BEGIN/MIRROR
BEGIN/MIRROR
Radical feminism echoes back to the Middle Ages with the Beguines, a group of lay religious women who were living together, collectivizing, and practicing spirituality outside the jurisdiction of the church. Together, Bryana Fritz, Chloe Chignell, and Stefa Govaart exhume this history with a dance performance that moves from radical love to self-annihilation.
In 1310, Marguerite Porete, a Beguine from Valenciennes, was burnt at the stake for writing a book called Le Miroir des âmes simple. In it, she describes the seven stages of radical love that a soul must pass through in order to achieve total annihilation and complete union with God. Seven centuries later, BEGIN/The Mirror aims to unfold these seven stages within the history of womxn’s experimental expression from the Medieval to the present day. Through poetry, crochet, dance and song the performers attempt the mystical dissolution of the body and dance toward its resurrection.
A performance by Bryana Fritz, Stefa Govaart, and Chloe Chignell
Light design: Alice Panziera
Sound: Liew Niyomkarn
Dramaturgy: Simon Asencio, Andrea Rodrigo,Thibault Lac
Production assistance: Vivanto
With the support of Kunsten Decreet Vlaanderen Department of Culture.
Co-producers and partners: Espace Pier Paolo Pasolini (Valenciennes), Kunstencentrum BUDA (Kortrijk), NEXT FESTIVAL, Pavillon ADC (Geneva), La Briqueterie CDCN (Val-de-Marne), Viernulvier (Gent), Klosterruine (Berlin), Coproduction du Fonds Transfabrik - fonds franco-allemand pour le spectacle vivant, Mondes Nouveaux and the French Ministry of Culture.
