First time live on stage in Germany: SMASHED2 - like Smashed but different. 80 oranges, 7 watermelons, 9 performers. A witty look at the strained relations between men and women, Smashed2 is juggling reinvented, using plenty of explosive fruit and slow-motion comedy. Inspired by the work of the great choreographer, Pina Bausch, Gandini Juggling combines elements of her gestural choreography with intricate patterns and cascades of solo and ensemble juggling. The result is a new hybrid of juggling, in a dance theatre style, performed with meticulous unison and split-second timing. A funny, inventive and characterful work showcasing Gandini Juggling’s masterful stagecraft. "Smashed2 is brilliant, exciting and entertaining." Recklinghäuser Zeitung on Smashed2, where tSMASHED2 was presented a streaming version during Corona..
Formed in 1992 by world-renowned jugglers Sean Gandini and Kati Ylä-Hokkala, Gandini Juggling continues to be at the vanguard of contemporary circus, reinventing and reinvigorating juggling for the 21st Century. Gandini Juggling celebrates juggling in all its facets, exploring not just what juggling is, but what juggling can be.
The ATOLL Festival is one of the pioneering festivals in Germany when it comes to contemporary circus. ATOLL presents this exciting genre in all its facets - and what's more: Tollhaus, the organiser behind the ATOLL Festival, awards residencies and is part of the creative alliance ZIRKUS ON. Wonderful!
Runners team is happy to announce their participation at at,tension festival Sept 6 - 8: the 10th edition of at.tension will happen Sept 5 - 8. The Kulturkosmos site will be bubbling over with theatre, performance and music for four late summer days and nights! You can expect an international programme of experimental circus, rousing street theatre, contemporary puppet theatre and much more. at.tension celebrates a sparkling tenth edition with productions that entertain, challenge and reflect. RUNNERS is happy to be part of it!
1.7.2024 Maña on its way to the festival Chalon dans la Rue
Maña is touring all over Europe! Now Manolo Alcàntara is making his way to the Festival Chalon dans la rue, one of the most renowned festivals for street theatre in France! More than 600 organisers travel there every year to see the new performances, exchange ideas and gather new ones. Manolo Alcántara will be showing Maña at Chalon dans la rue (10 - 13 July) every day at 19:00 on 60 : Place du Collège.
RUNNERS will be playing at the Kleines Fest in Hanover - from 10 - 28 July, every day except Mondays. It is the first festival under the artistic direction of Casper de Vries. Even though water is the theme of this year's festival, we wish the new team lots of sunshine, enthusiastic audiences and a successful new start! You can download the complete programme here. RUNNERS plays every evening at 20:30 on stage 26. 300 tickets for the small festival are still available at the box office every evening!
24.4.2024 RUNNERS i starts summer season at festival BILDSTOERUNG in Detmold
For RUNNERS, the open-air season begins at the BILDSTÖRUNG festival in Detmold on 18 and 19 May. The festival, which takes place every two years - usually at Whitsun - showcases traditional and experimental forms of theatre and dance, performance and contemporary circus, audio walks and participatory projects in public spaces and is one of the pioneering festivals for this art form in Germany. Happy to be part of this festival! Meet us at spot 5 - Brunnenwiese, Sat + Sund at 21:45!
On 26 April, ABSURD HERO is invited to the Rencontre des Jonglages festival, near Paris, a festival that has been known for many years for discovering new forms of juggling and presenting them to an enthusiastic audience. Barely three weeks later, he will go to one of the largest street theatre festivals in France: Vivacité in Sotteville-Les Rouen. There, Roman Škadra will present the OperAir version of Absurd Hero on May 18 and 19. We wish this extraordinary artist every success and many more performances in France!
Happy! after the performance LIFE at schrit_tmacher Fesitval at Alter Schlachthof Eupen BE, Harff-Peter Schönherr / tanzweb says; "...Whatever you think of juggling: In Sean Gandini’s „LIFE. A Love Letter to Merce Cunningham“, it almost playfully opens our eyes to one of the most dazzling and exceptional figures in contemporary dance.
Everyone loves receiving love letters. But what if ...
the delivery runs into problems? This is the case with „LIFE“, Sean Gandini’s „Love Letter to Merce Cunningham“, at least at first glance: Cunningham, the great experimenter, is no longer with us. However, anyone who experiences Gandini’s homage to the exceptional American dancer and choreographer, which is also an experiment, realises that this letter is addressed to all of us, and not just as a substitute.
We don’t know what Cunningham would think if he were to see Gandini’s declaration of love. The British daily newspaper „The Guardian“ is certain that he „would have loved this little gem of a show“. But of course that’s nothing more than an assumption.
nightreview by Harff-Peter Schönherr about schrit_tmacher festival opening in Belgium, Feb 24 and 25, here is the link to the full review tanzweb. Thank you Gandini Juggling!
25.2.2024 Press comments after the premiere at Cirkopolis
Dance Press is impressed by Roman Škadraa's GIREVIK: "The portrayal of the heavily weighted archetype of the strongman was visibly lightened by Roman Škadra's artistic work. He worked on a square wooden surface, to which he added a solid table designed to play with weight and noise like a workshop desk. Additional props, in moderate numbers, were used very functionally, such as a rod with a hook to group and move weights, or man-sized red pumps
as a parallel to walking in kettlebells, or a simple rope with a surprise at its other end. Throughout the show, he continued to reach for his kettlebells with an everlasting expression, as if it was necessary to have them with him and without whose he might have felt naked. The discovery of agricultural tools as a strength equipment goes far back into the past, but the Slovak juggler found a special relationship with them and a way to embrace them not only literally. With a sophisticated technique and a very unique approach, he dispensed with the classic rhythmic swing to strengthen his muscles, relying instead on the changes of tempo and the tension of time, on the limits of his physical abilities and the laws of physics. In doing so, he has portrayed with extraordinary candour the human struggle with matter that is taking place at all times. He developed his Sisyphean attitude to effort (see his first solo Absurd Hero, presented at the 2021 Letní Letná festival) into a creative pilgrimage of gradual exhaustion of physical strength. Girevik became a pictorial ascent to the summit of fatigue.” - Hana Strejčková, Taneční aktuality / Dance Context, 25.02.2024 Original article, in Czech, here
"Definitely take a look" writes the Haubentaucher Graz. In the neighbouring country, the Netherlands, you will soon have time to do so: Compañía de Circo "eia" is preparing for a short tour at the end of March: Drachten (28.3.), Alkmaar (29.3.), Meppel (30.3.), Utrecht (31.3.), Waalwijk (2.4.). Before that, "eia" will be on the Mediterranean island of Malta - and immediately afterwards "eia" will be playing at the Circo Price in Madrid. As you can see: NUYE fits in (almost) all theatres, whether small or large, NUYE is quickly set up - and as it is language-free, suitable for any audience. We are currently looking for follow-up dates in March 2025.
and immediately afterwards "eia" plays at the Circo Price in Madrid. As you can see: NUYE fits into (almost) all theatres, whether small or large, enthusiastic applause everywhere! NUYE is quickly set up - and as it is language-free, it is suitable for any audience. We are currently looking for follow-up dates in March 2025, so please get in touch if there is still a date available for a wonderful circus performance!
Die Aufführungen auf dem Festival Smells like Circus In Ghent im Januar waren nur der Auftakt: Jetzt folgt eine Reihe von 15 Auftritten quer durch Belgien, von Ende Februar bis Mitte März. Die genauen Termine entnehmen Sie bitte dem Tourkalendar auf der Website von Gandini-Juggling. Bald ist Rollercoaster dann auch in Deutschland zu sehen: Am 30. Mai in NOrdhausen auf dem Blue Ballon Festival und einige Tage später - vom 5. - 8. Juni auf den Ruhrfestspielen.
The performances at the Smells like Circus festival in Ghent in January were just the beginning: Now follows a series of 15 performances across Belgium, from the end of February to mid-March. The exact dates can be found in the tour calendar on the Gandini Juggling website. Rollercoaster will soon also be performing in Germany: On 30 May in Nordhausen at the Blue Ballon Festival and a few days later - from 5 - 8 June at the Ruhrfestspiele.
31.12.2023 2023 was a good year - and so will be 2024!
2023 we started touring in France in January, and afterwards we directly travelled to Berlin and many other places in Germany, and we were in Madrid, Praga, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands with our shows RUNNERS and TUNNEL- To close the circle of 2023 we will do 2 last shows of RUNNERS in France. So we had a great year juggling around! Happy and a bit tired, we are off now for a short winterbreak and we will be back touring in February, – looking forward to meeting you all again in 2024, happy New Year to all of you!
What's changing at Hippana.Maleta 2024?
Alex Allison and Jonas Schiffauer both announce new productions for 2024:
- Inside Juggling with Liza van Brakel on stage, as a production of Hippana.Maleta, premiering in autumn 2024
- Claudette - a duo for the street by and with Sara Martinez and Alex Allison. Performances from spring 2024.
Guest performances of Runners will continue to be possible - thanks to a double cast: Jonas and Alex are currently working with other jugglers: Pieter Visser (known from Teatime Cie) is playing the role of Alex, and Daan Mackel (known from Longjohn) can take on the role of Jonas.
10.10.2023 Happy to be part of PLAY 2024 at Chamaeleon Berlin
Sean Gandini and Kati Ylä-Hokkala invite us to enter the joyous, complex world of juggling and choreography with this eye-opening user guide to their performance. It’s an animated self-portrait of a pioneering duo and their company, with a repertoire of some thirty productions staged more than six thousand times all over the world. The Games We Play at Chamaeleon Berlin will be the German premiere of this masterpiece.
Let´s play… again! Chamaeleon is incredibly excited about the second edition of our guest performance series PLAY! To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Chamaeleon in its current form, they have invited eight companies from the 10th of January to the 11th of February 2024 to present their perspectives on contemporary circus – from humorous and playful to poetic and abstract. The programme consists of local and international guest performances, framed by introductions, accessibility formats, audience talks, and much more. We would be delighted if you were to join us!
It starts with 2 performances by Rollercoaster at the festival Smells like Circus in Ghent ... and that's just the start of a tour through Belgium with 11 more shows and 2 school performances between the end of February and mid-March. All tour dates can be found here.
What do juggling and rollercoasters have in common? Rollercoasters and juggling tricks utilise gravity and momentum - and Wes Peden now brings these intricate pathways to the stage. Rollercoaster twists theatrical rules, creating a safe space to perform some of the most difficult and unique juggling ever seen on stage.
16.9.2023 Responsive Round : Zirkus ON Pro Festival in Berlin
Josef Stiller | Klub Girko took part in the first competition of the then newly founded network Zirkus ON with the concept for Responsive Round. It's hard to believe that 5 years have now passed. At the Zirkus ONstage - Pro Festival, from 2 to 4 November 2023, the creative alliance for circus arts presented circus creations from the Zirkus ON editions 2019-2023 to a German and international audience of professionals and culture enthusiasts in Berlin.
and celebrated the fifth anniversary of the creative alliance for circus arts - Zirkus ON. We are delighted that Responsive Round is part of the festival programme! Zirkus ON is the creative alliance for circus arts in and from Germany. By means of knowledge transfer, mentoring, residencies, presentations, production support and early connection to professional structures, Zirkus ON unites emerging circus artists, organisers, training and performance venues throughout Germany to promote quality, experimentation, audience development, touring, aesthetic discourse and the recognition of contemporary circus.
31.7.2023 Human Time Tree Time - invited to Frane and Belgium
Human Time Tree Time can be seen for the first time in France in October 2023, at the FAB Festival in and around Bordeaux. And immediately afterwards - at the end of October - at the festival Theater op de Markt in Belgium.
Art and the environment - how can they be reconciled? How can art be used to draw attention to environmental issues, how can these issues be combined with festivals and integrated into the festival structure? Klub Girko present a piece on this topic: With Human Time Tree Time, they take the audience into the forest and let them experience a performance - next to falling trees and balancing people or - sometimes - next to falling people and balancing trees. Human Time Tree Time will also be on the road in 2024 and 2025 ...
