mind-moving
- Performative installation
- Recommended age: 12+
2h
Info
If you had lived someone else’s life, do you think your mind would have worked in the same way?
mind-moving invites you to explore this question through a journey into the complexity and fragility of human experience. The installation is conceived as a space of encounter — a territory where dance, music, and visual art become a mirror of our own inner geography.
There is no predetermined path here; you are invited to find your own way through the space. Within it, the performers’ bodies follow movement logics inspired by mental disorders, moving away from literal representation in favour of a more sensitive form of expression. It is a space of recognition, where boundaries begin to dissolve, bringing to the surface experiences we all encounter: fear, vulnerability, isolation, adaptation, and the profound need for support. What may appear from the outside as a pathological adaptation is often a natural response to an overwhelming reality.
The project grew organically from direct encounters with people living with psychiatric diagnoses. Through dance therapy, painting, and photography workshops held in two psychiatric hospitals, we entered into dialogue with remarkable life stories that continued to inform and refine the development of the installation.
mind-moving invites us to look beyond labels and understand that mental vulnerability is not an isolated island, but a territory that, in one form or another, we may all find ourselves navigating. It is a call for empathy and for greater awareness of the ways in which our environment and community shape our minds, while also reminding us of the vital power of artistic expression in maintaining psychological balance.
How much of what seems foreign to us might we actually recognize within ourselves?
Choreography: Alexandra Bălășoiu, Cristina Lilienfeld
Performers: Cătălin Diaconu, Diana Spiridon, Cătălin Munteanu, Alexandra Bălășoiu, Cristina Lilienfeld
Dance therapist: Loredana Larionescu
Sound design: Denis Bolborea
Music composition: Denis Bolborea, Paolo Profeti, Stina Moltu
Visual artist: Andrei Cozlac
Costumes: Noir Morphosis
Lighting design: Alexandros Raptis
mind-moving is an Indie Box project, initiated and organized in partnership with NOPA – the Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists, Entuziart Association, and Profeti ART SRL. The project was funded through the EEA Grants 2014–2021, under the RO-CULTURE Programme.
Biographies
Cristina Lilienfeld studied choreography and psychology, continuously exploring the point where the two disciplines intersect. Over the years, she has collaborated and continues to work with various choreographers and dancers, as well as visual artists and musicians, and is part of several interdisciplinary artistic groups.
Her performances and collaborations have been presented on stages in Bucharest, across Romania, and internationally. Over the past 15 years, she has presented, researched, performed, and taught in countries including Portugal, Ghana, Italy, France, Germany, the UK, Serbia, the USA, Luxembourg, Norway, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and China.
She is currently a co-founding member of AREAL Collective, and was a member of PETEC Association between 2015 and 2020.
In 2024, Cristina began training in Body-Mind Centering®, a complex somatic approach developed by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen.
In the workshops she leads, Cristina seeks to highlight the authenticity present in every situation.
Alexandra Bălășoiu is a performer, choreographer, and cultural manager. For her, dance is a form of fluid knowledge — an essential tool for navigating human complexity. She co-initiated platforms active in the independent choreographic sector, such as Indie Box and AREAL. Today, she oversees Indie Box’s projects in their entirety, while having stepped away from AREAL’s administrative structure, where she continues to support the program’s curatorial vision as Co-Artistic Director.
Her recent work has immersed itself in vulnerable areas of human experience, opening necessary conversations around mental health through projects such as the mind-moving installation and the solo Mareele de primăvară ale unei fete cuminți, as well as around the realities of motherhood through the [m]others projects.
As part of an effort to soften the boundaries between her personal and professional life, Alexandra often integrates her ten-year-old daughter, Indie, into her creative processes, recognizing children’s presence as a vital resource for developing intergenerational ways of working.
Since 2025, her practice has entered a new phase developed alongside Cătălin Diaconu, exploring the adaptability of the body in relation to water and nature. This process gave rise to the dance film Apa are gust de soare (Water Tastes Like Sun), directed by Gabriel Durlan in 2025, based on the development of a methodology for dancing in water.
In 2026, this process expands to include families and dance professionals, developing a water-based pedagogy that invites connection, rest, and the opening up of new possibilities for movement.
Iridescent 2026 partners
Institutional Partners
Ministry of Culture · Administration of the National Cultural Fund (AFCN) · Aerowaves · Moving Balkans · European Union · Onassis Stegi · Greek Embassy in Bucharest · Greek Union of Romania · Italian Cultural Institute in Bucharest · MNAC – National Museum of Contemporary Art of Romania · “I.L. Caragiale” National Theater · “Grigore Antipa” National Museum of Natural History
Cultural Partners
LINOTIP – Independent Choreography Center · /SAC @ Berthelot · Tangaj Collective Association · Cărturești · ANF | National Film Archive · Therapy for Movement · Petec Association · O2G Association · Teatre
Main Media Partner
Radio Guerrilla
Media Partners
Zile și Nopți · Matca Magazine · Scena Magazine · Arta Magazine · ELLE · TVR Cultural · Munteanu Recomandă · AGERPRES · VisitBucharest · Radio România Cultural · Haute Culture · Liternet · The Institute · Ceașca de Cultură · Daily Magazine · Modernism · Zeppelin · Iscoada · B-Critic · România Pozitivă
