The idea of “interpreted” was born when we acknowledged that, unfortunately, people often feel they do not understand contemporary dance. It’s as if it were a secret language known only to a small group of people. Everyone else would need an interpreter to understand it.

We wondered whether interpreting (translating) dance is necessary, or possible, and what we mean exactly when we say “interpret…” and thus we hit the wall of our own humanity.

Quickly, it all turned into a continuous interpreting process in which everyone, without noticing, became an interpreter, the one being interpreted… and of course, it was frustrating to see how much was lost in translation.

Three months later we see that people simply do not understand each other. And what exactly was lost? If we only knew! He/she just doesn’t get it. So what should we do? How, or what, I’m asking, should we be interpreting?

Because, you see, you utter a word, move, smirk, produce a sound, but this could mean anything to another person. You might never even find it out what they take from it.

Thanks to technology, information flows into different channels and there you have it… “interpreted!” Come see it in February!

Authors/performers: Eike Ülevain, Kadri Põlluveer, Jaak Sapas, Siim Tõniste
Technical solutions: Ando Naulainen
Duration: 50 min
Premiere: February 22th 2013 in Tallinn

Eike Ülevain (1980) graduated in choreography from Tallinn Pedagogical University and since then has worked as a freelance dance artist. She has been active in making dance films and has participated in productions by the united dancers of ZUGA. She has also choreographed music videos and theatre productions. Her latest works include the portrait film “Käed (Hands)” of the artist Jarõna Ilo and dance performances “Estonia meets Africa ehk vaade eemalt” (“Estonia meets Africa or View From Afar”) and “Kohalolek” (“Presence”, teamwork with Jaak Sapas, Pedro Balbás and Jarõna Ilo). In addition, Eike Ülevain has worked more than ten years as a teacher, including in the Estonian State Puppet and Youth Theatre’s Youth Studio.

Kadri Põlluveer (1983) received her BA in romance studies from the University of Tartu. She later earned an MA in conference interpreting in Paris (ESIT, Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris III). She has been working as a freelance interpreter in Estonia, France and the European Union institutions since 2009. At the beginning of 2012 she started teaching interpreting at the University of Tallinn. Kadri Põlluveer started dancing at the age of 6.

Jaak Sapas (1979) graduated in choreography from Tallinn Pedagogical University. He has danced in pieces by different choreographers (Taavet Jansen, Tiina Mölder, Jüri Nael, Yoshiko Chuma, Yvonne Rainer, Terry Creach, Anthony Phillips etc.). After finishing his studies, Jaak Sapas lived and worked abroad for 6 years (Germany, Morocco). He has created the following pieces with other artists in the past few years: “Kahe korruse rahvas” (Eike Ülevain, Kärt Tõnisson), “Estonia meets Africa ehk vaade eemalt” (“Estonia meets Africa or View From Afar”, Eike Ülevain, Eneli Meresmaa); “Kohaolek” (“Presence”, with Eike Ülevain, Jarõna Ilo, Pedro Balbás); “Kuidas mängida ennast?” (Oksana Tralla).

Siim Tõniste (1987) is a freelance dance artist. He graduated in choreography from the University of Tallinn in 2010 and is at the moment doing his MA. He received additional training during a semester at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Czech Republic. Siim Tõniste has cooperated with different Estonian choreographers and directors. He created a dance piece called “Nill” in 2011, produced by STÜ (Independent Association of Dance)

Supported by: Eesti Kultuurkapital ja ART Konverentsitehnika