Nancy's backup dancers recall: fever and blackouts were part of stage stress

Singer Nancy and her backup dancers Jüri Järv and Timo Tirs experienced the 1990s Estonian disco scene in ways that exceeded all expectations, from audience reception to physical demands. In a recent interview, they recalled how this successful period shaped their lives.

Nancy and her famous backup dancers Jüri Järv and Timo Tirs came to the studio to recall their shared stage life in the 1990s, an era when disco music was scarcely seen or heard in Estonia.

Shock and a hundred performances in a row

Singer Nancy admitted that their popularity caught her completely off guard. "Her popularity was a huge surprise to me, I was in shock for the first few months," she said. According to Nancy, very little disco music was being made at the time, and she believed she was almost the first to venture into the genre-the public received her with great warmth.

Jüri Järv said their dancing career began in 1993 when they performed ahead of the band Cultural Beat, who had come to Estonia for a concert. From there, Margus Turu invited them to perform in Pärnu a couple of times around the New Year. "In March 1995, we got a call that a female artist was looking for a dancer," Järv recalled, describing how he joined Nancy's team. Soon after came a string of a hundred performances in quick succession.

The body forgot its limits

For the backup dancers, stage life was physically demanding. Jüri Järv explained that emotional involvement deceived the body into overlooking its actual limits. "When you get emotionally invested, your body forgets where you'd normally stop. Afterwards, you feel completely drained," he said. Timo Tirs added that several times it felt as if his vision was failing. Järv admitted that during tours, the overexertion occasionally brought on a fever.

Nancy recalled how Timo Tirs first came to a meeting entirely by chance. "I just came to watch what you were doing," the singer chuckled, quoting Tirs' own words. Tirs, in turn, shared how he met Järv: "I once saw Jüri dancing at the nightclub Lucky Luke and went up to him."

Dance started in an aerobics class

For Järv, it all began in an unusual place-an aerobics class in the mid-1980s, where he was the only boy. "I got to perform on stage there twice and it felt wonderful," he said. It was his great-grand-aunt's granddaughter's daughter who brought him to the class.

Today, the men have moved on to different pursuits. Järv works at the hippodrome and organises harness racing events, while Tirs is involved in catering and entertainment. "Right now I'm handling catering for the Tallinn City Theatre, and it's a really exciting project," Tirs said. The stage still calls to them occasionally, though with conditions: "If there's a good party happening, we'll show up," Järv chuckled.