Ingmar Jõela

(director, choreographer, actor)

From 2010 to 2014, Ingmar Jõela studied choreography at Tallinn University, and later graduated in stage directing from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre’s renowned performing arts department (2018, XXVIII class). From 2019 to 2023, he was a member of the performance company Ekspeditsioon at Von Krahl Theatre. Since then, he has continued as a freelance director and choreographer, collaborating with various artistic collectives across Estonia. Jõela’s work is characterised by interdisciplinary integration – a fusion of theatre, dance, spoken word, movement, and poetic narrative. His artistic language is energetic, physical, visually rich, and conceptually layered, drawing on mythology, folklore, embodied expression, and multi-sensory perception. In Jõela’s work, the body is central – not as an illustration, but as an autonomous dramaturgical force. He uses the body not merely for movement or composition, but to embody thought itself: physical presence often replaces text, and the language of the body conveys meaning beyond words. Space, too, becomes meaningful. He does not merely construct “sets” but creates psychogeographic landscapes of the subconscious – empty, decaying, flooded, or temporary. In these environments, the human being feels both familiar and estranged – as if stepping into a dreamlike catacomb, a derelict factory, or a forgotten railway platform.

Choreography
“Danse Macabre” (2019, Nargen)
“Pigem ei” (2020, Von Krahl)
“Garden” (2019, Von Krahl)
“Lalli, Or There Is a Man in the Middle of the Sea“ (2022, Birgitta Festival)
“First Love” (2020, Estonian Drama Theatre)
“Novecento” (2024, Tallinn City Theatre)
“The Tin Drum” (2023, Estonian Theatre for Young Audiences) 
“1984” (2025, Estonian Theatre for Young Audiences) 

Stagings
“Forget/Dream” (2018, Tartu New Theatre)
“Giselle” (2023, Von Krahl)
“Circum Absurdum” (2023, Von Krahl)