our stories and our tongues in a way that was more musical and integrated than ever before.

We hadn’t considered the effect our performance would have in a post-Brexit UK. European performers and languages felt especially welcome to our audiences – a calculated guess would put let’s say…98,6% firmly in the Bremain-category. Others were also happy to see male performers with both strength and heart. We three embody very different archetypes, yet many commented that we in a way felt like not three, but one complete person on stage. A few actual quotations can be found below:

If the 3Troubadours are bringing their UK Tour anywhere near you this month – see them! You are in for an absolute treat
– Pwllheli 15th of April

A wonderful blend of languages, cultures and imagery. Loved it.
– Birmingham 19th of April

3Troubadours are original, engaging, funny, poignant & moving with a fresh way of combining their unique renditions with improvisation, song, native language…A must see.
– Sidmouth 21st of April

3Troubadours are able to speak of their dreams and cares, of death, of life; buckets of blood wisdom found here; all was male vulnerability and male strength, strong medicine, and good hearts.
– Newhaven 11th of April

This is probably the last time we will tour with Mobile Dreams. Third time’s the charm. It doesn’t mean we will stop performing it, though. In June we were part of the fabulous WORDS-festival in Elsinore, Denmark. And in October we will return to Scotland to open the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, a direct result of our performance in Edinburgh as part of TradFest in late April.

Why do we do what we do? We are, I believe, on the same path as the Welsh bards of yesteryear, travelling both without and within, reciting their sacred poetry to the chthonic darkness of Neolithic barrows, communing with the depths of the Earth. Trying to connect to a landscape, a forgotten memory lingering on the outskirts of our modern minds. We tell stories about our common spirit, to remind again and again that we are but mirrors to one another. Specks of dust in the wind, singing our part of the cosmic song, writing fairy tales in the sand.

A great thanks to all of our supporters and helpers, among them Nordic Culture Point, Norwegian Arts Abroad/STIKK and City of Helsinki Cultural Office.

Diolch y Galon. Thanks from the Heart.

[:]