Productions

Authors and directors Liis Vares and Taavet Jansen 

In their new project "Still Moving" Taavet Jansen and Liis Vares create a staged "thought space", where participants can interact with each other in various ways through a poetic text environment in mixed reality.

Using virtual reality glasses, the audience has the opportunity to move simultaneously in both the physical and virtual space for two hours. Visitors can decide how much they want to be involved, observe the creative process and learn how mixed reality is created with the help of technology.

The "Still Moving" space will be opened to the audience on May 24th, 2025 at 13:00 in Estonian and 18:00 in English at Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava (STL). At 20:00, an artist talk will take place, conducted in English by Tallinn University postdoctoral fellow William Primett. Register for a free place to participate in the event.

The project "Still Moving", which is part of the broader series "Held in Human", explores the meaning of presence and "being in the body" in a modern world where technology significantly expands and mediates human experience. The project creators Liis Vares and Taavet Jansen are interested in co-creation – each participant brings with them a unique physicality, imagination and interpretation, helping to shape an evolving choreographic language and inclusive dramaturgy. The project is being developed within the framework of the MODINA residency.

Liis Vares is a choreographer based in Tallinn and in digital space, playing in the midfield of performing and fine arts. She is a certified DanceAbility teacher and a guest lecturer at the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy, specializing in improvisation and inclusive studies in dance and performing arts. She navigates the boundaries between the physical and mental, the personal and social. In 2022, she received the Estonian Cultural Endowment Annual Performing Arts Prize for her innovative choreographic practice and for engaging with politically and socially acute and sensitive topics in her work.

Taavet Jansen is an interdisciplinary artist whose work integrates movement, digital technologies, and interactive performance. His practice focuses on blurring the boundaries of art at the intersection of the viewer’s physical and digital presence. Jansen has situated his work in various environments, including theatre, galleries, and virtual spaces—his current focus lies in audience engagement in hybrid spaces and mixed reality. Taavet has also held several academic positions at both the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy and the Estonian Academy of Arts. He is currently completing a PhD at the Estonian Academy of Arts.