A meditative and reflective piece, Mandala is anything but slow and plodding. When one reflects and meditates, one is highly alert and alive, one is bursting with great energy. With their energetic movements – a combination of martial arts, Tai Chi and contemporary dance – the performers enter a surreal realm of radical confrontation, stirring ritual and reflection. The highlight of Mandala is the drawing of a 3-metre-wide rice mandala (circular meditative design) with a long stick during the performance. The late psychoanalyst, Carl G Jung, once said of the mandala: “I sketched every morning in the notebook a small circular drawing, a mandala, which seemed to correspond to my inner situation at the time. With the help of these drawings, I could observe my psychic transformations from day to day. Only gradually did I discover what the mandala really is: Formation, Transformation, Eternal Recreation (Faust II) and that is the self, the wholeness of the personality, which if all goes well is harmonious, but which cannot tolerate self-deceptions.” (From Memories, Dreams, and Reflections)