Begin / The Mirror resurrects the history of Medieval beguine communities: lay religious women who were living, working, and practicing their faith together in urban centers throughout the former Low Countries starting in the 12th century.

The performance is devoted to a book written by the beguine Marguerite Porete (ca. 1250-1310) entitled Le Miroir des âmes simples anéanties et qui seulement demeurent en vouloir et désir d’amour. Written in the vernacular and in the form of a play between the characters Love, Reason, and the Soul, Porete lays out seven stages of love that a soul must pass through in order to achieve its total annihilation and complete union with god. Bypassing the papal-monarchal powers of her time by offering women direct access to the divine, the book was condemned in Cambrai, set to flames in Valenciennes, and eventually Porete herself was burned at the stake in Paris.

Through dance, sound, and text, Begin / The Mirror embodies each of Porete’s seven stages to explore the movements of medieval mysticism, the spiritual practice of radical love, and the political dimensions of self-annihilation. Cutting through the fabric of centuries to translate, in all our humbleness and by the graces of collectivity, this fated text.

A performance by Bryana Fritz, Stefa Govaart and Chloe Chignell.

Light design: Alice Panziera
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), Fonds Transfabrik, Mondes Nouveaux and the French Ministry of Culture.

With the support of VIVANTO