What happens on stage? – Delta Life: Audience Guide

Delta Life – Audience Guide (PDF)

What is Delta Life about?

Delta Life takes place at the delta where the city of Oulu was born, a place where people have been meeting for thousands of years.

The idea for the story originated in 2018, when musician and author Jukka Takalo heard a rumour that traces of the Knights Templar could be found in Paltaniemi, on the shores of Lake Oulujärvi, and in its church. Takalo conducted extensive research into the history of his native regions of Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu. Years of creative work eventually gave rise to Delta Life.

The spectacle in late August 2026 is the culmination of a journey spanning many years. Five hundred years ago, the Oulujoki river delta was already a marketplace and harbour at the meeting point of waterways. Before roads were built, ancient waterways served as the highways of trade and culture. Wherever people and ideas met, something new was always born.

The work tells the story of the people of the North, but also of the magical Chalice of Word and Poetry. This source of collective human memory and all knowledge recalls the Sampo of the Kalevala, which grinds out riches, as well as the mystical and healing Holy Grail. Whoever possesses the chalice controls words and knowledge – and through them, the entire world. The story also features spirits of nature, a rapidly accelerating Wheel of Time, and humanity’s journey from joy through greed towards world peace.

Tips for Watching the Show

Don’t put pressure on yourself to understand everything – instead, stay curious! Everyone is free to interpret dance and art in their own way. During the performance, you might consider questions such as these:

• Energy and emotion: What is the dynamic and intensity of each dance scene? What kinds of movements do the dancers use to convey different emotions?
• Interaction: How do the performers relate to one another on stage? Are they close together or far apart? Are they playful, serious, or even aggressive?
• The relationship between music and movement: Do the movements follow the rhythm of the music, or do they create contrasts? Are the sound and movement expressing the same thing?
• Visuals: How do the costumes, lighting and props support the story, and what kinds of images or associations do they evoke in you?
• Words and music: What kinds of references to history do the texts and poems create? What kinds of connections do they weave? What influences can you hear in the music?
• The landscape: What role does the history of the place and landscape play in the work as a whole?

Please note! If you want to keep the events on stage a surprise, do not read any further!

PRE-SHOW

Background
The pre-show provides the background to the story, tracing the birth of the city from the Ice Age to the present day. On the soundtrack, sounds of nature are combined with the narrator’s voice. The text, written by Jukka Takalo, contains numerous references to Finnish literature and culture, including the creation myth of the Kalevala, Väinö Linna’s Under the North Star, and quotations from Matti Hälli, Eino Leino and J. A. Mäki of the band Radiopuhelimet.

The style of the text moves from the era of oral tradition towards the age of written knowledge and its control. The poetic metre of oral tradition appears as a kind of memory algorithm from the time before computers.

The cultural history of the waterways is portrayed through periods that were significant to the people of the Oulujoki river. There is also a metaphorical reference to the biblical story of the Tower of Babel and the scattering of languages. The aim of the story is to bring people onto the same side and slow down the Wheel of Time in the pursuit of a more sustainable future.

On stage
Six dancers appear on stage wearing old-fashioned linen shirts and woollen vests. Their movement language evokes the flow of waves and time, fishing, and light. The dancers moving together represent a people guarding fire and light. Fishing rods, torches and fireflies appear on stage. Archival footage of the dammed Merikoski is projected in the background, evoking the pain associated with damming the wild river. At the end of the scene, the Screaming Men’s Choir (Mieskuoro Huutajat) arrives on stage.

The narrator recites poetry in Finnish in a Kalevala-style poetic metre.

ARRIVAL AT THE CHALICE OF WORD AND POETRY

On stage
We move towards the present day and Oulu. Two tarred wooden riverboats appear on the water, symbolising the ancient culture of travelling along the river.

The Screaming Men’s Choir performs Oulujoki, composed by its leader Petri Sirviö. The text was originally written as a speech in the 1940s by folklore collector Samuli Paulaharju, when the majestic Merikoski at the mouth of the Oulu River had recently been dammed and reduced to a dry bed of rocks for hydroelectric power production. At the end of the monologue, 12 dancers enter the stage as a large group. They look out at the city, and the torches on the boats go out.

The narrator recites poetry in Finnish in a Kalevala-style poetic metre.

THE CHALICE OF WORD AND POETRY AWAKENS

Background
Whoever controls knowledge, controls the world. Whoever controls words, controls knowledge. Poetry is an algorithm of words, knowledge and memory – the memory of humanity’s collective imagination.

Text on the screens
The following text appears on the screens:

Oulu is the European Capital of Culture 2026.
The Chalice of Word and Poetry, containing all knowledge,
has arrived from Kainuu.
Welcome to the birthplace of the city of Oulu,
where waterways meet
and trade has been conducted for 500 years.

On stage
The people arrive to admire the bright northern city, and the stage comes alive with joyful dancing. The dancers wear caps, vests, linen garments and felt shawls. As the Oulu All Star Big Band begins to play under the direction of Jukka Eskola, the magnificent Chalice of Word and Poetry begins to bubble and overflow. The music brings the dancers together to express joy and community through a polyrhythmic physical language influenced by jazz, improvisation, contemporary dance and show dance.

Suddenly, the joyful atmosphere turns threatening. The chalice stops bubbling, the music falls silent, and the sound of a foghorn carries in from the sea. In the background, the sound of wheels can be heard, signalling the accelerating Wheel of Time. The world is moving towards the Industrial Revolution, in which people become cogs in a machine.

THE ACCELERATION OF THE WHEEL OF TIME

Background
The Åland War of 1855, which reached as far as the delta of the Oulujoki river, was ultimately about economic resources – as so many wars have been since. Nothing seems to change. Humanity’s sincere desire for something better, combined with greed, has accelerated the Wheel of Time for hundreds of years, threatening the planet’s capacity to sustain life.

The air guitar forces, symbolising Western culture and its colonial legacy, arrive to seize the Chalice of Word and Poetry. The Finnish cultural heritage represented by the Screaming Men’s Choir defends it. A conflict erupts between invisible guitars and “swords of words”. The swords of words used by the Screaming Men’s Choir have been collected from Finnish folklore. Many of the incantations were originally used particularly by women. The invisible air guitars are played by air guitar legends who have travelled to Oulu from around the world to perform alongside Marzi Nyman.

On stage
Ticking sounds and the pounding of industrial drums set the pace on the soundtrack. The dancers circle the stage, accelerating as they repeatedly form parts of a machine. High above the stage, circus acrobats from Lumo Company hang suspended by their hair and necks from the towers. The Wheel of Time accelerates and the atmosphere becomes frantic. Humanity has created the system and become trapped by it. Eventually, the movement slows and the exhausted dancers collapse across the stage.

The Screaming Men’s Choir, Marzi Nyman and the air guitarists enter the stage. The acceleration of the Wheel of Time leads to chaos. A small northern people finds itself caught in international upheaval as people turn against one another in their struggle to possess the chalice. Smoke, riot flags and fighting fill the stage.

AJATAR AWAKENS

Background
The noise of humanity awakens Ajatar, one of the spirits of nature sleeping beneath Merikoski in the waves of the Gulf of Bothnia. Startled, she stops time. A group of spirits of nature arrives to help humanity encounter one another and come together – to stand on the same side, because there are plenty of real problems facing the planet that need to be solved.

In Finnish folk poetry, the spirits of nature showed humans how iron was born and were present when the text message was invented. In this work, they are seen as the inspirations behind all kinds of human activity – their cousins in European tradition are fairies and muses. Ilmatar (Airres in English), whose name day is celebrated on August 26, is one of these spirits of nature and has served as the patron saint of the Air Guitar World Championships since the last millennium.

On stage
The music fades and the Meta4 String Quartet begins to play Ajatar’s music. Six spirits of nature cleanse the stage of negative energy with subtle, minimalist movements. They gather fabric into a cloud on stage for Ajatar, who arrives from the mainland. The lavender fabric cloud comes alive with the performance, representing the wise and ageless Ajatar’s cloak and essence.

Aerial acrobats float and spin on rings, symbolising the gentle passage of time. The spirits of nature circle Ajatar in a ritualistic dance around the fabric until she emerges from her cocoon like a sculpture. Her movement language then becomes more restless.

AJATAR’S MAGIC SPREADS

On stage
The atmosphere changes again: the soft fabric is replaced by futuristic light tubes and the music begins to pulsate. The spirits of nature surround Ajatar in a ritualistic manner. The audience may interpret the light as emanating from Ajatar, being gathered by her, or as the spirits scanning her. The dancers’ abstract contemporary dance is airy and flowing.

During Ajatar’s final waltz, the movement vocabulary of the 13 dancers transforms into a shared breath, joined by the soundscape and lighting. Everyone breathes in new winds as one, as individuals but together. Having completed her work, Ajatar leaves the stage.

ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH

Background
After the chaos comes an outpouring, a catharsis. Humanity moves from individualism towards community, searching for a shared wavelength and empathy for one another. Breathing together and wild dancing symbolise the connection that has been found. Only together – through joy and smiles, apart from the division of Babel – can we save the world and nurture hope.

On stage
The lavender cloaks of the spirits of nature are wrapped around the dancers’ waists. The texture of the clothing emphasises the dancers’ fierce, defiant and primal yet sophisticated movements. Ajatar’s magic has sparked a series of shared Ajatar raves on stage. At the end of the scene, the dancers turn their attention to the high level of the stage, where the aerial tightrope walkers are waiting.

CARNIVAL

Background
The lofty purpose of the Air Guitar World Championships is to promote world peace. At the heart of the ideology is the idea that wars will end, climate change will stop and evil will disappear if everyone in the world plays air guitar at the same time. At the climax, everyone is invited to play air guitar to Rockin’ in the Free World, composed by Neil Young.

The invisible guitar is a tangible metaphor for our collective imagination – something people understand everywhere around the globe. Anyone can pick it up and throw themselves into the flow. It is extremely light, yet extremely serious. A smile gets you further than gritted teeth. Make Air Not War.

On stage
The cog that enslaves humanity to the Wheel of Time is broken, and the final carnival erupts on stage. Tightrope walkers celebrate in the air. Twelve dancers appear on stage, along with the bubbling Chalice of Word and Poetry and a large group of air guitarists. The lighting and music join in the celebration.

Narrator:
A city is never ready.

Let’s play air guitar together for world peace!