The Widow’s round-up of the 39th Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain, Paris
Here we are back at Cirque de Demain after a gap of 11 years. Oh, how we hated Cirque Phénix’s sports hall venue when we first came, with its raised lip around the ring that you couldn’t see over – nothing like the festival’s exquisite former setting of the historic Cirque d’Hiver. But, huzzah, things are so much better now, with tiers of seating screened off to make the arena more like a circus tent, and the audience arranged around a square raised stage. It also has a live orchestra and glitzy showbiz lighting. This is what we thought of it… By Liz Arratoon
BEST ACT: Barcode Company’s Russian bar. Oooh, this was so good. A really fresh approach to the discipline, with every aspect considered and stunning pinpoint somersaults from flyer Alexandra Royer. The bases are Eric Bates and Tristan Nielsen. This act has the same wow factor as when we first saw The White Crow.
BEST GUEST ACT: American Eric Bates with his cigar box juggling. Read our archive interview with him.
BEST ARTIST: Eric Bates, not only an amazing Russian bar base, but a world-class cigar-box juggler. How does he have the time?
MOST EXCITING ACT: Lukas and Aaron on Korean plank. Thrilling self-propelled somersaults, cleverly choreographed to give themselves a rest in-between moves.
SOMETHING DIFFERENT: Lazuz Company; a juggler and an acrobat interacting rather nicely.
MOST STYLISH ACT: Sasha Harrington and Andrew Adams of The Silhouette on straps, performing with a red umbrella.
MOST WELCOME RETURN FROM INJURY: Andrew Adams. Find out more in our interview.
MOST DARING ACT: Viivi R and Fragan G Duo, who performed bewildering ‘trust’ moves – such as holding each other feet to feet – on corde lisse; very high, no lunge, no crash mat. Yikes! But they also get the…
STRANGEST START: A burning rope that blazed like a lit dynamite fuse, and sparkly costumes that fell away to reveal their grey outfits.
BEST ‘GASP’ ACT: The B-Boys of Art Core, whose moves, such as jumping on one forearm, were unbelievable.
MOST ELEGANT ACT: Germany’s Lea Hinz on aerial hoop (part of Art Core, pictured below).
BEST PROP: Walking stick used by American Timber Brown on his mini aerial hoop.
WEIRDEST EQUIPMENT: Martin Riedel’s ugly, monolithic robotic arm, which blocked the sight of much of his act… and it must have cost tens of thousands…
HAPPIEST ACT: Frenchman Thomas Mangin, on straps, beamed all through his performance, which was backed by a fun sort of calypso beat. Also, he wore gold and red, not grey.
MOST UNNECESSARY PROP: Thomas Mangin’s small red ball. What was it doing there?
BEST GROUP ACT: Well, um, it would have to be Cirque Eloize’s intro number with seven men, manhandling one amazing woman acrobat/contortionist.
BEST DUO: Hard to choose between hand-to-hand duos Julius and César (pictured below) and Tristan and Eve (also from Barcode Company).
BEST MUSIC: Barcode, whose track about ‘falling’ matched some of their intended moves.
WORST MUSIC: Taiwan diabolo troupe Diabolism. For us it ruined the act but the jury didn’t seem to mind it.
MOST FEATURED DISCIPLINES: Hand to hand – three; diabolo – three; straps – three.
BEST COSTUMES: Barcode Company, who had stylish individual outfits. Also Xander and Mélanie on static trapeze, who had coordinating black and red-wine coloured athletic wear. Really a beautifully choreographed number with lots of wonderful casting and catching tricks.
BEST TECHNICAL SKILLS: China’s Hong Haitao. It was clear he would get the jury’s gold, having performed two technically perfect acts: hand-balancing and strength moves on a high pole, including breathtaking slo-mo planches. He executed similar poses on an incredibly high column of chairs. Bloody hell!
MOST USED COSTUME COLOUR: Grey. Hmmm.
MOST OVERUSED FEATURE: Beards! Hmmm.
MOST UNDERUSED FEATURE: Women! Hmmm.
MOST OVERUSED TREND: Casual scruffy jeans, chinos and T-shirts. Get some costumes!
MOST MISSED FROM FINAL: Hand-to-hand pair Gonçalo Roque and Kinga Grzeskow of Duo Destiny, who performed a lovely number on a park bench. We think she was meant to be his ‘dream’ girl….
AGE LIMIT: What age limit?
JURY M/F IMBALANCE: Male – eight; female – two! Not good enough.
COMPETING ARTISTS M/F IMBALANCE: Male – 31; female – seven!!
ALWAYS THERE, ALWAYS BRILLIANT: Our friend, Monsieur Loyal Calixte de Nigremont. Read our archive interview with him.
The 39th Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain was held at Cirque Phénix in Paris and ran from 1-4 Feburary 2018.
MAIN AWARD WINNERS:
Gold: Kong Haitao/Jinan Troupe
Silver: Barcode Company Tim Kriegler, straps Lukas and Aaron
Bronze Julius and César Vincent Bruyninckx, Cyr wheel Viivi R and Fragan G Duo Tristan and Eve Arata Urawa, diabolo
