Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe / Wouter Deltour / Muziektheater Transparant
Chapters of Celebration
Dates
mon 10 nov 2025 - 20:15
thu 13 nov 2025 - 20:00
fri 14 nov 2025 - 20:00
location
Theaterstudio
price
€ 10 → 35
duration
1h 20' interval
No intermission
Is part of
A museum or party, a celebration of the partying body through time.
In a world marked by conflict, uncertainty and collective grief, Chapters of Celebration poses an essential, almost provocative question: what is there 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 times, people have sought refuge in rituals, dance and communal celebrations - not as an escape, but as a form of resistance and renewal.
Chapters of Celebration is a dance marathon, an energetic performance that pays tribute to the celebrating body. It is also where director Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe and composer Wouter Deltour reunite in their shared passion for classical music and ritual. Following the acclaimed Madrigals, which they performed in DE SINGEL’s Red Hall, Chapters of Celebration is an infectious antidote to individualism.
The musical thread is Folies d’Espagne, a 15th-century musical theme from Iberia that lies at the beating heart of classical music history, thanks to adaptations by composers such as Bach, Vivaldi and Rachmaninov. Deltour weaves the various compositions into a dazzling, contemporary whole. Conversely, Meirhaeghe asks seven singing dancers to liberate the celebrating body, in ‘chapters’ that cross baroque dance with ballroom, jazz and rave. Like archaeologists of festivities, they go in search of the original freedom and madness of human communities. Thus, ringing out in Chapters of Celebration are the political, ritual echoes of exuberance that humanity seems to have lost along the way. So we don’t forget to keep dancing, always.
Commissioned by DE SINGEL and Europalia, Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe created Chapters of Celebration, a world premiere.
Chapters of Celebration is a dance marathon, an energetic performance that pays tribute to the celebrating body. It is also where director Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe and composer Wouter Deltour reunite in their shared passion for classical music and ritual. Following the acclaimed Madrigals, which they performed in DE SINGEL’s Red Hall, Chapters of Celebration is an infectious antidote to individualism.
The musical thread is Folies d’Espagne, a 15th-century musical theme from Iberia that lies at the beating heart of classical music history, thanks to adaptations by composers such as Bach, Vivaldi and Rachmaninov. Deltour weaves the various compositions into a dazzling, contemporary whole. Conversely, Meirhaeghe asks seven singing dancers to liberate the celebrating body, in ‘chapters’ that cross baroque dance with ballroom, jazz and rave. Like archaeologists of festivities, they go in search of the original freedom and madness of human communities. Thus, ringing out in Chapters of Celebration are the political, ritual echoes of exuberance that humanity seems to have lost along the way. So we don’t forget to keep dancing, always.
Commissioned by DE SINGEL and Europalia, Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe created Chapters of Celebration, a world premiere.
Credits
directed by
musical direction & composition
electronic music
choreography
assistant choreographer
More