BACKGROUND: Christmas takes care of half of the year
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By Leena Virtanen
"If Christmas were twice a year, Sampo would not have to do anything else from a financial point of view", Maija Baric says, explaining the practical significance of her theatre's Christmas tradition.
Sampo has three performances that are repeated every year at Christmas. First is Yllätyslahja ystävälle ("Surprise Gift for a Friend"), performances of which end at the beginning of December. Joulu tulla jollottaa ("Christmas moseys in") is a concert with songs by Maija Baric, and the real classic is the puppet performance Ihana joulu ("Wonderful Christmas"), which has been performed since 1996.
Sampo is putting on a total of about 100 performances in both its own theatre and elsewhere in the Helsinki region. In the entire year Sampo arranges about 300 performances.
In Helsinki the Dance Theatre Hurjaruuth has also managed to create its own popular Christmas tradition. In 2003 Talvisirkus ("Winter Circus") had its tenth anniversary, and is playing to full houses from November to January 6th at the Old Cable Factory. This year there will be a total of 71 performances.
The Winter Circus accounts for about half of the theatre's activities: half of its performances, and half of its income.
Nevertheless, the circus is such a large production that the revenue that it brings does not help much in paying for activities of the rest of the year.
The Winter Circus has increased its budget each year, but now it is reaching the limit. It is not humanly possible to increase the number of performances, or to add more seats to the auditorium.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 12.12.2005
More on this subject:
 Christmas is coming in the backpack of a little elf
LEENA VIRTANEN / Helsingin Sanomat
leenavirtan@gmail.com
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