Jo Tomalin

Created by still hungry and Bryony Kimmings and presented by Chamaeleon Berlin, Show Pony is about three performers Lena Ries, Anke van Engelshoven and Romy Seibt. They reflect on how their careers in the circus industry are seemingly over based on aging out of acceptable norms for circus skills performers.

Circus skills have moved into theatrical shows and are not bound by being presented in the traditional sawdust ring. However, it sounds like there is a real issue with this topic of growing older in this profession and the three performers from still hungry are being creative and taking a proactive approach.

Ries, van Engelshoven and Seibt stand before us in track suits and dance wear and strut around to jubilant music, each with a powerful presence. They are very good at what they do walking in lines and formations with perfect posture in different colour feather headdresses, then showing their individual circus specialisations, such as contortion, climbing the straps – and twirling while doing the splits on aerial ropes.

The show is structured in interesting sections with episodic titles projected on a large upstage screen. A microphone on a stand is the starting point for each section, when one of the performers announces the rules – and they all take part showing and telling what these rules really mean, and the claustrophobic affect they have on circus performers – and ultimately on each of these three performers.

We are told that these performers are in their forties and this is the bewitching hour for their careers when younger performers are sought out to replace them. However, from the skills they each perform they are very impressive with their expertise and it is difficult to see why they might not be rehired. This is why still hungry have done something very inspiring by creating this show. They are making original theatre and applying their formidable skills with their acting and storytelling skills to produce a fascinating delve into feminism, growing older in a young person’s circus performer’s world and stridently not accepting these labels!

One by one they share their own stories, background and how and why they were drawn to the circus and learning the skills to be able to perform in circus troupes. Ries, van Engelshoven and Seibt are sincere storytellers, effective actors when speaking their monologues that range from emotive, sad to humorous. Each story is different and moving in its own way.

For them the circus is or was everything to them and they reached high levels of skills in well known circus companies. Things are progressing in the circus world and multi skilled performers are sought out nowadays more than specialists in one skill. Other information about working in a circus environment or the perception of the public to individual acts is revealing and its not all pretty.

Video clips share some of the more difficult moments and fears in their lives poignantly. One of the last sections showing their older selves is amusing and imaginative but could benefit from editing to be shorter and still effective. Music selections during the show are engaging and complement the moments perfectly with sound design and original music by Tom Parkinson.

A theatrical take on three circus performers and what their future holds. When they have worked hard all their lives to achieve their hopes and dreams, what’s next for them? Very well acted by all three performers who go deep – with impeccable timing and crafting.

Highly Recommended!

More information:

Company: still hungry and Bryony Kimmings presented by Chamaeleon Berlin
https://chamaeleonberlin.com/en/on-tour-show-pony/#creativeteam

A table is set in the restaurant with an empty wine glass on a white linen table cloth. Upstage are two chairs, a service station with wine, and other accoutrements. The duo of Bert and Nasi introduce themselves and do an informative preamble. They both wear crisp white shirts and black trousers.

Their banter is witty and fun, from a seemingly self-deprecating waiter and a mild mannered customer, or is it a customer and a waiter? Their verbal repartee describing what is to happen is hilarious, they get a lot out of so little! One tells us what we’ll see, and shows us with a gesture. They each play the moments well, such as when they both point upstage right and they look at us before the small bit of information is given verbally. This is repeated with the arms pointing to the left! They also do a play-by-play of important points. We are told after a while – it’s not complicated! This is seriously naïve and is surely an adventure!

Bert and Nasi are both at times still and silent, when their eyes slide sideways towards the audience to show disagreement. Sometimes Nasi is more persistent, and Bert is more placating – but not for long – and when they both agree, they run with the idea or new direction, whatever happens,

The waiter, is pouring wine into an elegant glass while the customer sits and watches, and sophisticated background music gives an air of a first class restaurant. There is a an atmosphere of expectancy – yet is it all in our mind? Is this an illusion? Suddenly they are in distress, maybe they are perfectionists this waiter and this customer? The third time around and the scene builds, it’s the same scene and they go off piste! What follows is a scene with similar actions and dialogue but with variations each time. At one point they realise that they’re over reacting, so they tell us not to panic! This is absurdist theatre at its best and the simple scene has ballooned into something else!

They create more absurdity by their economic use of gestures and props – and the short dialogue and things become clear for a while. In fact amongst the absurdity there is so much clarity about what is happening! Now and again Bert and Nasi come out of the scene to address the audience directly before a transition.

Directed by Forced Entertainment’s artistic director Tim Etchells and created with performance duo Bert and Nasi, L’Addition is set around a simple scenario that has been explored in every way to produce this unique and absurdist take on a scene in a restaurant that opens up opportunities for different emotions, meanings and some may say deeper exploration of clashes of humanity or world events.

Bert and Nasi are comedic when they look at the audience to share heightened reactions and sometimes very subtle reactions, verbal or nonverbal. They use all the space really well as they play and you can tell that they have played a lot when developing this show. They are not afraid to go to extremes in every situation in every moment, which may be why this piece is so well-crafted and builds so well. It’s a tour de force performance from Bert and Nasi.

They are modern day clowns, sophisticated absurdists in this devised show that is superbly performed. The story is based on simplicity of concept that is pulled apart with and served up with detail. Whether blaming each other, they dig deeper and find new levels of the story and their rapport. This takes nerve and is very well appreciated by the audience. Just when you think you have figured it out, they find motivation and another dimension, which generates new ideas for the scenes and extensions of thought.

Imaginative and creative. The banter is delicious. The inspired performance is all about the way they speak, react physically and play. They are multidimensional characters steeped in a totally original scenario, sublimely silly with integrity, and they know where they are leading us! With all the absurdity and the quirky charm of this duo, the seventy minutes seems a tad bit long and some very loud reactions from Nasi might benefit from some nuance in volume.

This is an intriguing exploration of two characters who work together and cajole each other in L’Addition, exceptionally well performed by Bert and Nasi.

More Information:

Bert and Nasi
https://bertandnasi.com/

Courtesy of www.FringeReview.co.uk
https://fringereview.co.uk/review/edinburgh-fringe/2024/laddition-here-now-showcase/

The Ballet de l’Opera, Paris, presents a new production with work by renowned choreographer Jiří Kylián at the Palais Garnier, 8-31 December, 2023. The production, Jiri Kylián Evening, comprises three sections of four pieces performed by this company at the Opera national de Paris. 

Kylián, from Prague, started his career in the Czech capital as a dancer and later became an acclaimed award-winning choreographer after moving to Europe. Kylián’s works have been performed worldwide and are known for their musicality, imagery and dry wit.

In the first piece, Gods and Dogs, with Kylián’s choreography, set design, costume design with Joke Visser, and music design, the choreography ranges from angular to lyrical motifs, beautifully danced. Deep echos and sounds of the music by Dirk P. Haubrich and Ludwig van Beethoven fill the large, storied Palais Garnier auditorium. There’s an edgy air of what’s going to happen, and suddenly a strange monster appears up high. The choreography is often low gravity muscular movement in ever changing combinations, including trios and solos with surprises in the movement from changes of direction and jumps. There is a dramatic moment when a curtain comes down centre stage, which seems to be metallic and shimmery – due to the beautiful lighting by Kees Tjebbes, which is a highlight of this intriguing piece. The wide curtain is very effective as it changes levels and sways, giving a lot of visual movement behind the dancers. Costumes are modern with long wide pants for the male dancers and short sleeve tops and shorts for the female dancers. 

The second piece, Stepping Stones, choreographed by Kylián is very dramatic looking with black costumes, black backdrop, and a huge black triangle above the stage, which moves up and down and tilts. The other side of the triangle is an intricate wooden structure beautifully lit and adds to the atmosphere, with set and lighting design by Michael Simon. Costume design by Joke Visser is interesting, the male dancers in black shorts with narrow additions of red and green and female dancers’ black leotards include stylish front sections and straps with narrow, purple and teal stripes. Kylián’s choreography shows a traditional balletic foundation with modern extensions interspersed with quirky moments that complement the music choices of John Cage and Anton Webern very well. Several themes are expressed in this piece including mythology and ritual. A small group of dancers balance trays on their feet and move adeptly in unison in one part of the imaginative mise en scène across the stage, replete with a group of three large foreboding gold cats upstage. A section with a trio of three women is utterly glorious! The entire piece is on the music, quirky, and fascinating.   

The third and final part of the evening comprises two notable contrasting pieces, Petite Mort and Secus Tänze, both choreographed by Kylián. Petite Mort is set to beautiful music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart when the starting image is of six male dancers holding large swords, and then dancing with them! This piece is moving and visceral in both dance quality and choreography, with highlight sections of six athletic duets and an outstanding section with five female dancers. Romantic but not sentimental with costumes by Joke Visser and set and light design by Kylián, yet another exceptional duet later in the piece dazzles with sublime muscularity and extensions. Wow!

Secus Tänze is a wild and delicious visual storytelling of a time gone by filled with wit, joy and vibrant choreography set to glorious music by Mozart, with set and costume design by Kylián and lighting design by Joop Caboort. The bizarre and charming sections are supported by the large hair and powdered make up design with pink cheeks together with white calf length dresses and ethereal expressive costumes. Choreography includes unusual lifts, twirls, skirt flourishes and fast movement. What really shows through in this piece is the quality of this large company of Etoiles, Premieres Danseuses, Premieres Danseurs and the Corps de Ballet of the Opera national de Paris. They relate to each other so well with facial reactions and their physicality in this piece that it adds another dimension to the performance. Don’t miss this program or the glorious end moments of the evening! Highly Recommended!!!

More Information:

https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/artists/ballet