"Noli me tangere. A Dance Duo on Ecstatic Touch", by Sander Vloebergs and Lu Marivoet (26.05.2026)

Noli me tangere unfolds around the trembling boundary between self and other. With closed eyes, two bodies move through landscapes of intimacy, touch, distance, and encounter, gradually revealing a space of mystical union and feminine ecstasy. Through gesture, contact, and withdrawal, the choreography explores vulnerability, ritual, and the question of how bodies communicate beyond words. Created by theologian, literary scholar, and choreographer Sander Vloebergs, and performed together with dancer, choreographer, and body-oriented therapist Lu Marivoet, the work emerges from Vloebergs’ research project “Genealogies of Ecstasy in Mysticism and Dance,” developed during his 2026 J&M Villavecchia Fellowship. Drawing on the study of mystical traditions and embodied practices, the performance investigates histories of ecstasy, ritual, and corporeal knowledge through both theoretical inquiry and artistic experimentation. About the artists Sander Vloebergs holds PhDs in Theology and Literature from KU Leuven and the University of Antwerp. His research has focused on medieval mysticism and contemporary ritual dance practices, while his artistic work approaches choreography as a form of practice-based research. He is director of the Artistic Theology Lab. Lu Marivoet is a Belgian dancer, choreographer, and body-oriented therapist. Her work brings together dance, somatic awareness, and therapeutic approaches including Somatic Experiencing, Focusing, Polyvagal Theory, and BodyMindCentering. Since 2024, she has collaborated with Sander Vloebergs on ritual and liturgical dance projects. Presented by the Centre for Aesthetics, Religion and Contemporary Culture and the Alois M. Haas Library Association, with the support of the Institute of Culture in the Department of Humanities (UPF), and the project "Countermovement: Mysticism against the grain" (PI: Amador Vega), funded by Templeton Religion Trust via the Program in the Study of Mysticism at Tampere University.