In the shadows, everyone encounters a different creature.

Some creatures don’t exist — and yet you feel them breathing.

Every shadow reveals a fragment of ourselves.

 

In a circular, translucent pavilion, surrounded by the audience, Ana Lekše blends aerial performance, hair-suspension, and shadow theatre into a dreamlike 360° experience. Inspired by medieval bestiaries – where real and mythical creatures share pages with moral fables – the piece follows a young girl’s journey into a world of wonder. Fantastical beings appear: not simply allies or foes, but reflections of her own fears, desires, and instincts.

Within the baldachin, light, shadow, and movement continuously reshape perception. The translucent structure becomes a living canvas, shifting between barrier and gateway, reality and illusion. Silhouettes emerge, dissolve, and transform, inviting the audience into a liminal space where imagination completes what is only partially seen.

In this realm, everyone perceives different creatures in the shadows — perhaps even the opposite of one another — opening space for empathy, ambiguity, and the questioning of certainties.

 

Author and Performer: Ana Lekše

Lighting design: Benjamin Eugene, Raf Wouters

Music: David Roussel

Rigging: Johan Wuyts (Lyapunov)

Baldachin structure and turning platform: Joris Janssens (Cirque Mecanique)

Platform technical aid: Jose I. Castellitti

Shadow theatre external eyes: Irena Rajh & Anže Virant (with Zavod Bufeto)

Outside eyes: Hazel Lam, Danny Ronaldo

Costume and puppets: Ana Lekše

Promo materials: Marjolijn Midori, Urša Prek

Production manager: Marie Cauwenberg

Supported and sponsored: CIRKLABO, De Grote Post, Circus werkplaats Dommelhof, De Maan, Mira Miro, Per Podium, Flemish government, Zavod Bufeto, Hiša otrok in umetnosti, Dance Theatre Ljubljana

 

The presentation will be followed by an audience discussion facilitated by Nika Arhar, Jaka Bombač and Nina Ramšak Marković. 

 

The presentation is part of the conclusion of a residency carried out in collaboration with the Klovnbuf Festival, Hiša otrok in umetnosti and the Bufeto Laboratory.