Ensemble Apotropaïk / Bella Donna

Is love sometimes a poisoned chalice? In courtly poetry, the main figure is usually a beautiful and highly idealised woman – a bella-donna – as perfect as a sublime flower. The plant belladonna is also very alluring: a sweet but extremely poisonous berry. Besides the obvious, it was also used by witches to make hallucinogenic ointments. Ensemble Apotropaïk explore the female myths of the late Middle Ages: from dignified, spiritual ladies to femmes fatales.

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