La Monnaie has announced “Medusa Moves,” a participatory public campaign developed in collaboration with STIB/MIVB and the City of Brussels, timed to the world premiere of “Medusa,” a new opera by composer Iain Bell and director Lydia Steier.

The campaign centers on a choreography created by Brussels-based dancer and choreographer Jeny BSG (Jeny Bonsenge), who invites the public to learn and share a series of dance moves via social media. A tutorial video has been released across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, with participants encouraged to share their own versions by tagging @jenybsg, @mivbstib, and @lamonnaie.demunt.

The initiative is rooted in the themes of the opera itself, which recasts the mythological figure of Medusa not as a monster but as a woman transformed by the violence inflicted upon her. The production seeks to reframe her story in relation to present-day experiences of gender-based violence and the constraints many women continue to navigate in public spaces.

The campaign also directs attention to the Panzi Foundation and Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which provides medical, psychological, legal, and socio-economic support to survivors of sexual violence. The foundation is led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege. A portrait of Mukwege, created by a visual artist, will be auctioned in support of the foundation.

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