2 + 2 = 22
United Dancers of Zuga
Authors, choreographers, performers: Tiina Mölder, Kärt Tõnisson, Helen Reitsnik, Ajjar Ausma, Päär Pärenson
Light designer: Oliver Kulpsoo
Costume designer: Keili Retter
Set designer: Keili Retter, Oliver Kulpsoo
Composer: Lauri-Dag Tüür
Dramaturg: Andri Luup
Special thanks to: Uku Pärenson, Mirt Jasmiin Jõudvald, Sonja Ausma, Oliver Ausma, Edvard Laimets, Uljana Luup, Isabella Luup, Triinu Aron, Elina Dambe, Aigars Apinis, Rihards Jakovlevs, Valmiera Draamateater, Püha Johannese Kool, Nicole Kennedy, Aili Kennedy-Ewen, Joshua Davidson, Paul Davidson, Piret Eichhorn, Carl Gustaf Vihelm Eichhorn, Elizabeth Eichhorn, Orhan Kaya, Olga Voronova, Felix Tillemann, Ella Tillemann
Duration: 55min
Premiere: 30th of October 2019
I’d like to see that everything obeys me, but so that… I won’t have to step on anyone
I make my own rules to the game. I can handle this, I make myself strong, I crawl and I jump.
I sit on two chairs at once, go to three schools and speak four languages.
I know I’m loud, I’ll give you a tough battle.
I win and I lose and I learn and stumble, sometimes I mumble
When they want me to be humble I rumble until I crumble and drowse.
My rules are simple: I want no-one to nag me and no-one to bag me, I want to be a part of the gang and accepted as single. To sit among the big and be the hero to the small, I’m not a zero.
And be it said, that I won’t sit down with my mouth open so that someone else can stuff it with vitamins. I am full of vitality myself and have my own chair to tell right from wrong.
I want to become great… as the square root of time-space, to clarify the rules for everyone. Then we may play and have a good day.
But don’t forget I walk my way.
And you don’t take my toys without permission, if you don’t listen I will load my ammunition to stand my position
Don’t take my bag! Don’t come into my room! DON’T TOUCH MY STUFF! …without my permission
I want to stay friends as well as make friends
I just want to be cool in the end.
Because I go for contrast, thrill, rush and joy, foolish giggle, messy hair and good jokes… I like to do things backwards, SOMETIMES, or simply do them some other time, ANOTHER TIME.
ZUGA’s new production “2 + 2 = 22” digs deep into the rules and arrangements, the visible and invisible agreements that exist in the shared lives of children and parents; it turns them upside down, sidesteps and oversteps them, doesn’t offer them a seat or invites them to stand side by side or seats them on two chairs at once, all the while looking for a place that they can call their own. The aim is to arrive at a destination, even when accompanied by calls to “Go to your place!”.
The production got its start in the summer of 2019 in Latvia where together with actors of Valmiera Drama Theatre – Aigars Āpinis, Elina Dambe, Rihards Jakovleva – the performance “Tools to Rule” was created which premiered at the Valmieras Summer Theatre Festival in August 2019. We are thankful for their contribution which is reflected in our current performance “2 + 2 = 22”.
The United Dancers of Zuga is a collective of dancers and choreographers that was conceived in 1999 by the young active dancemakers Tiina Mölder, Kaja Kann and Jarmo Karing. ZUGA is the only company in Estonia that has consistently and regularly been producing dance performances for children. For ZUGA, children and adults are equal partners that share a world and a living space. ZUGA’s performances have won theatre and dance awards, and they have toured in Estonia and abroad (Finland, the USA, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, the Netherlands, Palestine, Sweden, Russia, Romania, Croatia, Poland, England, China) with their performances.
