Le Cercle: Presentation

Definition:
„a closed plane curve consisting of all points at a given distance from a point within it called the center. Equation: x 2 + y2 = r2“ „the portion of a plane bounded by such a curve“ „any circular or ringlike object, formation, or arrangement“

The title reflects the different meanings of this definition that are all contained in the show: in it’s circular, empty performing space, in the round fluid movements of objects and bodies, in the diabolo itself that emerges from a ball, even in the music live performed and looped or better: run in circles, but mostly in the presence of the three artists that embrace the whole. Balls roll, cross the stage and design imaginary lines, divide in halves drawing imaginary circles now and become….diabolo. This is how the show begins.

In Nexon I stepped in a magical circle…. …Petronella, Roman and Mischa truly bring live into their accessories and instruments of whom we almost think they are servants, that much they manage to create the illusion of them being alive. But in “Le Cercle” there is no disorder, there is harmony: Diabolo halves design magnificent and regular circles just to return into the hand that has thrown them. The diabolos themselves spin incessantly and return as through enchantment on the string from where they have been thrown.
The dramaturgical work has its source in the evolution of the diabolo, its transformation and its new ways of being manipulated. Body and object exist in their relationship of distance and proximity, balance and imbalance, being the leitmotif of the show.
This show is far more then a style exercise, it is the revelation of a magnificent and pure universe that neither lacks confrontation nor humour. Bodies stripe one at another, dance lightly as acrobats over the stage and again and again, in wonderfully created light states appears a diabolo…
Juggling and music, these two elements fuse in the show sometimes confronting each other sometimes forming an alliance. Diabolo and double bass even change roles: a spinning top diabolo, amplified by the resonance body of the double bass, creates sounds through the vibration coming from its own rotation and therefore becomes music. Same as the double bass is part of the choreography, transforms into décor and finally becomes juggled object.

Mischa Blau is the genius bass player of this show. Working his sounds with a loop station and exploring all tonal possibilities of his instrument he accompanies his two partners with power and skill: there is to say that he, too, develops on stage, even dances and juggles at times, to join the other two bodies into a very aesthetical ballet.

Same as the diabolo, the double bass seems to have his own life, joining into the choreography with elegance. It is with the help of these objects that the characters eventually emerge, though the theatrical bottom line does not lie in a prewritten story. The dramaturgical work is rather tightly connected to the research of movement, body and object. It’s through this work that strong images are established, but in a way that everyone can read his own story.
Being close to the action on stage, to the performers, their breaths, the sounds of the diabolo that are manipulated, creates a poetic universe full of sensations and emotions. Other instruments contribute to the beauty this show: a little music box, that seems to remind us that we are in dream, colourful bells and a big drum floating from the sky, lit like the full moon shining outside the tent. It’s the pretext for an extraordinary moment where diabolos are caught and thrown in a duel of virtuosity.
Up to the last scene, after many calls, the magic embraces us like a pleasant fog that stays with us for a long time, until later when we go to sleep still mesmerized of this wonderful show.
Laurent Bourdelas, 20.08.2005

Le Cercle is the result of a long research around the diabolo, the first time that this object is the protagonist of a one hour show.