Tants aurukatla ümber

Tants aurukatla ümber

Cover of 2005 published version.
Country	Estonia
Language	Estonian

Tants aurukatla ümber (eng. lit "Dance Around the Steam Boiler") is a novel by Estonian author Mats Traat. It was first published in 1971.

The novel contains five chapters, wherein the "dance" illuminates five distinct eras of country life in 20th century Estonia, and changes in the country's rural life throghout.

Television film

The novel, originally a film scenario, was adapted into a tv movie by director Peeter Simm in 1987.

The movie was filmed during the eras of perestroika and glasnost, and stays faithful to the book.

With Mats Traat's input, the film gained a sixth and penultimate 'dance', which depicts the late-1980's Soviet period. The chapter shows the old age and warmth of the main characters to the background of cold rural scenes typical of the '80s: industrial and technological development combined with waste and reckless harm wielded on the environment.

The film enjoys a special place in Estonian historiography and culture.