A ritual inspired by female mystics. Hair suspension artists and choir singers search for connection
Mystica is a ritual that gives voice to eight mystical women who lived between the 8th and 16th century. The surviving texts of Hildegard von Bingen, Mirabai, Teresa of Avila, Sun Bu'er and others were rewritten into modern poetry by Elisa Demarré and woven into a contemporary polyphony by Timo Tembuyser. Floating hair suspension artists and choir singers seek connection as a community learning once more to speak a shared language. What do the words of these female spirits awaken in us today?
Mystica is a performance by MOVEDBYMATTER (DAR & BITBYBIT) and Muziektheater Transparant directed by Kasper Vandenberghe in which circus meets musical theatre. To bass lines composed by Jens Bouttery, hair suspension artists and choir singers construct a spiritual microcosm together in which everything appears to be connected. Mystica is an exploration of the lost, mystical undercurrent in the here and now. No escape route, but a potent visual performance with focus on being together.
Selected for Het TheaterFestival 2025
“The performance is unique because it's aesthetically compelling, musically strong and as a physical performance stunning.”
Johan Thielemans, Pzazz
“We are welcomed into the circle and become part of what the performers are experiencing. We see all the details: tense, trembling muscles, teary eyes, and looks that betray concentration, pain, and relief.”
Daphne de Roo, E-tcetera
“You see six bodies not so much telling or singing about mysticism but, above all, embodying mysticism [...] Mystica therefore also feels like a ritual that calls for connection in the most virtuoso, gentle and anointing way possible.”
Els Van Steenberghe, Knack Focus
“This symbiosis of polyphonic singing and circus art is truly unique and aesthetically compelling.”
Tuur Devens, Theaterkrant
“Sound and movement fused into a creation of extraordinary beauty. How can someone suspended by her hair appear so weightless?”
Annette Embrechts & Jenny Camilleri, de Volkskrant
Credits
- Concept | Direction • Kasper Vandenberghe
- Assistant director • Leire Froufe Vigara
- Dramaturgy | Text • Elisa Demarré
- Composition | Musical direction • Timo Tembuyser
- Bass composition | Sound design • Jens Bouttery
- Hair suspension artists • Lia Vilão / Lina Isaksson / Marta Camuffi / Nur Cimenci (24 & 25/10 + 7, 8 & 9/11/2025)
- Choir • Marthe Koning / Sofia Ferri / Timo Tembuyser / Hélène Vrijdag / Oonagh Jacobs
- Hair suspension coach • Ingrid Esperanza
- Scenography | Lighting design • Peter Quasters
- Live sound & system engineer • Laurens Ingels
- Costumes • Tina Heylen
- Rigging advice • Joppe Wouters
- Rigger • Soo Mee Beyers
- Technique • Bart Celis / Bert Demeulenaere
| Location | Dates | Hour | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CC De Werf Aalst (Aalst) 053 72 28 11 www.ccdewerf.be | 11/9/2026 | 20:30 | |
| ATOLL Festival (Karlsruhe) 07 21/96 40 50 www.atoll-festival.de | 18/9/2026 19/9/2026 | - - | |
| CC Hasselt (Hasselt) +32 11 22 99 31 www.ccha.be | 25/9/2026 26/9/2026 | 20:00 20:00 | |
| De Roma (Borgerhout) +32 03 292 97 40 www.deroma.be | 29/9/2026 30/9/2026 | 20:00 20:00 | |
| CC Zwaneberg Heist-op-den-Berg (Heist-op-den-Berg) +32 15 25 07 70 www.zwaneberg.be | 2/10/2026 | 20:00 | |
| CC De Warande Turnhout (Turnhout) +32 14 41 94 94 www.warande.be | 8/10/2026 | 19:30 | |
| Cultuurhuis Merelbeke (Merelbeke) 09 210 35 80 | 10/10/2026 | 20:00 | |
| Fira Mediterrània de Manresa (Manresa) 00 34 938 753 588 www.firamediterrania.cat | 18/10/2026 | 18:30 | |
| Palais des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi (Charleroi) 071 31 12 12 www.pba.be | 7/11/2026 | 20:00 |