The 25th season of Kanuti Gildi SAAL introduces new productions by Maike Lond, Lea Blau, Erik Valentin Berg, Kristina Norman, Sunayana Shetty, Sigrid Savi and Hanna Kritten Tangsoo, Nele Tiidelepp, Rūta Ronja Pakalne, Adriano Wilfert Jensen, Andrea Zavala Folache, and Alissa Šnaider.

The anniversary season is looking for new ways of working together, both on stage and behind the stage. The creative process of multiple productions critically examines various ways of being and creating together without relying on habitual models of performance production – the season is full of performance series, shows created by children and their parents, and various collectively moved dances.

October kicks off the season with four premieres. In Maike Lond’s Three Ballads, a Story and My Mother’s Estate, her 19-year-old son Lukas Jansen and the dramaturg Kim Noble help her make a comeback as a performance artist. The performance observes the shared world of teenagers and the middle-aged, biographies, and life-changing turns that rarely end up in our CVs.

SPORT, a series of solo performances by Stockholm-based artist Erik Berg, observes the meaning of “performance” in sports and performing arts, and considers the phenomenon of being an athlete. Two parts of SPORT premiere in Tallinn on the 24th of October. Lea Blau’s performance Kikimora is rooted in Balkan songs and folklore, more precisely in the mythical creature Kikimora.

Kristina Norman’s new documentary performance The Dew Point explores the ambiguous value of security in times of perpetual war. The performance premieres in Helsinki at the Baltic Circle Festival. December starts with the performance Three Women Walk Into a Bar… by Berlin-based artists Sigrid Savi, Hanna Kritten Tangsoo, and Sunayana Shetty. Nele Tiidelepp’s new performance, which premieres at Mousonturm in Frankfurt, searches for the moment between two beats while dancing.

In her new work, Rūta Ronja Pakalne, inspired by slow cinema and influenced by gender theory, focuses on the history, meanings, social expectations, and memories that each unique body carries, exploring how it affects the way we think of bodies. Domestic Anarchism by Adriano Wilfert Jensen, Andrea Zavala Folache, and Alissa Šnaider was inspired by becoming a parent and by the need to reflect on the social, biological, and national meaning of the notion of family. Premiering in the USA, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and then Estonia, the production invites a local artist in each country to collaboratively create a version specific to that location.

In November, three artists Mihkel Maripuu, Viktoria Martjanova, and Norman Orro create short performances as part of the SAAL3 format.

Already premiered performances will return to SAAL and also tour in various places around the world. SAAL continues its three different residency programs, hosting artists working both in Estonia and in other Nordic and Baltic countries. This autumn, we are joined by residents 4 FLOORS OF WHORES, Venla Helenius and Anna-Sofia Nylund, Laima Jaunzema, Ruth-Johanne Andersson, Marina Karpova, and Piibe Kolka.

In spring, the audience can once again enjoy the highly anticipated annual short-form festival Made in Estonia Marathon, followed by larger festivals such as Baltic Take Over in Stockholm and Switchover in Tartu.