NIGHT WATCH
by
Ding · Gayer · Gerhardt · Taplin · Tosin · Vahter
CHINA · GERMANY / UK · USA · UK · ESTONIA · ESTONIA
Premiere 23 January 2026
Performances 24 · 26 · 27 · 28 · 29 January, 23:00
EMTA black box
A night-time wander on the border between wakefulness and sleep.
“CPPM TRIPTYCH. POLITICAL MOVEMENT” brings together three devised performances in one evening: “WalkYourChair”, “EMIT” and “Night Watch”.
All performances were conceived in response to the curatorial frame: political movement. From these impulses, three directions emerged, three creative teams and three completely different approaches that meet on stage to create a new shared experience. The productions explore how devising strategies can transform individual perspectives into a collective movement, aligning performers toward action and opening new ways of approaching themes of political sensitivity. The evening offers an opportunity to experience and reflect on co-creation, cultural polyphony, and the diverse expressions of contemporary political theatre.
“Night Watch” invites the audience to wander on the border between wakefulness and sleep, where movement is used to explore the connections between austerity, abundance, and resilience. The production creates a poetic vision of the future, embodied worlds and stories that come into effect when reality transforms into a fairytale-like abstraction.
ARTISTIC TEAM
PERFORMERS
Zhenyan Ding · Leah Gayer · Avery Gerhardt · Charis Taplin · Maarja Tosin · Elar Vahter
PRODUCTION
CPPM | Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
SUPPORTED BY
Estonian Cultural Endowment
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Zhenyan Ding
Contemporary dancer from China. After graduating in dance choreography in 2020 she danced with Beijing 9 Contemporary Dance Company, Beijing Modern Dance Company and Beijing LDTX Dance Company, working with more than ten directors and choreographers.
Leah Gayer
Leah Gayer is an actor, writer, theatremaker (RADA BA Hons Acting graduate) and co-founder and Artistic Director of the award-winning Theatre Company of Sanctuary and registered charity, Compass Collective. She has spent the last six years working professionally in theatre and film, whilst leading Compass. The company supports the integration of young refugees and asylum seekers through high quality creative productions.
Avery Gerhardt
Independent maker and freelance performer from Houston, Texas, working across performance, multimedia, video, installation and writing. Resident choreographer for Motlee Party; her work turns on load-bearing, on what the everyday stores in our bodies and what we choose to let go of.
Charis Taplin
Dance theatre maker and performer from the UK. Trained in contemporary dance at Art Factory International, Bologna, with a literature degree from Cambridge; co-founder of Wringing Metamorphosis; a Butoh practitioner since 2023 who performs with London Butoh Dance Company and studies at the New Butoh School in Ruvo.
Maarja Tosin
Estonian performer and choreographer, a graduate in choreography from the Baltic Film, Media and Arts School of Tallinn University. Her practice fuses dance, physical theatre and visual art around identity, transformation and creatureliness, in a poetic and intense movement language.
Elar Vahter
Photographs: Kalev Lilleorg
Made within the MA in Contemporary Physical Performance Making
