Anna: My very first question is how are you these days? What are you doing? Where are you now? Madli: That's a very big question. Thank you for asking! I'm doing okay with ups and downs. I'm quite tired because the work has never stopped. And I've been managing, we just finished our lockdown a few weeks ago, but I was giving classes the whole lockdown. I had nine groups and I was giving online classes or outdoor classes. Now we're back in the studio and we are trying to finish up this very hectic season. We're trying to perform with some of the groups or to prepare for performances or competitions. It's all very draining, emotionally and psychologically. And also, I'm finishing up my work in the capital of Estonia and I'm trying to find new work in another town. I'm kind of in the middle of moving, in the middle of changing apartments. It's quite a lot. But it’s spring and I have my garden in my parents' summer cottage. I only think about being there to take care of my flowers and my pumpkins and not think about anything else, but the summer is very close. Anna: And what do you teach? Madli: I teach kids, young people, and adults traditional folk dance, jazz, and contemporary dance. But at the moment, I’m doing a little bit more of the contemporary and jazz because I'm not so interested in staged folk that much. I do like part-time teaching at universities in Dance or Theatre departments where I usually teach dance history or historical dance. So, I also have a little hobby group of historical dances as well. Anna: I would like to ask you about your Choreomundus experiences. I was thinking like which cohort you've been to? I can't recall now... Choreomundus has the ninth cohort now which is incredible! Madli: I think I’m cohort three! But I'm very bad with numbers… No, it must be three! (laughs) Anna: It’s been a while so… How did you find this Choreomundus program? Madli: Life-changing! (laughs) I found it life-changing and I was tremendously happy that it was so theoretical. I did not feel that I was good enough theoretically, because I find my thesis was quite weak. But I was very glad that I could touch upon those methods of analysis and also touch upon these methods of conceptualizing dance. I think it has absolutely changed the way I work! This is why I do this extra work that I can do at the moment because now I can think and conceptualize dance in a completely different way! And the people and the world that opens up through the people that are there! I'm from a very white society and a very racist society. It is uniform and there's no diversity or this is what they think. But for me, this opened up and it still keeps the word open that would never come to me through different contexts. Through social media, I really appreciate what kind of news my cohort or other people bring to my feed, what kind of visuals they bring to me, and how they present their everyday life. It's very important because I cannot get it in Estonia. Like there's no way I could get this information in my country without having these people. Anna: And what did you study before Choreomundus? Madli: I had a BA in Dance and Choreography. Then I had an MA in Cultural anthropology and Folk art, which was a weak one because I was trying to do performance anthropology there but my department didn't know what it was, they also didn't know that you could study dance. They had no idea that dance is something that you can scientifically study! (laughs) It was an arts academy. It had a fantastic focus on figurative arts and crafts, and how to use them in your artwork. I was doing my master thesis on gender roles in Estonian stage folk dance but I was very glad because I could use Erasmus. I went for a year to Ireland and it saved my first master’s. Because in Ireland, I understood how to study since I had come from a practical background, I had no study methods, I did not know how to sit down and get through subjects and write essays. Choreomundus and all other opportunities gave me another angle to study dance. It kind of showed me how much theory there is in practice. I absolutely love it. And I even use it in the class, I think I'm a different teacher now. Anna: What was your dissertation topic in Choreomundus? Madli: I was looking at the folk improvisation experience in Estonian polka and what creates this experience for the dancer. I was studying the particulars of what they experienced and how they experience the room, the floor, the communication, and what they think of it. Anna: Which university did you like the most? Or which course did you prefer during your studies at Choreomundus? Madli: I really loved the dance transmission. It was something so deep, because it also relates to pedagogy, but not only. It kind of widened the way I thought about pedagogy. Because of practice that we were doing there with my African coursemates, that transmission practice kind of changed the way I feel about teaching. I also liked dance phenomenology. It was very hard for a beginning course, but it was very necessary. I don't know if I got it, but I liked the way Gediminas (Gediminas Karoblis, local convenor from NTNU – editor) was using dance to get the point across. The way we were taught fascinated me all the time! Because they were very methodical, they have a very specific way of giving just a little information along the way. They didn't let you know where you're going to end up first. They kind of led you through this research together with them. It was intellectually mind-blowing! In Roehampton, I loved the arts courses, like the performance of heritage. I also liked the Dance Department teachers there. What I loved in Szeged was the historical dance and the folk dance. But there should have been more folk dance practice there! Anna: What did you do after Choreomundus? Madli: I came back to Estonia and I started to work in several traditional dance groups. I was back tutoring dancers at the theatre academy, so I was teaching again. Just established the monthly salary. But what I got from Choreomundus is added to my everyday work in a sense that I choreograph differently, I research for choreographies differently, I research for my work differently. I am academically more inspired and finalize my choreographies creatively. Maybe I should level up somehow, apply for a PhD but I haven't figured out my topic for PhD research yet, so until that I’m stuck here at the moment. Anna: How did the ongoing pandemic situation change your practice in dance? Madli: I rediscovered my dance practice or keeping myself in shape because covid gave me a fantastic opportunity to take classes from all over the world. I was taking classes from New York for example. I reconsidered several of my life choices, at the moment that’s why I'm moving away from the capital to be closer to my garden. I reconsidered working on weekends. (laughs) I liked the way that we had to turn the focus inwards. With most of my folk dance groups, I couldn't continue the work because we are not practicing couple dances alone but I turned it into like yoga meets pilates meets ballet class just to preserve their basic physical shape. I have an adult group where mostly married couples are dancing so they continued with folk dance. With one group, we managed to create new dances and learn new folk dances, we continued working. And somehow even through the screen they kept the social feeling! It was a lesson of the groups that they have such different energy, such different ways they function and with some groups we couldn't do anything, but with some groups, it continued as if nothing had changed, which is interesting, I think. And it made me reconsider teaching. I was so unhappy all the time with the quality of the classes. I had to reconsider what the quality of my classes was? Like are they pointless? And I had to step up, I have never done so much homework that I did now for these classes! Because originally you have your training list, then you just go with the flow, you go much freely. But now, it took hours to prepare one 45-minute class! It was really something new, but it worked! I got a lot of very good feedback. Anna: It is indeed a very challenging era of our lives but it’s good to hear success stories! My last question would be, what is your message for the readers who might be going to apply for Choreomundus as a future student? Madli: Less whining, more using the opportunities that you will get in Choreomundus! I think we should all go there with a much more open mind! Everybody had their idea of what they're going to do in Choreomundus. Everybody thinks that ‘Oh, I'm going to dance or I'm going to study or I'm going to be mentored by the best people…’ We were always very frustrated. We felt alone, we felt like not good enough, not smart enough, but to just see the opportunity! Yeah, I'm alone, I can do this personal study now. Wow, I can independently choose where I go and what I do, and to really cherish this that they are like an independent researcher. You can share this experience with these amazing people and under these amazing teachers. Anna: That's a very good message! I like it. Thank you very much, Madli!
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