In 2026 and 2027, Gaël Santisteva will develop Smoothie Songs (and Teen Screams), an artistic research project that explores voice, choral singing, writing, music and performance as tools for expression and encounter.

The aim is to create a space where young people aged 14 to 20 can share their ideas, words and imaginations without filters or judgement. They are invited to observe, react and contribute to the research through their feedback and comments, while the artistic team — composed of singers, composers and playwrights — explores musical and vocal forms.

These artists do not come to direct, but rather to co-exist, with an attitude of listening, dialogue and shared creation. They help to transform the words they collect into sensitive, respectful and inventive forms, serving the voices of young people that the project aims to make visible, audible and worthy of attention.

The project seeks to capture what is fleeting, intense and raw, to bring out texts, snippets and fragments of voices, as a form of poetic archiving of the present.

This project is not intended to produce a show, but to question how young people perceive the world and how their voices can inspire new forms of creation. The residency thus allows for collective exploration of artistic expression and experimentation with sounds and voices in all their diversity and complexity.

Smoothie Songs (and Teen Screams) will continue in 2026 and 2027 in Brussels, in collaboration with the Théâtre national Wallonie-Bruxelles, Charleroi danse and La Bellone.

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CALENDAR OF RESIDENCIES

• 30.03 > 03.04.2026 | Théâtre national Wallonie-Bruxelles, Bruxelles (BE)
  Contributors: A group of young people (in progress) and Vivi Focquet (dramaturgy), Inga Huld Hákonardóttir (vocals), Clément Corrillon (vocals), Claire Rappin (vocals), Jonas Chéreau (vocals), Micha Goldberg (vocals), Gasper Piano (musical composition), Emmanuelle Nizou (coordination and artistic advice), Gaël Santisteva (artistic director and choir director)

• 18.05 > 22.05.2026 | La Bellone, Bruxelles (BE)
  Contributors: A group of young people (in progress) and Mathilde Maillard (dramaturgy), Klara Verkin (vocals), Dom Gilliot (vocals), Clément Corrillon (vocals), Habib Ben Tanfous (vocals), Maya Dhondt (musical composition), Emmanuelle Nizou (coordination and artistic advice), Gaël Santisteva (artistic director and choir director)

• 25.05 > 29.05.2026 | La Bellone, Bruxelles (BE)
  Contributors: A group of young people (in progress) and Inga Huld Hákonardóttir (vocals), Camille Freychet (vocals), Habib Ben Tanfous (vocals), Erwan Ha Kyoon Larcher (vocals), Maïa Blondeau (musical composition), Emmanuelle Nizou (coordination and artistic advice), Gaël Santisteva (artistic director and choir conductor)

Smoothie Songs - a project by Gaël Santisteva (research project, 2026)

Production: Gilbert & Stock | Administration and production: Mélanie Jourdan, Myriam Chekhemani (La chouette diffusion) | Communication and distribution: Quentin Legrand (Rue Branly) | Support: Théâtre national Wallonie-Bruxelles, Charleroi danse - Centre Chorégraphique de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles | Residencies: Théâtre national Wallonie-Bruxelles, La Bellone, Charleroi danse | With the support of Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles

Gaël Santisteva is an associate artist at the Théâtre national Wallonie-Bruxelles (2027–2031).

Photos © Gaël Santisteva, Quentin Legrand