The clearest single destination in the Belgian live calendar for Thursday 1 through Sunday 4 October is Antwerp’s deSingel, where Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe, Wouter Deltour and Muziektheater Transparant present Chapters of Celebration on three consecutive dates. This is a compact weekend run with a strong local connection: the work was commissioned by DE SINGEL and Europalia, and returns to the venue with a full-scale music-theatre frame. Friday 2 and Saturday 3 October begin at 20:00; Sunday 4 October moves to a 15:00 matinee. For listeners drawn to the seams between contemporary classical practice, club-derived energy and staged performance, the repetition offers three chances to enter the same dense world.[1][2][3]

Chapters of Celebration takes La Folia, also known as Folies d’Espagne, as its musical thread. The fifteenth-century Iberian theme travelled widely through classical music, appearing in works associated with composers including Bach, Vivaldi and Rachmaninov. Deltour, credited with composition and musical direction, reshapes that historical material into a contemporary score. The work turns an old, recurring melodic pattern into a present-tense gathering of movement, voices, amplified bass, percussion and electronic composition.[2][3][4]

Meirhaeghe’s staging treats celebration as a physical archive. The production describes itself as a dance marathon and a collectively built “museum of party”; its six choreographers bring baroque dance into contact with ballroom, jazz and rave. That range gives the weekend its particular usefulness: it joins the attentiveness of a seated classical programme with the energy of a late-night club bill. The musical materials are live and layered, with B’Rock Orchestra players joined by bass, percussion and vocals, while Jesse Kanda and Deltour are credited for electronic music. The result places bodies and sound on equal footing.[2][3][4]

Six choreographic languages, one recurring theme

The dance credits make the scale legible. Michele Rizzo, Cherish Menzo, Lasseindra Ninja, Iker Karrera, Jeremy Nedd and Toni Jodar shape the work’s chapters, with performers including Mabel Olea, Guillem Jiménez, Alphonse Eklou Uwantege, Emiel Vandenberghe, Jodar and Patric da Cunha. The live ensemble brings violin, lute or guitar and viola da gamba into the picture, elements that deepen the pull between inherited repertoire and new composition. Meirhaeghe and Deltour previously collaborated on Madrigals; here, their shared interest in classical music and ritual is given a broader, more communal scale.[2][3][4]

There is a practical advantage to a three-date run as well. Friday night suits those looking for an opening-weekend performance; Saturday provides a second 20:00 option; Sunday’s 15:00 start makes room for an afternoon visit. The work runs for 75 minutes, according to Toneelhuis’s tour information, which makes it a focused commitment while retaining the shape of an evening-length event. Arrive with attention for the music as much as the choreography: the production’s central idea lies in the way a familiar melodic strand is reframed by collective bodies, contemporary arrangements and changing dance vocabularies.[2][4]

Chapters of Celebration plays the Red Hall at deSingel on Friday 2 October at 20:00, Saturday 3 October at 20:00 and Sunday 4 October at 15:00. Choose the performance that fits your weekend, and recheck deSingel’s official page before travelling for current ticket availability, access information and any schedule changes.[1][2][4]

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Practical details for 2–4 October

Chapters of Celebration plays the Red Hall at deSingel on Friday 2 October at 20:00, Saturday 3 October at 20:00 and Sunday 4 October at 15:00. Choose the performance that fits your weekend, and recheck deSingel’s official page before travelling for current ticket availability, access information and any schedule changes.[1][2][4]

Sources

  1. Chapters of Celebration — deSingel
  2. Chapters of Celebration 2026–2027 — Muziektheater Transparant
  3. Chapters of Celebration — Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe
  4. Chapters of Celebration — Toneelhuis