Spotlight UK Circus: Subcase Subtopia Circus Fair

Spotlight UK Circus – an unprecedented opportunity for the very best UK contemporary circus artists to showcase work at three key international festivals: CIRCa festival du cirque actual, Subcase Subtopia Circus Fair and Festival OFF d’Avignon.

Subcase Subtopia Circus Fair 14 – 17 November, will feature performances of 8 Songs (Gandini Juggling), Ringside (Ellie Dubois) and Hyena (Alula Cyr). Pitches will be made by Ellie Dubois and Jessica Andrade (The Brownie Club).

8 Songs by Gandini Juggling

Six rock star jugglers strut with attitude to eight classic rock and roll songs whilst skilfully making their juggling balls literally dance to the music of the Rolling Stones, Bowie, Dylan, the Beach Boys and the Velvet Underground. Ever flying, ever catching, the skilful and risky juggling sequences are spellbinding juxtaposed with the sexy stance of a rock performer revelling in music.

8 Songs is an unforgettable journey into the soundtrack of our lives.

Ringside by Ellie Dubois

Ringside. A woman on a trapeze. The vision of every glamorous woman you’ve ever seen suspended high up in the big top, performing for the crowd. But here, this is not circus as we usually know it. Her, she is up close and her intimate aerial performance is for an audience of one: you. There’s no hiding the bruises, or the strapping on her legs. There are tiny beads of sweat on her body and no sequins.

Ringside is a performance unlike any circus you’ve seen before; intensely personal and thought-provoking.

Hyena by Alula Cyr

Spirited and striking, Hyena is an innovative, synchronised display of strength from Alula Cyr, the first all-female Cyr trio.

With precision and poignancy, Hyena marries awe-inspiring Cyr wheel skill, acrobatics, song and dance to reveal the fierce and complex friendships between the three women.

Renowned for their innovative approach to creating structures with Cyr wheels to handstand on, tumble through and use as a tightwire, Alula Cyr are a phenomenon. Hyena is their debut full-length work.

Spotlight UK Circus – led by NoFit State Circus and Crying Out Loud and funded by the Arts Council England International Showcasing fund. It aims to raise the profile of UK contemporary circus on the international scene, increase the capacity and ability of UK companies to promote themselves and tour internationally, and develop and support a new network of touring contemporary circus companies.

Press

  • The audience was blown away by the sheet, audacious gymnasticity of these highly skilled stunt-tumblers.

    London theatre 1 (Hyena by Alula Cyr)

  • It's an intense, personal performance full of beautiful imagery and thought-provoking moments.

    TV Bomb (Ringside by Ellie Dubois)

  • 8 Songs easily pulls in the crowds who are then mesmerised by the magnetism of juggling.

    Total Theatre Magazine (8 Songs by Gandini Juggling)

  • Alula Cyr

    Formed in 2014 by three multi-skilled circus women, London based Alula Cyr creates exciting modern work inspired by their shared obsession with the Cyr wheel and passion to perform material with a message. Using their individual skills in artistic gymnastics, contemporary dance and live music they began exploring their trio potential at The National Centre for Circus Arts in 2012. Since graduating they have performed across Europe and have become renowned for their innovative and experimental approach to Cyr Wheel, creating structures with the wheels to handstand on, tumble through and use as a tight wire as well as executing synchronised spinning, doubles and triples manoeuvres on a single wheel. The Alula ladies are a female-focused collective that exists to strengthen and unite women and young girls by engaging them in contemporary circus. Their much- anticipated debut show Hyena is co-produced by Jacksons Lane theatre, where they are associate Artists, and is the culmination of two year’s research fusing circus, dance and song. These wild women epitomize their truthful fierce friendship and tribal solidarity with this creation of thrilling physical ritual and a heart-wrenching need to belong.

  • Gandini Juggling

    Formed in 1992 by world-renowned jugglers Sean Gandini and Kati Yla-Hokkala, Gandini Juggling continues to be at the vanguard of contemporary circus, reinventing and reinvigorating juggling for the 21st century.

    The Company celebrates juggling in all its facets, exploring not just what juggling is but what juggling can be. Currently an ever-evolving ensemble made up of a virtuosic core of jugglers, they regularly expand to include up to 20 performers for specially commissioned events and performances. Ferociously prolific, they are constantly creating new works which range from radical art/juggling fusions to

    accessible theatrical performances, from choreographic studies to commercially commissioned routines.

    Since their inception, the Gandinis have performed over 5,000 shows in 50 countries and they continue to perform at many of the world’s most prestigious festivals and venues throughout the world. These venues range from contemporary arts museums in France to opera houses in Germany, from theatres in the Lebanon to tents in Argentina. Closer to home the Gandinis can be seen performing at the UK’s major outdoor festivals and theatre houses including the Royal Opera House and the Royal National Theatre, and in 2016 in collaboration with the English National Opera and Los Angeles Opera on Philip Glass’ Akhnaten.

  • Ellie Dubois

    Ellie Dubois is an award-winning performance maker based in the rural fishing village of Tayvallich on the West Coast of Scotland. She makes and directs contemporary circus and performance. Her work includes Ringside, an award-winning circus show for one person at a time. Bird Bones, a show performance by an adult and two children explores our changing relationship to death as we age. No Show, performed by five female circus performers is made for anyone who has tried, failed and failed better. She is currently working on Little Top, a circus show for early years and their family.

    Her work has toured extensively across the UK and received critical acclaim. She is now starting to take her work to Europe. She has recently received a Jerwood Performing Arts Micro Bursary for the creation of new work. She is an Associate Artist at Platform and is part of Articulation.

  • Pitches

    Ellie Dubois will pitch Ringside on Weds 15th November from 4pm at Mellanscenen Hangaren.

    Jessica Andrade will pitch The Brownie Club on Thurs 16th November from 4.15pm at Mellanscenen Hangaren.