illumineerima

The British Council is planning changes to the way we operate in Europe. We will operate less as a cultural institute in Europe and more as a cultural relations partner with reduced number of walk-in information centres…. As a result of these changes the British Council will close its Information Centre in Tallinn in spring 2008. The Information Centre collection will be donated to a partner library, further details will be available as soon as negotiations have been finalised with the receiving institution. The work of the information Centre will continue as usual until the closure and we will offer you the full set of services we have been doing until today.

I’ve never been to the Information Centre, so I don’t have anything much to say on the matter, but I am glad that they’ll be arranging for their library to remain in Estonia. I’ve also never been to one of their cultural events, although that may be because they really suck at sharing the info. I received an email this morning about a British music video screening event tonight at KUMU (at 6pm). I prefer not to know than to know too late.

Silly me, I forgot to mention that I now have a column on Estonia at PopMatters. It’s called Babe in Estland and you can read the first column here: Falling In Love, Estonian-style. Enjoy!

Last night, I saw Kurtis Blow perform in Tallinn. It was truly a strange experience to see the legendary, old school rapper perform in a small club (Club Prive) for a completely white and European crowd.

How do performers maintain their passion for their music?  Take Kurtis Blow, for example. His songs, some of which were mainstream hits and are now classics, date back to the 70s and 80s. He’s performed them a ton of times, heard them on the radio, in movies, sampled in newer songs, etc. And yet he can still get up on the stage after 35 years in the business and share his love of old school hip hop with the crowd. I guess that’s the point. Love. You have to love it.

Anyway, I was out until 2 a.m., something I never do on Wednesdays and rarely on any other night. But it was fun. And now I can tell my friends I once saw Kurtis Blow.

I meant to post about this earlier in the week, but it’s been a bit busy ’round these parts. Guess who won a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance? Arvo Pärt’s “Da Pacem,” performed by none other than the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and conducted by Paul Hillier. One small leap for Pärt, one giant leap for Estonia. In case you’re curious, you can see the complete list of Grammy Award winners here.

I chose the above image, taken during a performance of EESTI: ballaadid, for the header because that performance was the turning point in my relationship with Estonia. In August 2005, I attended the most amazing performance I have ever seen. EESTI: ballaadid premiered in August of 2004, and the final performance (which I attended) was on August 7, Veljo Tormis’s 75th birthday. It wasn’t a glitzy performance like those of Broadway (or Las Vegas, for that matter). Rather, we drove the winding roads near the northern coast of Estonia and parked outside of a large barn. The show was sold out and the seating (on temporary bleachers) was tight. I was nearing the end of my two-month stay in Estonia and utterly unprepared for what has turned out to be a life-altering event.

This cantata-ballet is considered the opus magnum of Veljo Tormis, who was also present. Many Estonians call Tormis a genius. Using folktales from several regions in Estonia dating from the first decade of the 1900s through the 1970s, Tormis created a masterpiece that successfully and beautifully links the past with the present. The folktales deal with the timeless themes of reproduction, family relationships, and death. As Mr. Tormis wrote in the program:

Not that I make use of folk song, folk song makes use of me. To me, folk music is not an instrument through which I can express myself. On the contrary, I feel it my duty to present folk music as it is: its essence, spirit, ideas and form. To my understanding, runo-song is the most outstanding and original phenomenon of Estonian culture. Today it has lost its form as it once existed, as an inseparable part of the ways of everyday life. What I am trying to do is to link it with modern art forms, and to bring out the uniqueness of runo-song and the message it conveys.

The runo-songs Tormis refers to are often short, repetitive choral pieces rooted in the Finno-Ugric tradition. Choral singing is still strong in Estonia, and the fifteen EESTI: ballaadid singers were masterful. The music conductor was Tõnu Kaljuste (founder of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and a world-famous conductor), and the director was Peeter Jalakas of Von Krahl Theater. I’ve heard that Von Krahl Theater is the avant-garde, radical theater here, though EESTI: ballaadid is the only performance I’ve attended. I’ve been to the actual theater, in Tallinn’s Old City, but for film screenings. I’ve been told that Estonians either love or hate Von Krahl, as they use “rough” language and have off-the-wall interpretations of well-known plays. I must be radical, because that sounds cool to me. Anyway, though the singing of EESTI: ballaadid was in Estonian, the Estonian language is full of vowels and does not have the harsh sounds of Russian and German. Listening without full understanding was still a pleasurable experience.

The dance performance was methodical and slow, but still quite intense thanks to the skill of the 11 dancers. The choreographer and leading dancer was Aki Suzuki, who is a Japanese Butoh specialist and the only non-Estonian to perform. The dance was essentially Butoh in style, and the dancers (and singers) were covered in white makeup and powder. I’m not sure if the women dancers were entirely nude towards the end or if they wore very thin bodysuits; the men’s costumes varied. The Butoh movements in this ballet were very subtle and controlled; sometimes it was amazing just how slow but still elegant the movements were. In spite of the modern Japanese origins of Butoh, I can see why that dance form might appeal to Estonians, who are often methodical, careful, and quiet in nature.Beyond that description, words fail me. It’s just one of those things you have to see to really understand its impact. Let’s hope Arm Music comes out with their long-promised DVD before much more time elapses.

So, how did EESTI: ballaadid change my life? Upon seeing that performance, I fell in love with Estonia. When my husband and I finished our graduate programs in the States, choosing to come to Estonia was almost a no-brainer. Actually working out the details to come here required a bit of thought.

View more photos of the performance.
Listen to sound samples from EESTI:balladid.
Read about Language and Poetic Metre in Regilaul.
Read about Quantity and Stress in Estonian Folksong Performance.

(all photos: Peeter Paasmäe)