While in Italy on her 2012 MDNA tour, Madonna sat down with Joseph Videtti for Repubblica TV, comparing her show to the journey of the soul.

“I see my show as a journey – the journey of anyone’s soul … in order to get to light you have to go through darkness. So it’s a bit like Dante’s inferno. It’s a bit of a labyrinth. We start out in the darkness and by the end of the show its light, and celebration and joy.”

See her explain in the short video below: