On 1 February 2025, the EAMT Black Box theatre was open to the public for the debut of the newest cohort of Contemporary Physical Performance Making (CPPM) artists, the first in a series of shows to come as they develop their individual crafts as part of the two-year MA programme. Featuring sixteen performers from thirteen countries, those selected for the programme will spend the next couple of years in intensive multiweek workshop sessions with in-house and guest directors, to help them develop and push their art forward in new ways.
That’s what I learned in my research before the show, at least, but even having the opportunity to go backstage beforehand didn’t prepare me for what I was about to see. Here, at the end of their first session with Grzegorz and Alicja Bral of Song of the Goat, the artists put together a one-time performance that allowed each to highlight their own skills and abilities, while also cooperating and collaborating towards larger pieces. The result was a fantastic display of physical, musical, and storytelling prowess, and the knowledge that this is only the beginning of this troupe’s journey together has me making plans based on the CPPM calendar.
As the programme is interdisciplinary, so too was the range of performance styles and backgrounds shown, giving the impression of a well-managed if madcap revue. The evening started with pieces blurring the lines between performer and observer, and continuously explored the unities and disunities that come from being an intentionally assembled group of people in a mostly foreign land – having family, but not yet being family; building and maintaining relationships, near and far; and staying present in your own self, health, and art.
The performance also embraced the conflicts of being a student as well as an artist – whether the jabs were self-deprecating, tongue-in-cheek, or fully meant to sting I will leave up to the interpretation of others. That said, there is absolutely an element of performance to showing up as a new person anywhere and having to go through the whole “Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do? Why are you here?” Here, the CPPM students were able to express their reactions to that brand of existential small talk more emphatically than most.
The staging made excellent use of the black box in its entirety – as part of EMTA’s new wing, the space is two stories tall, with a catwalk and lighting architecture that was in use throughout the show, giving height and depth to the performance. Though the nature of a black box is that the whole space be able to function as the stage if needed, the CPPM troupe and their directors kept that clear from the outset, and engaged the whole room with bodies, sound, and props. Whether a heart-rending solo dance or vaudevillian visit to a seeming psych ward, Broadway choreography or a silent man in continuous, silent motion, there was always something fresh to experience.
With their examinations of language, song, and human connection in this first outing, I look forward to seeing what else this cohort brings to the Tallinn public over the next two years. In addition to performances, the CPPM programme also offers open classes and public lectures featuring the guest directors throughout the year, with two at the end of February, ahead of the next performance on 1 March.
Author: Laurie
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