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all supposed to evolve along a predetermined path towards “high culture” (see, e.g.
Kuutma 2008, 2009: 305). In the field of folk dancing, this was to be achieved by
means of performances that mimicked classical ballet: Estonian and other folk danc¬
es were to be “ennobled” by means of applying to them body discipline, graceful
movements, complicated patterns, and synchronicity “specific to Russian and other
Slavic stage folk dance since the beginning of twentieth century” (Kapper 2016: 99).
Curiously enough, these representations of ethnic diversity at dance festivals
were gradually invested with greater attention to authenticity as Others came to
represent themselves. It sufficed in the 1950s if Estonian dancers performed the
folk dances of their Soviet and socialist neighbours. Next came the stage when
Estonian dancers performing the folk dances of Others would dress for the occa¬
sion: for a Russian dance, they would put on Russian folk dresses. From 1963 on¬
ward, dance celebrations would feature performances by guests from other Soviet
republics and socialist countries and by Russian ensembles from Estonia (Arraste
et al. 2009). Consequently, ethnic otherness became gradually more pronounced
in visual representations of dance festivals.
‘The distinctiveness of the dances, costumes, and tunes of Others testified to the
particularity of Estonian national culture and vice versa. The ideological require¬
ment to display diversity forced, or enabled, Estonians to see themselves through
the eyes of Others and to spell out what they thought was characteristic of them—
what made them unique. Kapper has shown how Estonian dance instructors, danc¬
ers, and spectators adapted to this particular understanding of folk dance provided
by the Soviet Other and, moreover, how the ballet-based standardised movement
style has remained unchanged after the end of the Soviet era." It is now perceived
“as a representation of ‘Estonianness” and “as a valuable national tradition” that
reinforces national feelings (Kapper 2016: 101-102).
Conclusion
Visual representations discussed in this chapter elucidate how the form of Estonian
song and dance celebrations was filled in the Soviet era with contents that spoke of
and to the surrounding political and cultural conditions and, moreover, came to
shape Estonians’ notions of the Estonian national form. While Soviet authorities
led the way in the 1940s-50s, co-opting a festival tradition that Estonians knew
and identified with, their orders were carried out by artists, performers, and vari¬
ous other actors on the ground. Over the years, it became increasingly difficult to
tell the difference between visual representations of the national/Estonian Self and
Soviet Other as one would feed on the other. Diverse representational strategies
5 In the 1960s, an opposite folklore movement also emerged in Estonia that promoted indigenous dance
and an individually variable performance style (see Kapper 2016: 103-104 and Kuutma 2009: 306).
“While the first post-Soviet dance celebrations featured only Estonian dances and dancers, since 2004
they have again included performances by guests from neighbouring countries.