CHAPTERS OF CELEBRATION
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@lasseindra
In a world marked by conflict, uncertainty, and collective mourning, Chapters of Celebration poses an essential, almost provocative question: what is left to celebrate? When the world feels heavy with war, injustice, and alienation, joy can seem irresponsible or even impossible. And yet, throughout history, even in the darkest of times, people have turned to rituals, dance, and communal celebrations, not as an escape, but as a form of resistance and renewal.
Chapters of Celebration is a vibrant performance of music and dance, a celebration of the festive body throughout time. It is an evening-length dance marathon in which a collective ‘museum of party’ is built. Its musical backbone is La Folia (“madness”) or Folies d’Espagne, a fifteenth-century musical theme from the Iberian Peninsula that pulses like a heartbeat through classical music history, thanks to interpretations by composers such as Bach, Vivaldi, and Rachmaninov. Composer and pianist Wouter Deltour reimagines these works into a contemporary whole.
Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe invites six renowned choreographers to liberate the festive body in ‘chapters’. Like archaeologists of festivity, they join six dancers in a search for the primal freedom and madness of human communities. In Chapters of Celebration, the political and ritual echoes of exuberance, something humanity seems to have lost along the way, resound once again.
Premiere on 13 November 2025 at DE SINGEL, Antwerp
Also showing there on 14 November. 18 November at Palais de beaux Arts in Charleroi and 20 November at Viernulvier, Ghent.
artistic leading
@benjaminabelmeirhaeghe
choreography assistent
@ellada_dami
musical leading
@wouterdeltour
choreography MICHELE RIZZO / CHERISH MENZO / LASSEINDRA NINJA/ IKER KARRERA/ JEREMY NEDD / TONI JODAR
dancers
@mabelolea_ /
@guillemjimenezz /
@alphonseeklouuwantege /
@emiel.vandenberghe /
@tonijodardansa /
@patricedu_
dramaturgy
@sad_girls_bureau
set and light design BENJAMIN ABEL MEIRHAEGHE
@danielle_von_real
A production by Muziektheater Transparant, Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe and Wouter Deltour, commissioned by DE SINGEL and Europalia España