MMXXV

How connected are we to our desires? What relaxes us and what triggers excitement? Thirty-five years after the release of Enigma’s iconic album MCMXC a.D., choreographer Imre Vass invites audiences into a sensual, safe space with his new piece, where we can revisit our relationship to intimacy, desire and attachment, also looking into what feelings of resistance and fear we have.

“Where the surface flirts with the depths, wrapped in nakedness, the state of arousal ultimately finds rest upon the chest of intimacy.”

Imre Vass

The choreography bows down before the musical masterwork; the creator-performers surrender themselves to the music’s gentle pulse. They do not impose their theatrical or compositional ideas upon it—they allow themselves to be led. They yield, releasing the possibilities hidden in their pelvises; and at the sound of the emblematic, synthesized shakuhachi flute, a desire awakens in them to connect freely, without shame or inhibition, with themselves and with the human and non-human materials and beings that capture their attention.

“Good evening
This is the voice of Enigma
In the next hour, we will take you with us into another world
Into the world of music, spirit, and meditation
Turn off the light, take a deep breath, and relax
Start to move slowly, very slowly
Let the rhythm be your guiding light.”

Released in 1990, Enigma’s debut album MCMXC a.D. begins with these lines. Michael Cretu, the Romanian-born, Germany-based keyboardist, composer and producer, escaped burnout by retreating to his home in Ibiza, where—alone in his studio—he spent nine months recording his taboo- and groundbreaking album. Blending elements of worldbeat, new age, Gregorian chant, ambient, dance, and pop, it explored themes of religion and sexuality.

Thirty-five years later, MMXXV invites the audience to a collective album-listening experience, where we can examine our relationship to intimacy, desire, and attachment—or the resistances and fears connected to these—within a sensual and safe space.

2025 was the Year of the Snake, a period of transformation, healing, and shifting perspectives.

Credits

concept, direction: Imre Vass
choreography, performance: Márton Gláser, Adrienn Hód, Imola Kacsó, Csaba Molnár, Imre Vass
lights: Kata Dézsi
costume: Márton Gláser, Adrienn Hód, Imola Kacsó, Csaba Molnár, Imre Vass
stage design: Vass Imre
Production assistant: Eszter Lovrity \ Next Stage

special thanks: Zsófia Lelkes, András Molnár, Luca Petrányi, Zoltán Vass