Jesalva and Kleijn have carved out a shared practice that continuously morphs their beings, bodies, presents, and pasts—both as women and as string players—into a mix of heavy instrumentalism, conceptual theater, and experimental sound worlds. Seemingly tethered to their instruments as extended creative limbs, both welcome and loaded, they clearly consider their entire selves as the source of their creative practice.

An intergenerational collaboration based in Chicago, Jesalva/Kleijn will present Eclipsed Bodies at the International Museum of Surgical Science on March 14 and 16, 2025. The piece is a devised interdisciplinary work that explores post-structuralist theories on female identity and (dis)embodiment in female sexuality and gender.

Eclipsed Bodies is a theatrically devised work for improvised cello, violin, and electronics by the intergenerational duo of Caroline Jesalva and Katinka Kleijn. Drawing from post-structuralist theories on female identity, Eclipsed Bodies explores resisting stereotypical representations of the ‘feminine physique’ through unorthodox performance and parodic identities.