MAT IECH ON TOUR – 28 October – 3 November 2026

Mat Iech / Florescence in Decay

Mat Iech creates moments of beauty and connection in everyday spaces, with a clear goal: to make art accessible to everyone, without compromising artistic quality. An intimate, flexible and deeply accessible experience, designed to meet audiences of all ages and abilities, adapting to their individual rhythms, needs and experiences.

As part of a new tour of the Mat Iech mediation and accessibility programme, the creation Florescence in Decay is reimagined as an itinerant project. This adaptation combines a dance and live music performance with participatory activities designed according to the venues and audiences encountered.
This Tour is planned in partnership with Fondation EME, United Instruments of Lucilin, Théâtre d’Esch and with the support of Fondation Sommer, Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, the Ministry of Culture (Accès à la culture programme), Fondation Loutsch-Weydert.

A tour co-produced with Fondation EME.

In partnership with United Instruments of Lucilin and with the support of Fondation Sommer, Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, the Ministry of Culture (Accès à la culture programme), Fondation Loutsch-Weydert and Théâtre d’Esch.

As part of a new tour of the Mat Iech mediation and accessibility programme, the creation Florescence in Decay is reimagined as an itinerant project. This adaptation combines a dance and live music performance with participatory activities designed according to the venues and audiences encountered.

The programme benefits from long-term support from Fondation Sommer, Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, the Ministry of Culture (Accès à la culture programme), Fondation Loutsch-Weydert, Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL), as well as additional partners supporting each tour.

Mat Iech is our outreach programme bringing dance and live music directly to communities who may not have easy access to culture – due to age, disability, illness, or social or geographic barriers.

Since 2022, we’ve visited senior homes, children’s foyers, hospitals, social centres, and rural areas across Luxembourg and beyond. Led by choreographer Elisabeth Schilling and her company Making Dances asbl, Mat Iech creates moments of beauty, connection, and emotion in everyday spaces. Conceived by choreographer Elisabeth Schilling and her company Making Dances asbl, Mat Iech creates moments of beauty, connection, and emotion in everyday spaces. The project is not just a performance, but a carefully developed artistic presence, created in close dialogue with each institution, each group, and each unique context. As artist in residence at the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg, Elisabeth is committed to ensuring that her work reaches not only theatres, but also those who are often left out of cultural life.

Over the years, the Mat Iech mediation and accessibility programme has established itself as a recognised project among numerous cultural institutions and partners in Luxembourg. Their commitment – financial, organisational and human – has enabled the programme to develop sustainably and extend its impact.

The programme benefits from long-term support from Fondation Sommer, Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, the Ministry of Culture (Accès à la culture programme), Fondation Loutsch-Weydert, as well as additional partners supporting each tour.

Since 2026, the tours Mat Iech / Florescence in Decay and Mat Iech / Sensorial Symphonies have been co-produced with Fondation EME and developed in artistic partnership with the contemporary music ensemble United Instruments of Lucilin.

The support of Luxembourg’s cultural institutions also plays an essential role. Partners such as the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, CAPE – Centre des Arts Pluriels Ettelbruck and Théâtre d’Esch welcome Elisabeth Schilling’s creations on their stages while also supporting the continued development of the Mat Iech tours.

Without these valuable collaborations and partnerships, the programme could not continue to grow on this scale or reach new audiences throughout Luxembourg.

Contemporary dance is a form of movement that breaks away from traditional techniques, embracing a wide range of styles, physical expressions, and creative approaches. It emerged around 100 years ago as a reaction to the constraints of classical dance, and it continues to reflect contemporary cultural, social, and aesthetic developments.

Like contemporary art in general, contemporary dance can sometimes encounter resistance from audiences who are more familiar with established rules, clear structures, and traditional forms of expression. The openness and complexity of contemporary work can initially feel disorienting.

Since the very beginning of my choreographic career, I’ve been driven by a few central questions:

How can we present contemporary dance in a way that sparks curiosity rather than fear?

How can we break down barriers, open doors, and create real encounters?

In the early years of my professional journey, I developed specific methods for audience engagement – such as my “keychain method,” which I’ve continued to use, and specially designed publication formats that help interpret dance works.

From this foundation, the idea was born to turn these guiding principles, goals, and intentions into a dedicated program – Mat Iech was created.

Much has happened since then. In just three years, we’ve delivered 43 events through this program – primarily in Luxembourg and the Greater Region, but also in Scotland and Germany.

What Is Behind the Program Mat Iech?

Mat Iech is our program for dance education and accessibility.

It stands on two central pillars:

What? – Accessibility

We bring dance to places and people who might otherwise have little or no access to it – due to age, illness, language, background, or social circumstances.
Our company performs in senior homes, rural areas, so-called “social hotspots,” hospitals, and youth centers. The formats we offer are flexible and tailored to the needs of each audience – often accompanied by live music, always with an open heart.

How? – Mediation

For each stage production, we develop a bespoke outreach program: a tailor-made event shaped for its specific audience. These range from post-performance discussions using the “keychain method,” to creative workshops and customized publications for different groups, featuring playful puzzles, commissioned poems, and interviews with the artistic team.
We apply this diverse toolbox of methods in a targeted and context-sensitive way – always with the aim of making dance tangible and accessible.

How We Work?

As part of Mat Iech, we adapt our dance pieces – originally conceived for the stage – into intimate, mobile performances that can take place in smaller and often unconventional settings: hospitals, nursing homes, care facilities, assisted living residences, children’s centres, playrooms and other community spaces.

This means:

We flexibly adjust content and format:  both to the spatial setting and to the people we are meeting. We reduce cast sizes, create individualized event formats, and develop creative settings that respond to the specific context.

We work resource-efficiently and are highly mobile: Our productions can be transported and set up with minimal effort.

We make it as easy as possible for institutions to host us: We bring all the technical and sound equipment ourselves in one dedicated vehicle and take care of the entire setup. The only thing institutions need to prepare is a welcoming space for the audience and the well-being of the participants.

Each event is unique: We listen, respond to the moment and invite people to experience dance and live music as a shared, living encounter.

Each event is carefully prepared in advance: Before every tour, the artists spend three rehearsal days with the choreographer, adapting each event to the audiences they will meet. Together with each institution, we identify the participants’ needs and tailor the experience accordingly.

Our preparation includes a dedicated accessibility training: our co-organiser, Fondation EME, has complemented the artistic preparation with a dedicated half-day training led by Info Handicap, helping the artists deepen their understanding of the audiences they meet and their different accessibility needs.

Our goal is to create a genuine point of connection – a moment in which dance and music open a doorway.

Connection Through Dialogue – Listening as Part of Our Practice

After our performances, we intentionally open a dialogue with the audience.

We ask questions like:

What touched you? What thoughts or memories came up? What images or feelings did you experience?

My aim is always to convey to the audience: Everything you saw, felt, or associated is valid. And valuable.
Many people approach contemporary dance with hesitation – worried that they might “not understand it.” To counter this fear, I often begin by saying that these encounters are a gift to us. There is no right or wrong – only personal experience.

Audiences learn from one another when they share impressions: one person sees a snail, another a rocket. One feels joy, another sadness – and this is precisely the richness of these conversations. Dance is reflected in so many eyes – and every perspective is a gift.

These intense moments of reflection and exchange enrich not only the audience, but also us as dancers and artists.
Much of our work happens in the protected space of the studio, far from direct interaction with diverse people. Engaging with audiences allows us to feel the impact of our work – who it moves, and why we do what we do.

From Watching to Participating – Dance Workshops After the Performance

Following our performance segments – which vary in length, emotion, and format depending on the audience (sometimes solo, sometimes ensemble; sometimes short, sometimes longer) – we offer a dance workshop.
These workshops are a core element of our concept: they bridge the gap between observing and doing.

The design of each workshop is tailored to the age and needs of the group.
Together with our dancers, participants co-create a short choreography, accompanied by live music – for instance, from the United Instruments of Lucilin, with whom we’ve worked extensively.
The music enhances the atmosphere and helps connect emotion with movement.

The result is a shared moment – a small, collective artwork that shows: Dance isn’t just something you watch – it’s something you can experience yourself.

A Publication for Everyone – Our Publication as an Extension of the Experience

To conclude our events, we give audience members a specially designed publication.
This booklet is more than a program or companion piece – it’s a multi-faceted gateway into the world of the performance, created for diverse audiences.
And by “diverse,” we don’t just mean age or background, but especially interests.

That’s why our booklet includes contributions on various levels:

  • In-depth content:

Essays or scholarly-inspired texts that delve into and contextualize the themes of the piece.

  • Literary entries:

We regularly commission poems or short stories that engage artistically with the work.

  • Playful elements:

Riddles, coloring pages, small tasks – a source of joy for children, but also adults. We believe: there’s a piece of childhood in everyone.

  • Insights into the team:

Personal questions, thoughts, or anecdotes from the production process create a sense of intimacy and invite identification.

The goal is to extend the experience – as a memory, a conversation starter, and a way to keep thinking, playing, or feeling beyond the performance.

In senior homes, for example, we intentionally hand out the puzzle and coloring sections – as an invitation to smile, engage, and rediscover a playful sense of creativity.

“Interaction, dance, and fun.”

CDI Clervaux

“It was really very interesting, and the dance and the music were beautiful as well. We liked the part where the participants were actively included.”

Fondation Autisme Luxembourg

“Thank you very much! The students really enjoyed the performance and the workshops. They were also very impressed by the huge marimba.”

Lycée des Arts et Métiers

Thank you again for this experience :)”

SERVIOR Op der Léier

“The students especially enjoyed the live music, as well as dancing and making music together.”

CDI Clervaux

“The participating residents greatly enjoyed the performance.”

Fondation J.-P. Pescatore

“Very positive feedback from both children and adults!”

Alive + / Foyer Famil

“The experience was very well received. The children were excited to take part and continued talking about it afterwards.”

Maison Don Bosco

“I really appreciated how the dancers / the entire team were able to respond to the children and their wishes and needs. The children thought the performance was very ‘cool’. Thank you very much.”

Fondation Kannerschlass, Centre Thérapeutique La Passerelle

“A lovely afternoon for our participants, and I was surprised how many people joined the dance moment at the end of the performance. It was wonderful.”

Fondation Autisme Luxembourg (FAL) Belvaux

WANT TO INVITE US?

In Autumn 2026, exactly from the 28 October to 3. November our team of 3 dancers and a musician would love to visit your institution to share an experience that is not only artistic, but deeply human.

This project is designed for people who, due to age, health, disability, social situation, or geographic distance, have little or no access to cultural events. This project has been created with your residents and beneficiaries in mind.

We invite you to discover Mat Iech / Florescence in Decay: a choreographic and musical creation that explores the cycles of transformation in life – birth, metamorphosis, disappearance, and renewal.

About Mat Iech / Florescence in Decay

Florescence in Decay is a choreographic and musical creation by Elisabeth Schilling and her artistic team. Following its premiere at CAPE – Centre des Arts Pluriels Ettelbruck in April 2026 and performances at the Théâtre d’Esch in October 2026, the work has been adapted for the Mat Iech programme.

This version will tour southern Luxembourg and the region surrounding Luxembourg City, combining artistic performance, audience participation, and cultural mediation to make the work accessible to a wide range of communities, with each performance carefully tailored to the people, space, and rhythm of your institution.

With 3 dancers and 1 live musician, the piece blends contemporary dance, and contemporary and classical music into a gentle, multi-sensory experience. 

At the heart of this project is a unique performance inspired by the processes of transformation and metamorphosis found in nature. Through the interplay of dance and live music, Florescence in Decay explores how change, decay, and renewal are inseparable forces that shape both the natural world and human experience.

The piece combines contemporary dance with live music, built around Anna Meredith’s original score ANNO, which fuses excerpts from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons to create a moving, organic sound world. Mat Iech / Florescence in Decay offers a poetic, and immersive artistic experience. The result is a calm, engaging, and inspiring experience that invites audiences to reflect, feel, and enjoy – regardless of age, background, or physical ability.

We aim to create a moment of connection: not only with the arts, but also between the participants themselves.

What happens during a visit at your institution?

Each visit lasts 30 to 60 minutes and offers a flexible, sensory experience tailored to your space and audience. Before the tour, we take time to create versions of the performance adapted to the institutions who welcome us. This is not just a show – it’s a living experience, created with care for each place we are welcomed to.

It includes:

  • A live performance of dance and music (featuring viola), thoughtfully adapted to your specific space and audience;
  • An optional movement workshop inviting participants to explore their own gestures and sensations;
  • A time for exchange and conversation, where we listen to what was felt, seen, or remembered (this option is especially suitable for children and young adults);

A beautifully designed publication to take home as a gift, featuring both academic and literary texts about the creation, design, and photography, interviews with the creative team, riddles, and drawing games, extending the experience long after we leave.

We come with a small, mobile team of 3 dancers and 1 musician, plus choreographer and producer, creating an intimate atmosphere that invites curiosity and connection.

  ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

But most importantly: Each visit is unique. Shaped around your needs, space, and community.

Who is it for ?

We create each visit with care, and adapt it to the people we meet.

This project is particularly suited for:

  ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

  • Children of all ages, especially those in sensitive or vulnerable situations;
  • Children and young people in foster care, foyers, therapeutic institutions, or with reduced access to culture;
  • Elderly people in care homes, day centres or hospitals;
  • People with disabilities, chronic illness or reduced mobility;
  • Audiences of all linguistic or cultural backgrounds;
  • Communities who might benefit from a moment of softness, imagination, and connection

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

We believe that anyone who cannot come to the theatre anymore, of any age and ability, deserves access to beauty, creativity, and art that speaks from the heart.

Our visits can adapt to all linguistic (French, English, German, Luxembourgish) and cultural backgrounds.

Why does this project matter?

At the heart of this project lies a belief that we are all connected:

People to people. People to nature. Movements to music.

The piece Florescence in Decay is inspired by the metamorphoses of nature: a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, an acorn becomes an oak tree, an egg becomes a bird; the sea transforms into a cloud before falling again as rain; wood burns to ashes, and from these ashes, flowers grow.

Drawing on the cycles of life, Florescence in Decay immerses us in this poetic yet very real world, where everything transforms, renews, and connects. This project invites us to observe, feel, and resonate with the living world. It encourages reflection on both our independence and interdependence, highlighting that every human being, like every natural element, is part of an interconnected whole. 

Florescence in Decay is not meant to be “understood” but to be felt – through a memory, a smile, a breath, or simply through shared presence. Also this project is not about “understanding” dance. 

It is about feeling something, however subtle or strong that may be – a flicker of memory, a smile, a sigh, a sense of belonging. In today’s world, many people have limited or no access to cultural experiences – especially in care settings, rural areas, or social institutions. 

Mat Iech/Florescence in Decay brings this experience to places where culture is often missing – not out of lack of interest, but out of barriers: physical, financial, geographical, or social.

Practical information

A flexible project that comes to you

Mat Iech / Florescence in Decay is designed to be presented directly in your institution. No theatre, stage, lighting, sound system, or other technical equipment is required. Our artistic team brings everything needed for the performance.

The project can take place in any suitable indoor space, such as:

  • a communal living room
  • a cafeteria or dining room
  • a multipurpose room
  • another space where your residents usually gather

Please note that the performance cannot take place outdoors.

Space requirements

To ensure the dancers can perform safely, we ask that you provide:

  • a minimum performance area of 4 × 4 metres
  • a flat, even floor
  • seating arranged in a semicircle around the performers, allowing the audience to feel close to the experience

A calm and accessible experience

The performance is quiet, gentle, and immersive. It has been specifically developed for care settings and is suitable for people with diverse physical, cognitive, or sensory needs.

Each visit is adapted to the people taking part, ensuring that the experience is welcoming, comfortable, and meaningful for everyone.

Schedule

You chose in advance the length of this project: between 30-60 minutes

We can offer one or two performances on the same day, depending on your timetable and the needs of your residents.

Our team will arrive approximately 90 minutes before the first performance to prepare the space, install the equipment, and complete the dancers’ warm-up.

If possible, we would appreciate access to a small private room where the artists can change before the performance. If this is not available, we are happy to find an alternative solution together.

Preparing your visit

Once your visit is confirmed, the Mat Iech Project Manager will contact you to organise the practical details.

Before our visit, we will ask you to share any information that may help us prepare the performance – for example:

  • the profile of your participants
  • mobility or accessibility needs
  • cognitive or sensory considerations
  • any particular wishes or recommendations from your team

This information is invaluable, as it enables the artists to adapt the performance to your residents and create an experience that is safe, inclusive, and tailored to your community.

  ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

We believe that culture should be available to everyone – and we would be honoured to bring this experience to your community.

Tour May 2026 – Florescence in Decay

During the week of 6 to 12 May 2026, directly following the premiere of Florescence in Decay at CAPE – Centre des Arts Pluriels Ettelbruck, Making Dances asbl embarked on a tour through northern Luxembourg and the Ettelbruck region as part of its artistic mediation and accessibility programme Mat Iech.

For this occasion, Florescence in Decay was reimagined, adapted, and developed into a version specifically created for Mat Iech. The work was presented alongside participatory mediation activities for audiences of different ages, backgrounds, and abilities – united by a shared reality: not having, or no longer having, the opportunity to access traditional cultural venues.

A living ecosystem, experienced together

At the heart of this creation lies a simple yet essential observation: in nature, everything is constantly moving. What is born, grows, transforms, and disappears is part of the same cycle – one that we are also a part of.

Inspired by the metamorphoses at work in the living world, the project Mat Iech / Florescence in Decay invites audiences to develop a sensitive awareness of the changes that shape our environment and to reflect on our place within these constantly evolving cycles.

06.05. – CDI Clervaux – organised by Fondation EME
06.05. – Ateliers du Tricentenaire (Centre Jean Heinisch) – organised by Fondation EME

07.05. – CHNP Pontalize
07.05. – CHNP Annexe Syrdall Schlass – organised by Fondation EME

09.05. – Maison Don Bosco

10.05. – HPPA Clervaux
10.05. – Autism Luxembourg (Foyer Boxhorn)

11.05. – CHNP De Park – organised by Fondation EME
11.05. – Fondation Lëtzebuerger Kannerduerf

12.05. – Fondation Autisme – organised by Fondation EME
12.05. – Trisomie 21 Betzdorf

A tour co-produced with Fondation EME.

With the financial and human support of Fondation Sommer, Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, the Ministry of Culture of Luxembourg (Access to Culture programme), Fondation Loutsch-Weydert, CAPE – Centre des Arts Pluriels Ettelbruck, Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg, and United Instruments of Lucilin.

We experienced the artists as highly respectful, open, and supportive.”

Trisomy 21

Our dancers (from the dance class of the Trisomie 21 Association) were very happy to take part in this external intervention and to meet other artists. They also greatly enjoyed watching excerpts from the performance.”

Trisomy 21

“The experience was very well received. The children were enthusiastic about taking part and continued talking about it afterwards.”

Maison Don Bosco

Outreach and Information Materials for the Tour

Publications created for this Tour

TOUR – Sensorial Symphonies

7th – 13th November 2025

Fondation Pescatore, Luxembourg City
Fondation Autisme, Centre Culturelle Rambrouch
Maison St. Martin, Luxembourg City
Servior – Op der Léier, Esch sûr Alzette
Fondation Kraizberg, Foyer la Cersaie
Fondation Kannerschlass Centre Thérapeutique, Souleuvre
Elysis, Esch–sur–Alzette
LAM – Lycée des Arts et Métiers, Luxembourg City
Foyer Famill, Esch-sur-Alzette
Centre Hospitalier, Ville de Luxembourg
Fondation Autisme, Belval
Centre Hospitalier, Luxemburg City
Fondation Autisme, Belval
  ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

We sincerely thank our funders, Fondation Sommer, for their profound commitment to this endeavour, as well as the Ministère de la Culture – Accès à la CultureŒuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, and Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg for their generous support.

Fondation Sommer about the Mat Iech

TOUR – ITA INFINITA

9 – 13 October 2022

SOS Kannerduerf Mersch
Centre thérapeutique Manternach
Two School Performances, Trifolion Echternach
Servior Um Schleeschen Echternach
School Performance, Trifolion Echternach
Servior Belle Vue Echternach
Haus Bergfried, Synagoge Wittlich
Hospice civile in Echternach

Due to the great flexibility that Ita Infinita offers, it is to tour to both theatres, festivals and alternative spaces. A specific focus for the October 2022 tour has been to tour the work in full or excerpts in or around senior homes, in so-called socially deprived areas, in hospitals, in rural areas with poor accessibility or also in kindergartens and schools. The tailor-made events are highly flexible and adapted to the specific needs of every institution and inhabitants and include a moderation, a post-show performance talk as well as a short movement workshop and the distribution of the free accompanying publication.

Mat Iech is not just a program.

It’s a mindset. An invitation.

A heartfelt attempt to create connection through dance – in a world so often shaped by distance.

  ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

„It is art that comes to you – accessible, flexible and meaningful.“

– Elisabeth Schilling –