100 days until XXVIII Song and XXI Dance Festival
Yesterday marked exactly 100 days until the grand opening of the XXVIII Song and XXI Dance Festival. These days will be filled with auditions, rehearsals, numerous seminars and meetings, an immense amount of planning, the bringing of the festival flame, ESTO, and finally—the festival week itself!
The fact that only 100 days remain until the Song and Dance Festival brings both excitement and a bit of anxiety, according to the artistic director of the general song festival “Iseoma,” Heli Jürgenson. “The tempo increases every day, and the festival is drawing closer. We must carefully consider how the production of the two song festival concerts will look at the Song Festival Grounds,” Jürgenson said.
The 100-day journey to the Song and Dance Festival begins with preliminary rehearsals for dancers, singers, and orchestras. While the first rehearsals have already taken place, from March to May, further rehearsals will continue, during which the collectives will be assessed with a keen eye, and final decisions will be made about who earns a spot at the festival.
On April 27th and May 10th, dance festival pattern seminars will be held, where dance and gymnastics group instructors will be introduced to the key patterns and formations in the dance festival’s choreography. They will discuss movements within patterns, reading symbols, and group positioning.
According to dance director Agne Kurrikoff-Herman, these springtime sessions help instructors prepare their groups for the category rehearsals beginning on June 29th at the practice grounds in Tallinn. “The pattern seminar is an important step to ensure that rehearsals during the festival week run smoothly and that the formations take shape as intended,” Kurrikoff-Herman explained.
In early June, regional accreditation will begin, meaning that singers, dancers, and musicians will receive food vouchers, wristbands, and accommodation information based on the final participant lists. “This is a process that lasts about two weeks, where curators from each county count all festival performers one by one to ensure we are fully prepared for the Song and Dance Festival week,” said Margus Toomla, head of the Song and Dance Festival Foundation.
Intensive preparations are also underway in all organizing committees. Margus Toomla noted that although each team has its specific task, they all share the same ultimate goal—to welcome all performers and visitors to Tallinn and ensure they have a great experience. “For example, we have a traffic committee preparing road closures, a waste management team handling environmental issues, and so on. Each team focuses on its area, but collaboration between them is also crucial,” he explained.
The Song Festival flame will be lit on June 15th in Tartu and will then travel through all counties before reaching the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. The global Estonian festival ESTO will kick off on June 26th in Stockholm, and on June 29th, the festival flame will make a stop in Narva, where ESTO participants will celebrate their opening day.
At the same time, on June 29th, the long-awaited festival week will begin in Tallinn. This week is a crucial, thrilling, and emotional time for the festival organizers. According to Heli Jürgenson, every Song and Dance Festival brings a mix of emotions. “On one hand, we practically live at the Song Festival Grounds from Thursday onward, and the schedule is packed—every rehearsal must go smoothly, and everything must be in place because, as a leader, you are responsible for everything. On the other hand, you can feel the festive atmosphere among the singers as they reunite and share in the excitement,” she said.
The lead choreographer of the dance festival, Helena-Mariana Reimann, is eagerly anticipating the upcoming celebration. “I hope for sunshine, good weather, happy dancers, and well-prepared performances. That way, there’s no reason to worry,” she said. The approaching festival does not cause her concern, as pattern diagrams are in progress, and rehearsals are well underway. However, festival week promises to be intense, with rehearsals starting early in the morning and sometimes continuing late into the evening, followed by nightly team meetings.
Although only 100 days remain and much still needs to be done, Margus Toomla assures that everything is on schedule. “A vacation after these 100 days will definitely be well deserved! But there is nothing to be afraid of—rather, there is eager anticipation for the grand celebration that we have been preparing for so long!” he said.
Author of EST version: Geidi Lovise Lee