STF 2026: CHOREOGRAPHY+

CHOREOGRAPHY+ is a space and time where choreography breathes wider than dance. It is a place where movement meets language, sound touches the body, light draws the rhythm and a thought dances into the unknown.

This space asks in a whisper, can choreography be independent and exist in its own gravity? Or does it still need other worlds around it to grow, expand and create new horizons?

CHOREOGRAPHY+ is a promise to discover new fields of tension: between movement and stillness, structure and freedom. It is an invitation for the audience to witness the possibilities of choreography. Chaos, rhythm and form will lead the way.

CHOREOGRAPHY+ is an evening of performances, where choreographers have chosen a partner from another field to cooperate with on the stage. Together they have created a short performance to experience the possibilities of choreography.

The choreographers Anumai Raska, Britt Kõrsmaa and Elle Viies will create performances together with selected co-creators for the CHOREOGRAPHY+ evening at STF 2026.

Anumai Raska + Lauri Täht
“skate every day, skate every day”

Wheels below, feet above, jumps down but lands on top.

Music: Metonym – 0x (Mihkel Kuusk, Jürgen Volmer)

Anumai Raska (b. 1997) is a performance artist educated in dance and acting at the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy. They have created numerous performances for various cultural events; most recently, their work was featured at the Tartu Art House in the performative installation “no-fomo” (by the collective Rängad Rotid, 2026). Prior to that, the same collective presented the performance *Rats rumba* (Kanuti Gildi SAAL, 2024), which earned a nomination for the Estonian Theatre Awards. Anumai starred in the title role of the production *Carmen Electra* (ants1, elektron.art, 2025) last year. While they have mostly only dreamed of skateboarding, they have actually managed to pull off a few ollies.

Lauri Täht first stepped onto a skateboard in 1996 and got his first trick board in 2001. Since then, skateboarding has been a major part of his life. Over the years, he has built several skateparks and found his way to music, art, photography, and videography through skate culture. Lauri remains an active skateboarder to this day.

Britt Kõrsmaa +  Ülle Kirss
“FONIATRIX”

Thanks: Kalev Rabi (Medivar)

Hippocrates (5th century BC) believed that only the lungs, trachea, lips, and tongue were necessary for voice production. Aristotle (384–322 BC) claimed that the voice is a reflection of the soul and that it comes from the heart. Galen (2nd century AD) was the first to prove that the voice originates in the larynx. During the dissection of a pig, he cut through certain neck nerves. As soon as the nerve was severed, the animal immediately fell silent, although it remained alive. Leonardo da Vinci (15th century) carried out dissections and, based on them, created the first anatomical drawings of the human larynx.

9 cartilages, 4 joints, 6 muscles, 7 ligaments or membranes, laryngeal inlet, laryngeal vestibule, false vocal folds, laryngeal ventricles, true vocal folds (stratified squamous epithelium, Reinke’s space, elastic fibers, collagen fibers, vocal muscle), glottis, subglottic cavity.

The vocal apparatus consists of an activator, a generator, a resonator, and a coordinator. Voice production begins in the cerebral cortex, from where the signals are directed to the larynx, chest, and abdominal muscles. The vocal folds vibrate on average 200 times per second. Bernoulli’s principle — the pressure of a flowing liquid or gas decreases where its velocity increases.

During an examination or procedure, the doctor is the one who gives instructions, performs physical interventions, and controls the situation, while the patient is in a receptive role, relinquishes control, and follows the instructions.

Britt Kõrsmaa is an Estonian choreographer, performance-maker and vocal improviser. Her dance practice focuses on internal and micro-movements, sensoriality, state-based practices, immobility and the experience of being moved (by the landscape, for example). She holds a bachelor’s degree in Choreography from Tallinn University and has worked as a freelance dancer and choreographer in theatre productions, in various troupes and events as well as a dance educator. In 2024 she acquired a Master’s degree in Contemporary Physical Performance Making (CPPM) at Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT). Currently, Britt has returned to EAMT to study Contemporary Improvisation with a specialization in vocal improvisation.

Ülle Kirss graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tartu and subsequently worked as an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist for nearly 40 years. She has also had a particular interest in phoniatrics, the field dealing with voice-related problems. She has pursued further training in this area in Finland, Sweden, and Moscow. Ülle has worked as a physician for singers at the Estonian National Opera and has been teaching phoniatrics at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EMTA) since 1998.

Elle Viies +  Jan Kaus
“In the Course of Solving”

Please, take a seat.
We have set out to solve the most important words — those in whose shadow Mathematical Realism lives – quivering.
We have found a way to limit the limitless, explain the inexplicable, and give Truth a face – questionable.
We have formulated formulas, proposed hypotheses, and invented mathematical-kinesthetic linguistics – full of gaps.
Through all of this, we can reconstruct the face of reality with the means at hand, peeling away its rough layers, revealing the Core – pulsating.
Please, take a seat.

Elle Viies graduated from the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy with a degree in Dance Art. Viies has created short solo works, performed in various productions, and directed three works: “Pastoral” (2024), “Enigma “(2025, winner of the 2026 Estonian Theatre Awards Dance Prize and part of the main programme of the 2026 Draama Festival), and “Varia” (2026). She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Literary Studies at the University of Tartu. She is interested in dense text and symbolic choreography.

Jan Kaus (1971) is an Estonian writer, essayist, translator, and librettist. He has published novels, collections of short stories, essays, poetry, and miniatures. His best-known work may be considered Map of Tallinn, a collection of miniatures, poetic descriptions of city space, first published in 2014. Kaus has translated literature from Finnish and English, including works by Mika Waltari, Sofi Oksanen, J. G. Ballard, and Joseph Brodsky. As Kaus has also expressed himself through music and theatre, he has developed an increasingly profound interest in the possibilities offered by the live performance of literature.