LIJF! – An Electroacoustic Ode to the Female Body

A young woman enters the stage with her instrument, the oboe. A long coat with countless pockets wraps her body like armor. Midway through a concert of compositions for oboe and electronics, one of the pockets disrupts the performance. The pockets want to open! It’s her body that demands attention. Each pocket holds a sound-memory of the part of the body it covers. As she opens more and more pockets, she gains access to what is stored in her body — a buried story of an unwanted intrusion. Only when the woman truly listens to her body, and its sounds merge with her music, can the adult Kayva reconcile with the girl she once was.

In her new solo performance LIJF!, oboist and performer Kayva van Gangelen turns the female body into an instrument of sound and memory. Interacting with an ingeniously designed costume embedded with wireless speakers and motion- and touch-sensitive sensors, she brings bodily sensations and memories to life. The result is a musical, poetic, and technically refined performance that lets the body speak where words fall short. The piece touches on themes such as bodily autonomy, the experience of being looked at, and the traces of unwanted touch.

LIJF! was developed in collaboration with director Marijn van der Jagt (Bambie), composer Bec Plexus (No Plexus), sound artist/inventor Akim Moiseenkov, and theatre designers Catharina Scholten and Sanne Lips. The interactive sound system was created in close partnership with Fedde ten Berge, who developed the technical design and software, and with Okke van Breemen, who designed the 3D housings and assembled the wearable system. Much of the knowledge for this system originated in previous research by Ten Berge and De Carvalho.

Kayva van Gangelen and Akim Moiseenkov together form the music theatre collective Perforator. In their earlier youth and family productions Performania (2019) and Sorry Mug (2022), Perforator enchanted audiences with an original and sparkling blend of acoustic music, interactive electronics, and sound objects. With LIJF!, Kayva presents Perforator’s first performance for an adult audience, merging her classical oboe background with cutting-edge technology and an ode to feminine strength. LIJF! invites you to listen and feel differently — a powerful, liberating journey through the stories only the body can tell.

Credits
Kayva van Gangelen – concept, text, performance
Marijn van der Jagt – direction
Bec Plexus – composition, audio production, live effects
Akim Moiseenkov – compositional contributions (The Hair Removal Song, Cloth 3), light object design
Catharina Scholten – set design
Sanne Lips – costume design
Fedde ten Berge – technology, system development, wearable design
Okke van Breemen – 3D design and assembly of electronic housings
Michelle Vossen – textile sensor design
Tineke Hussaarts – voice recording Lijf FM
Glenn Liebaut – marimba recording
Jurre Wieman – sound design
Jan Boiten – lighting design