CIRKO Helsinki Contemporary Circus Festival 2006 – time for wonders!
The whole scale of the dynamic, modern circus arts is presented here in the first CIRKO – The Helsinki Festival of Contemporary Circus. During a week and a half Savoy Theatre, Stoa, Kiasma Theatre, Ateneum Hall, Studio Pasila, Malmitalo and Vuotalo are the venues of 13 performances from France and Finland.
The French cirque nouveau has for already ten years been the genre to shape the basic principles of also Finish circus. Today the influence is received mutually, and our own top groups are an interesting part of the genre´s international development.
The foreign visitors are manifold: Compagnie Pré-O-C-Coupé´s LES KUNZ fascinates through the feather-light movement and burlesque humour of the groups of top-class clown Nikolaus. Compagnie XY updates the possibilities of acrobacy as a subtle storyteller through their humane, virtuoso performance LAISSEZ-PORTER. COUNTREPOINT by Les Objets Volants beckons us towards the yet unknown areas of circus using juggling and computer techniques.
Finnish groups present this autumn’s first nights. Set in Kiasma Theatre, Ville Walo and Kalle Hakkarainen´s DISCUSSIONS, is the visual appeal of the living picture, surrealistic incidents and the plastic movement of juggling – accompanied by new music by Kimmo Pohjonen and Samuli Kosminen. A pioneer of contemporary magic, Tatu Tyni introduces his production MULTIMAGIGA, which manipulates the human body with the physicality used in Matrix. Also shown are Circo Aereo´s ESPRESSO and FRITT FALL, plus performances by Ilona Jäntti, Circus Ruska, Memo group, and Juhana Ekorre and Yrjänä Sauros. CIRKO CLUB rko club entertains the festival audience combining live music and DJ`s.
The glamour of French contemporary circus can be seen in the photo gallery presented in Stoa during the festival – the focus ot Philippe Cibille´s PISTEUR D´ETOILES pictures is on such artists as Archaos, Cirque Plume, Johann Le Guillerm and CNAC. In the CIRCUS DREAMS movie presentations of Ateneum hall life is blown into the circus pictures: the new French documentary lets us look inside top-class artists´ fantastic dreams. During the festival The Open University of Theatre Academy organises a circus-focused series of Studia Generalia.
The festival, organised now for the first time, in enabled by the tight cooperation between Cirko –Centre of New Circus and Centre Culturel Français, the City of Helsinki, The Cultural Office of the City of Helsinki and 5-3-1 the Festival of New Juggling.
The CIRKO Helsinki Contemporary Circus Festival 2006 is an event for all interested in circus and the performing arts. Take time for wonders – WELCOME!
Tomi Purovaara
Manager
Cirko – Centre for New Circus
