Music theater performance inspired by the story of Rumi and Shams Filmed at Ha Concerts, Belgium, 2023 Osama Abdulrasol (composition, qanun, oed), Farnoosh Khodadadeh (daf, vocals), Pelin Başar (ney, vocals), Shahab Azinmehr (setar, vocals), Damla Aydin (cello), François Taillefer (multi-percussion), Khaled Al-Hafez (vocals), Işıl Bıçakçı (choreography, dance), Griet Desutter (word), Filip Standaert (direction) For 750 years, the writings of the Persian poet and Sufi mystic Jalal ad-Din Rumi have continued to resonate. Many of his insights emerged through his encounter with Shams-e Tabrizi. This meeting set him on an inner rollercoaster, challenging him to let go of his knowledge and reach a higher level of understanding—a tour de force that still captures the imagination today. A brand-new ensemble from Ghent has drawn inspiration from Rumi’s life journey and his unique bond with Shams for a music-theater production: Rumi Passion. A musical story about passion and misunderstanding, union and farewell, ecstasy and surrender. It explores the flow of love and its power to lift people beyond their egos, taking them to the deepest depths of existence. Stunning music, swirling dance, and Rumi’s poetry in five languages. A production by Ha Concerts, De Centrale, Voem vzw, Cluster, Evil Penguin TV, and Handelsreizigers in Ideeën. Supported by the City of Ghent, Flanders, and the Tax Shelter. 𝘔𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳: Filip Standaert 𝘋𝘖𝘗: Arthur Moelants 𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳: Bo Aerts 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢: Arno De Facq, Bo Aerts 𝘔𝘪𝘹 & 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳: Pieterjan Seynaeve 𝘌𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘳: Hans Bellens

ASTORIA and The New Baroque Times Voices led by Philippe Gérard, with Eguimondanz: Dante and Monika Dominguez. 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮: Martín Palmeri (1965 - ...) MisaTango (1996) In 2020, ASTORIA celebrated its 15th anniversary with a recording of the MisaTango by Argentine composer Martín Palmeri: a daring mix of sacred music and tango that will plunge you into a world of intense emotions, passion and syncopated rhythms. MisaTango or Misa a Buenos Aires ("Mass in Buenos Aires") was initially quite confidential but gained much notoriety when it was performed in Rome in October 2013, in the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola, during the International Festival of Music and Sacred Art in the Vatican. The MisaTango was chosen that year to pay homage to the enthronement of the former cardinal of Buenos Aires who became Pope Francis in 2013, in reference to the Argentine origins of this former Tango dancer. Created 20 years ago by the Argentinian composer Martín Palmeri, MisaTango is a choral mass on Tango sounds. It is composed on the same movements as a mass in classical Latin, in which the harmonics and syncopated rhythms of tango are mixed. ASTORIA's arrangement brings a new energy to the MisaTango with the presence of the accordion of course but also with the offbeat voice of Jennifer Scavuzzo. 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳: Steven Maes 𝘋𝘖𝘗/𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢: Lennard Brans 𝘝𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨: Steven Maes and Arthur Moelants 𝘚𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳: Nathan Blontrock 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢: Igor Gaasbeek and Jeroen Dejonghe 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳: Hans Vercauteren 𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳, 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴: Floren Van Stichel 𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨: Hans Vercauteren, Ellen Janssens 𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘪𝘹: Steven Maes 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳: Xin Van Damme

Gabor Kapin, Ballet Vlaanderen’s Budapest-born ballet master, is creating the first performance of his own: Spiro. Together with his Irish colleague Zoë Ashe-Brown, he has devised a unique diptych inspired by van Eyck’s angels. Spiro is Latin for ‘I breathe’. In each of Spiro’s two parts, two dancers and a musician breathe together in an intimate pas de trois. The young Dutch pianist Aidan Mikdad sparkles in Ravels bewitching Gaspard de la Nuit. And cellist Mikko Pablo engages in a dialogue about Bach with composer Howard Jones. 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳: Steven Maes 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘳: Hans Bellens 𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳: Tom Brewaeys 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢: Igor Gaasbeek and Ilona Vanouplines 𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳: Floren van Stichel 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵: Miel Vandervelde and Ruben Brems

Lisbeth Gruwez, choreography and performance. 'Penelope waits, struggling with time and longing. Her movement is that of standstill' - Lisbeth Gruwez Penelope was created as an epilogue to the Odysseus by the Royal Flemish Theatre: a 24-hour piece in which the integral Odyssey was told by 24 men. Lisbeth Gruwez conjured up in dance all the sidelined women of the Odyssey, and thereby offered all these men a response. She moulds the unique combination of movement and standstill into the form of a spiral: a figure that is simultaneously limited and unlimited. Her aim is to conceive of time not as linear, but as circular. Maarten Van Cauwenberghe's music both underpins and challenges this solo — like a sort of counterpoint. 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: Yves Pezet