Botanical Beats

ABOUT BACKGROUND

8 March 2025 – Botanical Beats Workshop

May – September 2025 – Community Garden

May – September 2025 – Creation of Dance Films

26 June 2025, 12h30 – 13h30 – Open rehearsal

5 July 2025, 14h00 – 16h00 – Open dance workshop

23 September 2025, 18h30 – Open rehearsal – Behind the Scenes

27 September 2025 – 02 October 2025 – Exhibition – Foyer Grand Théâtre

We warmly invite you to become part of our extraordinary project, Botanical Beats. This accompanying program is linked to the stage production Sensorial Symphonies by choreographer Elisabeth Schilling, a captivating fusion of dance, music, and nature. The premiere will take place in September 2025 at the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg. Join us and experience the magical harmony of art and nature!

8 March 2025 – Tell us your plant story

Why do red roses symbolize love? Why are oak trees seen as a symbol of wisdom? And why are blue bells known as fairy telephones?

Almost every plant has a story: a personal one, like the apple tree in your garden that was a wedding gift, or a cultural one, like rosemary, which in ethnobotany represents the rose of Mary; the maple tree, under which every dispute is said to be resolved; or the lily, considered a flower of mourning. With Botanical Beats, we aim to collect these stories – your personal stories about the world of plants – and weave them into a collaborative artistic project.

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Tell us your plant story!

Together with writer Ian de Toffoli, we invite you to take part in creative workshops held at various locations, such as the LAM Luxembourg, the Fondation Pescatore, and events open to the general public. In these workshops, we’ll explore questions like:

  • Which plants play a special role in your life?
  • Are there flowers or trees that hold deep meaning for you, and why?
  • Do you have a favorite flower that has accompanied you for years?

But the workshops are much more than a chance to share your stories. Together, we’ll dive into the fascinating world of plants. Elisabeth Schilling, who has spent the past two years researching plant life and its cultural significance, will share captivating insights from her work.

Did you know that fungi can break through stones? Or that plants ignore borders and are masters of travel? Together, we’ll explore how symbioses between plants make life on Earth possible – and what lessons we can learn from them for our own lives.

May – September 2025 – Community Garden

Inspired by Plants: Art and Community

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The collected stories and inspirations will serve as the foundation for aspecially designed garden, to be realized by the Service des Parcs in the Ville de Luxembourg.

Dance Films:

Writer Ian de Toffoli will craft the gathered narratives into written stories. These stories will then be shared with young dance artists from Luxembourg, who will be commissioned to transform them into dance films. Both the stories and the dance films will become part of an exhibition in the foyer of the Grand Théâtre, framing the performance days of Sensorial Symphonies (September 27 – October 2, 2025).

26 June 2025, 12h30 – 13h30 – Open rehearsal

Plant Dance: The Art of Translating Plant Textures into Movement and Creating Your Own Green Choreography

Led by choreographer Elisabeth Schilling, we invite you to experience the choreographic processes and dance explorations behind the creation of Sensorial Symphonies first hand. Immerse yourself in a unique dance adventure and discover the fascinating world of plants in motion. Explore plant-inspired temporality, texture, and decentralization from new and unexpected perspectives – engaging all your senses!

Lunch Break Rehearsal: Take a break and dive into the world of dance and movement as we explore plant-inspired choreography during this one-off lunch time session.

Sign up: Sign up: mameier@vdl.lu

 23 September 2025 – 18h30 – Open rehearsal – Behind the Scenes
Join Us for Open Rehearsals: A Sneak Peek Behind the Scenes!

We invite you to witness the creative process in action at our open rehearsals for Sensorial Symphonies.

Behind the Scenes: Step behind the curtain and experience the artistry and preparation that bring SensorialSymphonies to life, just days ahead of its premiere!

Sign up: mameier@vdl.lu

BACKGROUND

Flower Symbolism in an Ethnobotanical Context Inspired by Wolf-Dieter Storl, Sandra Lawrence, Alison Davies
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Throughout history, plants have carried deep symbolic meanings, woveninto myths, rituals, and everyday life. Across cultures, people observed thequalities of plants—their scent, color, medicinal properties, or the placesthey grew—and assigned them spiritual or metaphorical significance. These stories, passed down through generations, still shape how we relateto flowers today.
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Pagan Roots of Plant Symbolism in Europe
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In pre-Christian Europe, plants were seen as living expressions of divine forces, deeply intertwined with seasonal cycles, fertility rites, and protection rituals. Flowers and herbs were not merely decorative; they were believed to carry the essence of gods and spirits, serving as mediators between the human and the supernatural world. Among the Celts and Germanic tribes, certain plants were linked to powerful deities. The oak was sacred to Thor and Taranis, gods of thunder, as it often attracted lightning, symbolizing a direct connection between the heavens and the earth. Mistletoe, which grew on oaks, was believed to hold magical properties, particularly in Druidic rituals, where it was harvested with golden sickles to bring protection and healing. Flowers, too, had their own rich associations. Violets, which bloom earlyin spring, were seen as messengers of renewal and the return of life afterwinter’s dormancy. In Greco-Roman traditions, they were linked to Persephone, the goddess of the underworld, and signified the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Similarly, poppies, with their bright red petals and sedative properties, were associated with sleep, dreams, and the passage to the afterlife, appearing in burial rites and myths related to the goddesses Demeter and Nyx.
In Germanic mythology, the rose was tied to Freyja, the goddess of love and beauty. Its thorns and delicate petals reflected the dual nature of love—pleasure and pain, passion and loss. Before Christian influence, wild roses and hawthorn were used in fertility celebrations and as protective charms, often woven into midsummer garlands or bridal crowns. Another highly symbolic plant was rosemary, known across various ancient cultures as a herb of memory and protection. In Roman and Greek traditions, it was burned in purification rituals, carried by mourners at funerals, and used in love charms. The belief that rosemary strengthens memory likely influenced its use in later medieval and Renaissance periods as a symbol of remembrance for the dead and loyalty in love. One of the most enduring pagan floral symbols was the lily, long before it became associated with the Virgin Mary. In Greek and Roman mythology, it was linked to Hera and Venus, signifying both divine motherhood and sensuality. The lily’s ability to thrive in wild meadows as well as cultivated gardens made it a symbol of nature’s dual nature—wild yet nourishing, untamed yet protective.
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Christian Adaptation of Flower Symbolism
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With the spread of Christianity across Europe, many of these floral associations were reinterpreted through a Christian lens. Instead of being tied to fertility goddesses or earth spirits, plants were linked to biblical figures, saints, and religious virtues. This transformation did not erase earlier meanings but reshaped them into a new spiritual framework. The rose, once sacred to Freyja and Venus, became the Rose of Mary, a symbol of purity and divine love. Christian legend tells that white roses sprang from the Virgin Mary’s tears, turning red to symbolize Christ’s sacrifice. Similarly, the lily, once connected to fertility goddesses, becamethe emblem of Mary’s chastity. Rosemary, previously burned in pagan purification rites, was now said to have turned blue when Mary placed her cloak upon it, reinforcing its connection to protection and devotion. Despite its Christian rebranding, its pagan association with memory and fidelity remained intact, and to this day, it is still used in funerals and weddings. Though Christianity imposed new meanings, pagan traditions never fully disappeared. Many floral customs continued in folk beliefs, blending Christian narratives with older rituals. May Day flower garlands, midsummer floral wreaths, and even the Christmas holly and mistletoe carry echoes of ancient reverence for plants.
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A Legacy That Endures
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Despite cultural and religious shifts, the language of flowers remains deeply embedded in human expression. The red rose still signifies love, just as it did for Freyja’s followers; rosemary continues to mark remembrance, just as it did in ancient funerals. These ancient stories, reinterpreted and carried forward, remind us that plants are more than mere decoration—they are symbols of the human experience, bridging the past and the present.
From Forest to Culture – The Separation from Nature
After Wolf-Dieter Storl
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After the end of the Ice Age, the open tundras were gradually overtaken by dense forests. The people who remained in these landscapes had to adapt: large game hunting gave way to the more difficult pursuit of elusive forest dwellers like deer and wild boar. As hunting yielded less and less, gathering roots, fruits, and seeds became increasingly important. Over time, people returned to the same campsites. Here, they found more and more of their preferred plants, as spilled seeds took root in the nutrient-rich soil, enriched by ash, waste, and dung. The step toward deliberate cultivation was small: some groups began to till the earth and intentionally sow the grass seeds they had previously collected. Thus, nomadic foragers became settled farmers, building permanent houses, domesticating animals, and storing provisions—the Neolithic Revolution had begun. The first villages were tiny islands in an endless sea of trees. Even millennia later, in the Middle Ages, Europe’s forests were so dense that a squirrel could jump from tree to tree all the way from Denmark to Spain without ever touching the ground. Early farmers cleared land with fire and polished stone axes, but as their fields lost fertility after a few decades, they moved on, burning down new patches of forest.
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The Hedge – A Boundary Between Culture and Wilderness
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At the edge of the cultivated land, a transition zone emerged—the hedge. Thorny shrubs such as brambles, blackthorn, hawthorn, and wild roses, along with fast-growing trees like elder and hazel, formed a natural barrier. This hedge protected livestock, kept predators at bay, and served as a fence. The more the animals nibbled at it, the denser the thorny wall became, eventually forming an impenetrable enclosure. Yet, the hedge was more than just a physical barrier—it was also a metaphysical boundary. Inside lay the cultivated, familiar land; beyond began the threatening wilderness. Beyond the hedge lived not only wild animals and wandering hunter-gatherers but also the beings of the old spiritual world: ghosts, goblins, trolls, and the capricious elves, who could either help or harm humans.
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The Forest – Once Home, Now a Threat
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For the hunter-gatherers of the past, the forest was a place of unity with nature, inhabited by animal spirits and deities. But for the farmers, the forest became an alien, eerie wilderness. The towering trees were intimidating, their darkness foreboding. The goddess, once revered as the guardian of animals and the dead, transformed into the fertile Earth Mother—but with her came guilt. The people had burned down the forests, torn open the earth, and exploited its riches. Sacrifices were needed toregain her favor. Thus, the Neolithic Revolution brought not just a new way of life but also a new way of seeing the world. The human experience split into two realms: the safe, cultivated land within the hedge and the untamed, fearsome wilderness beyond it. This division shaped human thought—and echoes through to this day.