Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava (STL)
Tallinn, Estonia
30th March 2025
Stuart Sweeney
Zuga United Dancers is collective of dancers and choreographers working collaboratively since 1999. They create productions for children and adults, addressing a range of themes. Ilan / Weather or Not highlights climate change and environmental concerns, using movement and text, involving the audience in the process and featuring the Zuga team: Tina Mölder, Kärt Tynisson, Helen Reitsnik, Ajjar Ausma and Päär Pärenson.
The audience were seated in four blocks at the corners of the studio space and initially the artists moved around, identifying the points of the compass. They provided a wide range of attributes associated with each direction and where you should move if that’s what you want: sunsets in the West, Asian cuisine in the East, etc.
Ilan / Weather or Not by Zuga
Photo: Alana Proosa
And then our attention was turned to weather reports and the consequences of climate change, forcing the migration of people, animals and vegetation. Sometimes crouched, sometimes stretched on the floor, the dancers conveyed the anxiety that extreme weather can generate in people. Next, we see animals contesting limited space with confrontational movement and sharp sounds.
Ilan / Weather or Not by Zuga
Photo: Alana Proosa
Then it’s the turn of the audience and we are shepherded from place to place as climate change forces emigration. A mini lecture introduced us to photons and the greenhouse effect, epitomised with hundreds of plastic bags enveloping us. I gave myself a reprimand, remembering I had bought three plastic bags in the past week. Must do better! By this time, we were all out on the dance floor, imitating speedy photons from the Sun and lazy ones generating heat, surrounded by plastic bags.
Päär Pärenson romped around we photons singing a song of indifference to what was happening: as long as the air conditioning is switched on and your mobile phone is still working. “Warm and comfortable! Warm and comfortable” was his cry.
We heard a memory of an ancestor describing self-sufficiency and exemplifying what can be achieved by individuals working for the community. A question was posed to the children in the audience, “What can you live without for three days.” And we returned to our seats.
Ilan / Weather or Not by Zuga
Photo: Alana Proosa
A quieter, final phase features a quartet of the dancers in some of the most memorable choreography of the evening. Facing each other in the centre, they dance alternating hands, feet and legs hooked together, keeping upright by cooperation, emphasising this is the only way forward for mankind. If only President Trump could see this!
Ilan / Weather or Not succeeds in a variety of ways. It addresses an important issue in an accessible format for adults and young people with attention grabbing text and movement. Some of the youngest ones clearly had a ball getting out of their seats and buzzing round the stage. Sound by Kalle Tikas and varied lighting by Oliver Kulpsoo creating shadows on the walls, contributed significantly to the overall effect. Following the performance, there was an opportunity for the audience members to stay behind for thirty minutes and ask questions of the performers about the production and the dangers of climate change. The spoken text of the performance was naturally in Estonian, but the management helpfully provided me with an English version.
Ilan / Weather or Not is an enjoyable, imaginative and enlightening work which continues touring to schools and festivals – well worth a visit.
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