10.4.2025 | Culture

KANTS Conquers Rakvere

Dance festival brings new and old dances to the audience

Text Susanna Poikela 
Photos Raido Bergstein

The Rakvere Cultural Centre will be transformed into an oasis of dance from 10 to 12 April, when the Rakvere Contemporary Dance Festival (KANTS) will be held for the second year in a row. The dance festival, jointly organised by the Estonian Dance Agency and the Rakvere Cultural Centre, offers the audience a diverse programme this year as well. The event culminates in the premiere of Hetk by choreographer, dancer, and musician Igor Lider.

“It is exceptional that a modern dance production will premiere in Rakvere, outside Tallinn,” says Raido Bergstein, Director of Performance Operations at the Estonian Dance Agency.

The festival programme is diverse and offers the audience breathtaking and thought-provoking dance performances over the course of three evenings. “KANTS is a real gem that brings contemporary dance outside of Tallinn, directly to the Rakvere audience. I am sincerely glad that the cooperation with the Estonian Dance Agency has made it possible to create such a valuable cultural event,” says Eve Alte, Director of the Rakvere Cultural Centre.

The KANTS 2025 programme includes three dance productions, the first of which, Hool, premiered in autumn 2024, and the last, Hetk, will be seen on stage for the first time at the Rakvere Dance Festival. A more detailed programme can be found on KANTS’s Piletilevi ticket service here.

KANTS is part of the Estonian Dance Agenda’s “Dance MENU” programme, which aims to bring high-quality dance art to smaller communities in Estonia. It organises dance performances, educational projects, and workshops in collaboration with local cultural organisers.