and I dance

"I stretched festoons from tower to tower; garlands from window to window; chains of gold from star to star; and I dance."

This Arthur Rimbaud quotation from Les Illuminations was chosen as the theme of the International Carillon Festival held in Perpignan, France on July 25, 2018. Netherlands carillonneur and composer Mathieu Polak took inspiration from this Rimbaud quotation in his composition, And I dance.

Mathieu Polak studied at the Amersfoort Carillon School, earning a master's degree in 2000. He subsequently earned a master's degree from the Lemmens Institute in Louvain (2013). He has won several international prizes as a carillonneur. He is currently a lecturer at the Netherlands Carillon Centre in Amersfoort.