The Gran Teatre del Liceu hosts the theatrical premiere of 'Balkan Erotic Epic', one of the most ambitious works by Marina Abramović. In an immersive proposal combining performance, dance, and ritual, the artist explores Balkan myths, eroticism, and feminist advocacy with over 30 performers. A four-hour sensory experience, featuring simultaneous actions and audience freedom of movement.
Balkan Erotic Epic is a new and powerful performative work created by the iconic artist Marina Abramović. Considered the most influential performance artist in the world, Abramović’s transformative work has reached millions of people, from opening the Pyramid stage at the Glastonbury Festival to holding a residency at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Now she presents at the Liceu one of her most ambitious shows to date.
It is a ritual lasting around four hours, where ancient myth meets performance art. Balkan Erotic Epic explores eroticism, spirituality, and the traditions of Abramović’s homeland through thirteen visceral scenes. Brought to life by a cast of over seventy performers, dancers, musicians, and singers, the experience unfolds throughout the Gran Teatre del Liceu, marking the first time in the world that an Italian-style theatre hosts this production. The audience is free to choose their own path, with unexpected encounters that punctuate the action and unite bodies in dance, song, and ritual.
Balkan Erotic Epic is a work created by the artist and concept and design director Marina Abramović, with choreography by Blenard Azizaj and musical composition by Marko Nikodijević. The production features a large and diverse cast: singers Dragana Jovanović (band leader), Svetlana Spajić, and Aleksandar Timotić; performance artists Elke Luyten and Maria Stamenković Herranz; dancers Blenard Azizaj, Louis Baxter, Kibrea Carmichael, Elena Cattardico, Chiara Duccini, Myrto Georgiadi, JP Hon, Gabriella Lemma, Sara Maurizi, Vilim Poljanec, Emma Poyer, Dominic Rocca, Rowan Schratzberger, and Stylianos Tsatsos; as well as performers George Adams, Lily Antonia, Rowena Gander, Owen Gaynor, Tom Halls, Neil Jacob, Maisha Kungu, Ali Matthews, and Stylianos Tsatsos. The musical section includes Valerie Barr on accordion, Maxim Kemp on tuba, Will Bird on trumpet, Grace Harman on flugelhorn, Georgina MacDonell Finlayson on violin, Sam Milton and Emilio Yáñez Ruíz on percussion, and James Seabrook on sousaphone.
Myths, eroticism, and the body as a space of power
The audience will enter the world of Balkan Erotic Epic (Balkan Erotic Epic), which begins with a group of musicians playing a mix of wind, brass, and traditional Balkan instruments while moving through the space. They will witness the funeral lament for Josip Broz Tito, the leader of communist Yugoslavia who led the partisan resistance against the Nazis during World War II, performed by the singer Svetlana Spajić.
In The Knife Dance, a pair of artists, dressed in bright costumes, performs a traditional Balkan dance with knives. The dancers are Balkan sworn virgins or burrnesha, women who have vowed to live a life of chastity and assume the role of a man within their family. Audience members will also witness Breast Massage, where women gesture over graves to awaken the earth; Scaring the Gods, where women appear to the sky to ward off storms; and Black Wedding, in which opera singer Dragana Jovanović, wearing a bright red dress, performs a funeral lament while couples execute a traditional dance. Throughout the journey, Elke Luyten, narrator and guide, reveals new elements of mythology.
Fearless in pushing the boundaries of eroticism and performance art, Balkan Erotic Epic poses an eternal question to its audience: what are our bodies truly for? Relentless, intimate, and sacred, Abramović reclaims the body as a space of power, mystery, and transformation.
Between performance, dance, and sensory stage experience, Abramović fuses ancient Balkan myths and legends with folk traditions and eroticism, creating a work of immense visual and emotional power. Through her plastic grammar and high-voltage feminist advocacy, the artist uses the body as a medium of expression, but also as a space to challenge social and political norms related to sexuality, violence, and power.
Important information for the audience
This show, which premiered worldwide on October 9 in Manchester, includes a series of conditions that should be noted before attending. Access is restricted to persons over eighteen years old, and ID checks will be carried out at the entrance. The performance contains full nudity and explicit sexual scenes, including simulated acts, as well as lighting effects that may affect people with photosensitive epilepsy.
Photography is strictly prohibited during the performance. All audience members will be asked to store their phones in lockable security pouches, which will remain with them and be unlocked at the end of the show or if they need to leave early. This measure ensures the protection and safety of the performers, as well as full immersion in the experience.
The experience lasts approximately four hours, and due to its nature, entry and exit from the auditorium will be allowed at any time during the performance. The bar service will remain open throughout the show, although it should be noted that, with phones in the security pouches, mobile payment will not be possible, so it is recommended to bring a physical card or cash.
In the words of Marina Abramović
Marina Abramović explains that she was born in the Balkans and, as a child, was exposed to many spiritual rituals at her grandmother’s house that profoundly shaped her and continue to influence the way she sees the world today.
“I have long wanted to investigate ancient and pagan beliefs, folk tales, and rituals rooted in the mythologies of Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Montenegro, along with Roma and traveling cultures, focusing my research on discovering the erotic connections between human beings and the universe.
In the contemporary world we live in, there is much confusion between eroticism and pornography, and political correctness often condemns erotic practices without even examining their content. In the past, for many ancient cultures, procreation and life itself were based on numerous ceremonies designed to generate awareness of our existence.
I want to go back to the 9th and 10th centuries and continue exploring these practices up to the present day to offer a new interpretation and context to today’s audience. To achieve this, I will present the rituals by combining the physical limits of the dancing and acting body with music inspired by folk and guttural singing, and, given the nature of some of these ritual materials, through videos, drawings, and archival images when it is not possible to represent them live,” the artist explains.
The Social Hub Poblenou
On the occasion of the performance of Balkan Erotic Epic at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Marina Abramović finds in The Social Hub Poblenou a space aligned with her way of inhabiting art. More than just a place to stay, the hotel hosts her team during their time in Barcelona as part of an ecosystem that supports creative processes. “This connection is built on a shared vision: understanding hospitality as an act of community and culture as a living territory, where ideas rest, transform, and continue beyond the stage,” says Luigi Esposito, Regional Marketing Manager, Iberia at The Social Hub.
Commissioned by: Factory International, Manchester; Berliner Festspiele, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Park Avenue Armory, Ruhrtriennale, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, and WestK.
Produced by: Factory International, Manchester.
With the support of:
In collaboration with:
Benefactor of the Dance Circle:
