My name is Elina. I was born in Tartu, Estonia. Throughout my life, I have accumulated extensive stage experience, performing in both theatrical and dance productions. The stage has always felt like home to me.
I began rhythmic gymnastics at the age of four and was later invited to join Ida Dance School, where I performed at the Vanemuine Theatre and internationally at an early age. My classical ballet training continued at Tallinn Ballet School, followed by further studies at the Yakobson Children’s Ballet Theatre in Saint Petersburg.
Alongside dance, I developed a strong musical foundation through piano studies at Kreenholm Music School. During my years of professional training, I also discovered photography, documenting performances, backstage life and creative processes, a practice that later evolved into a parallel artistic path.
After completing my formal dance studies, I expanded my education at Tallinn University, graduating in 2018 with a Bachelor’s degree in Sound Design. Over the following years, I worked extensively in visual storytelling, model coaching and digital art production, gaining experience in team leadership, event creation and interdisciplinary artistic projects.
Since May 2024, I have returned fully to dance education, working as a dance teacher with children from the age of three. During the 2024/2025 academic year, I teach in multiple kindergartens and schools across Tallinn and Harju County. I am a certified Dance Specialist (Level 5) and a member of the Estonian Dance Union.
My work today combines choreography, embodied movement practice, music editing, visual aesthetics and costume design. I am particularly interested in creating emotionally driven stage works that explore identity, memory, resilience and the human inner landscape.
ARtist STatement
My practice explores the body as a carrier of memory and a spiritual archive - a site where collective experiences, forbidden impulses and suppressed identities are stored. I work as a visual director and a researcher of embodied philosophy, using photography as a tool to challenge and shift existential boundaries.
My work focuses on social structures that shape bodily experience: body shaming, restrictions imposed on female identity, emotional suppression and the abuse of spiritual authority. These systems generate invisible forms of violence - subtle mechanisms of discipline that disconnect individuals from their instincts, sensuality and inner autonomy.
I often use my own body as research material. For me, self-portraiture is not self-representation but a performative method that allows the testing of vulnerability, transgression, and loss of control within a controlled environment. The body becomes an element, not an individual subject, but a universal carrier where personal and collective experience intersect.
My process is grounded in psychophysiological attunement and somatic presence. Before photographing, I cultivate a state in which the body moves beyond habitual self-control. Discomfort is not an obstacle, but a tool, a gateway to a more honest embodied truth.
I work by revealing reality to construct new perceptual spaces. I employ nudity, tension and existential motifs not for shock value, but to make visible what has been culturally silenced. My aim is not to provide answers, but to trigger awakening, a momentary shift in perception where the body senses before the intellect intervenes.
For me, technique is not the focus. Visual language serves the concept, not the other way around.