C!CAF 2024 Program (ENG)

Presented by Kitt Johnson X-act in collaboration with Dansehallerne and AFUK

C!CAF vol > 3 / 2024

Welcome to the third edition of Copenhagen Circus Arts Festival!

C!CAF identifies itself as a „Circus Arts Festival,“ acknowledging the explosive artistic development within the genre. Over the past 3-4 decades, the contemporary circus genre has unfolded, multiplied, and branched out from an anarchic underground bastard to the diverse array of hybrids that define the field today.

C!CAF positions itself where the boundary between circus and art is no longer significant. Where conceptual approaches, technical innovation, performative strategies, new technology, critical thinking, and physical brilliance is fearlessly mixed.

C!CAF crashed the world in March 2019, a small new circus bastard was born. Undaunted we now carry on.

It is with great joy and anticipation that we can once again present to you, dear audience, a handful of strong international artists. Vol > 3 offers an innovative and thrilling exploration of paper when circus meets visual art, a contemporary contortionist, a children’s show defying the limits of gravity, partner acrobatics performed by a group of local grandmothers in collaboration with a world-renowned acrobat, and, to conclude the festival: A completely insane circus satire.

C!CAF is presented in collaboration with Dansehallerne, with an overarching ambition to stimulate the field in a broader sense. In addition to captivating circus art, we offer, in collaboration with the Academy of Untamed Creativity (AFUK), DEEP DIVE ACTIVITIES – a program featuring workshops and artist talks led by the invited artists.

Learn more about all the concurrent activities on page 14.

Enjoy!

Kitt Johnson

PROGRAM PERFORMANCE

WEDNESDAY 10/4

8.00pm Inbal Ben Haim / Domitille

Martin / Alexis Mérat (FR) / PLI (Grå hal)

PERFORMANCE

9.15pm Artist talk back, moderator Monna Dithmer (Grå hal)

POST PERFORMANCE TALK

FRIDAY 12/4

8.00pm Un loup pour l'Homme (FR)

/ The Grandmother Project or ”I’ll always have dreams, Mom” (Grå hal)

PERFORMANCE

9.30pm Artist talk back, moderator Monna Dithmer (Grå hal)

POST PERFORMANCE TALK

SUNDAY 14/4

2.00pm Cie Opopop (FR) / Le Plus

Petit Cirk Du Bord Du Bout Du Monde + Post performance talk (Grå hal)

PERFORMANCE

Read more about our DEEP DIVE ACTIVITIES on page 14-23

TUESDAY 16/4

8.00pm Alice Rende (BR/FR) / FORA (Grå hal) PERFORMANCE

9.15pm Artist talk back, moderator Monna Dithmer (Grå hal)

POST PERFORMANCE TALK

THURSDAY 18/4

8.00pm Compagnie Los Putos Makinas (BR/ES/DE/UY/FR) / TUTTI FRUTTI (Grå hal) PERFORMANCE

Buy your tickets on: www.dansehallerne.dk

Inbal Ben Haim

/ Domitille Martin / Alexis Mérat / PLI (FR)

Who folds whom?

A circus artist and two visual artists come together over a stack of paper. All driven by their fascination with this millennia-old material.

Paper has many identities, ranging from the blank page to the crumpled sketch. Paper carries our innermost thoughts and universal truths. Paper is always at hand. It bears witness to our lives, our dreams, our culture, and our history. Can it do more than that?

Viewed through the prism of the circus, the exploration of paper’s properties is taken to an unprecedented extreme. In the tension between fragility and strength, body and paper fold into and out of each other in a – at times - nerve-wracking negotiation of force and balance. Who is more vulnerable: the suspended body or the paper?

Circusnext Laureate 2020-2021

INBAL BEN HAIM, circus artist specialized in trapeze and aerial rope, works both in Israel, where she was born, and in France, where she resides. She graduated from CNAC, Centre National des Arts du Cirque Châlons-en-Champagne, in 2017.

ALVARO VALDES, circus artist and dancer, graduate of the Circo del Mundo school in Chili. He has worked on numerous circus and dance projects as director and outside eye.

DOMITILLE MARTIN, visual artist, graduated from École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 2015. Drawing inspiration from nature, she creates sculptural installations with a focus on the transformation of animals, plants, minerals, and humans.

10_april_ 8.00pm_den grå hal

60 min. without intermission + artist talk back

ALL FROM 10 YEARS

Read more about circusnext on p. 11 >

PLI was created in close collaboration. And throughout the creative phase, there has been a strong focus on the destiny of the raw material. After the performance, the paper is reused or recycled.

With: Inbal Ben Haim, Domitille Martin and Alvaro Valdes

Conception & artistic direction: Inbal Ben Haim

Artistic collaboration, scenography, accessories: Domitille Martin

Artistic collaboration, engineering, paper handling: Alexis Mérat

Technical general management: Yann Guénard

Light creation: Marie-Sol Kim

Light manager: Hélène Quintard

Sound creation: Max Bruckert

Additional music: Caroline Chaspoul & Eduardo Henriquez (Nova Materia)

Costumes creation: Clémentine Monsaingeon, Anaïs Heureaux

Outside eyes and dramaturgy: Eleonora Gimenez, Shahar Dor

Direction assistantship: Kamma Rosenbeck

Artistic and technical collaboration: Sophie Lascombes

Objects handling advice:Inbal Yomtovian

Artistic advice: Elodie Perrin

Photo: Loic Nys

Un loup pour l’Homme / The Grandmother Project or »I’ll always have dreams, Mom« (FR)

Who’s ready to catch?

Alexandre Fray is back in town! In the 2010s, he revolutionized acrobatics with FACE NORD by Un loup pour l’Homme. Now, he once again confirms his pioneering status, this time in the field of community circus.

The performance comes to life through a tender and intense collaboration between acrobat Alexandre Fray and five local grandmothers. They spend three days, getting to know each other. Three days to explore the physicality of their bodies, their limitations, and surprising abilities. On the fourth day, they take over Den Grå Hal with a performance, as a moving illustration of what can happen when we let go and trustfully allow ourselves to be led by what arises in the encounter with “the other.” And how beautiful it is when someone is ready to catch us.

ALL FROM 10 YEARS

Partner acrobatics with a fragility, you probably never experienced before!

ALEXANDRE FRAY, professional acrobat for over 20 years and artistic director of cie Un loup pour l’Homme. On judo or fundamental mathematics, circus prevailed. founded 18 years ago. After training at CNAC, 2002, (National Center for Circus Arts, 2002), he founded cie Un loup pour l’Homme in 2005, with Fred Arsenault, to devote himself to a renewed circus practice, anchored in acrobatic partnering, freed from gymnastic or traditional tricks, naturally dedicated to considering others and their differences, and revealing our human nature.

Coproduction: Le Manège SN Reims (FR-51), Centre Culturel Jean Houdremont La Courneuve (FR-93), Théâtre d'Arles SC (FR-13), Cirque Théâtre d'Elbeuf PNC (FR-76), Ay Roop Rennes (FR-35). Support Lavrar o Mar - COSANOSTRA, Aljezur (PT), Festival de La Cité Lausanne (CH), La Faïencerie de Creil (FR-60). Un loup pour l’Homme er medlem af Filage. Partnere: DRAC Hauts-de-France, Région Hauts-de-France.

Artistic direction: Alexandre Fray

Artistic design: Alexandre Fray, Miriam Kooyman, Cathy Blisson Performers: Alexandre Fray og 45 lokale bedstemødre

Sound design and grandmothers caring: Cathy Blisson Outside eye og set design: Christophe Bergon Video: Karim Zeriahen Technical team: Pierre-Jean Faggiani, Romain Antoine Production and booking: Lou Henry, Emma Lefrançois, Chloé Vancutsem Press relations: Estelle Laurentin Thanks to: Caroline Cardoso Production: Un loup pour l’Homme

Photo: Karim Zeriahem

The Tiny Circus at the edge of the World

In a beautiful and surreal circus universe, audiences of all ages are invited on a journey. A magical performance about friendship and freedom - beyond the boundaries of gravity!

Somewhere, way out on the edge of the world, exists a floating rock. A parallel universe, a whimsical planet where time is suspended. Here resides a troglodyte (half-human/half-stone), whose quiet life is disrupted by the arrival of a curious explorer. The explorer carries with her a suitcase filled with circus and magic. The troglodyte’s world is shaken and thrown out of balance, but perhaps together they can create a new equilibrium in this little universe?

KAREN BOURRE is a juggler, trained at Circus Space in London, and has worked with companies such as Gandini Juggling, Cirque Baroque Cie Préoccupé, Cie Jérôme Thomas, the duet “Have a Ball,” and Cie Manie.

JULIEN LANAUD, lighting designer, with a background at the Théâtre de l’Eclaircie, Les Derniers Hommes, Frac Théâtre, Cie 9,81, Cie Jérôme Thomas, Cie Gandini juggling, Der Lauf, Oslo Telescopic – and in his collaboration with Karen, he has cultivated a preference for DIY stage design with a touch of magic.

14_april_2.00pm_den

Come and meet Karen and Julien on stage after the performance!

Creation and performance: Karen Bourre and Julien Lanaud

Consultant: Markus Schmid

Photo: Cie Opopop

Standing on the shoulders of Houdini and the traditional contortionist techniques, FORA takes the genre to an entirely new place

In an ultra-contemporary language, Alice Rende allows distorted movement to come to the forefront as a desperate strategy against external dominance – a tribute to those who do not fit in.

Based on somatic research among the homeless in Rio de Janeiro, psychiatric hospitals, and historical archives of so-called hysterical patients, she develops a physical vocabulary that breaks the usual codes for contortion. Enclosed in a plexiglass box, reminiscent of displays in anatomical museums, and in a live soundscape where sounds from the amplified box transform into cello harmonies, she creates a truly unique performance – groundbreaking for the genre.

ALICE RENDE studied at the National Circus School of Brazil, obtained a Masters in Performing Arts at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and is currently a doctoral student at the same university. Her artistic practise is closely connected to her academic work. She is, among other things, focused on our notion of abnormality, and the political potential that lies in bringing “unusual” bodies on stage. She shares her time between Brazil and France.

16_ april _ 8.00pm_den grå

’Fora’ means ’outside’ in Portuguese, Catalan, Occitan, and Sardinian.

ABOUT CIRCUSNEXT: Circusnext offers a unique program of support to emerging creators of contemporary circus. It is carried out by a large European platform of 24 partners representing 15 countries.

Photo: Christophe Raynaud de Lage

Compagnie Los Putos Makinas /

TUTTI FRUTTI (BR/ES/DE/UY/FR)

C!CAF 2024 closes with a bang of a performance – circus, chaos, and satire served on a silver platter!

Tutti Frutti is omnipresent and almighty. It is everywhere around us and at the same time deep within our souls. It is the desire for power in a violent world, sprinkled with absurd logic and a cutting, liberating humor – a kind of salad of strange ingredients! An explosive recipe that will make you laugh and grind your teeth at the same time.

A social satire about power and dominance served by five fantastic performers, each one more megalomaniac and egocentric than the other, and all of them obsessed with juggling.

Bonus info: Johannes Bauhofer has just settled down in Copenhagen –keep a close eye on this new sharp knife in the drawer ...

LPM, LOS PUTOS MAKINAS, is a collective of juggling circus artists, all hatched from the ESACTO-Lido (Toulouse, FR). The company was initially co-founded around the trio PITI PETA HOFEN SHOW with Andres Torres Diaz, Lucas Castelo Branco and Johannes Bauhofer. This all-terrain trio has performed 200 times around the world since 2017. Juan Duarte Mateos and Rodrigo Gil joined the crew for the creation of TUTTI FRUTTI in 2020. LPM’s signature is a highly dramatic staging, serving satirical purposes. In a burlesque manner, we crash into the world of the absurd to denounce the incoherence that conditions our lives.

18_ april_ 8.00pm_den grå hal

Creation and performance: Lucas Castelo Branco, Juan Duarte Mateos, Johannes Bauhofer, Andres Torres Diaz, Rodrigo Gil

Outside Eye: Marie-Céline Daubagna

Lighting Design: Alrik Raynaud

Costume: Ana Kemp

Photo: Corinne Svala

DEEP DIVE ACTIVITIES

At C!CAF 2024 we present a line of exciting activities at AFUK under the headline DEEP DIVE ACTIVTIES! Free of charge!

And again this year: Open Training – now in Hørsholmsgade – at a special reduced price during the festival period!

All DEEP DIVE ACTIVITIES are in English – and you need to sign up in advance!

SIGN UP!

There is a limited availability of seats (for all activities besides the Circus Salon), but we would like you to sign up no matter what by sending an e-mail to deep.dive.tilmelding@gmail.com – and it’s binding. If you are prevented from participating, please let us know, so someone else can take your place!

AFUK (AND ØRKENFORTET)

Enghavevej 82B, 2450 Cph. SV

ÅBEN TRÆNING

Hørsholmsgade 20 (HOTSTEPPER), Opg. A, 1. sal, 2200 Cph. N

PROGRAM DEEP DIVE

MONDAY 8/4

3.30pm-6.00pm

Alexandre Fray, ROOT DIVING workshop: You, me, us: Re-considering roles in partner acrobatics (AFUK)

DEEP DIVE

4.00pm-5.30pm

Open Training (Hørsholmsgade)

DEEP DIVE

WEDNESDAY 10/4

9.30am-12.00pm

Open Training (Hørsholmsgade)

DEEP DIVE

THURSDAY 11/4

9.00am-12.30pm

Inbal Ben Haim and Domitille Martin, workshop: In the Crossfield of Circus and Visual Arts! (AFUK) DEEP DIVE

FRIDAY 12/4

4.00pm-6.30pm

Open Training (Hørsholmsgade)

DEEP DIVE

SATURDAY 13/4

3.00pm

Company Cikaros, sharing: Making Space / Conceptions of Space (AFUK)

DEEP DIVE

MONDAY 15/4

4.00pm-5.30pm

Open Training (Hørsholmsgade)

DEEP DIVE

5.00pm

CIRCUS SALON (AFUK) DEEP DIVE

TUESDAY 16/4

4.45pm-18.15pm

Karen Bourre and Julien Lanaud, workshop for children: Exploring the Universe of Juggling! (AFUK/ØRKENFORTET)

DEEP DIVE

WEDNESDAY 17/4

9.30am-12.00pm

Open Training (Hørsholmsgade)

DEEP DIVE

1.00pm-3.00pm

Alice Rende, workshop: Flexibility and expressive movement (AFUK)

DEEP DIVE

FRIDAY 19/4

9.30am-11.00am

Johannes Bauhofer, workshop: Object manipulation in movement (AFUK) DEEP DIVE

4.00pm-6.30pm

Open Training (Hørsholmsgade)

DEEP DIVE

DEEP DIVE

All DEEP DIVE ACTIVITIES (Open Training excepted) are free of charge, but you need to sign up for them. See how on p. 14.

OPEN TRAINING

For only 90 kr.!

For those of you who participate in one of the DEEP DIVE ACTIVIES, or have bought a ticket for a performance:

Join OPEN TRAINING at the price of only 90 kr. during the festival – both long and the short sessions!

Come join us – do not miss out, grab the chance to get back on the floor – or maybe to experience the joy of the training community for the very first time?

The offer is valid 8th-19th of April, Mondays 4.00 pm-5.30 pm, Wednesdays 9.30 am-12:00 am and Fridays 4.00 pm-6.30 pm. And please note: We ask you to sign up in advance by writing to deep.dive.tilmelding@gmail.com.

Address:

Hørsholmsgade 20 (HOTSTEPPER), Opg. A, 1. sal, 2200 Copenhagen N

Photo: Francesca Chudnoff

ROOT DIVING WORKSHOP

Alexandre Fray, Un loup pour l’Homme: You, me, us: Re-considering roles in hand-to-hand

8_april_3.30pm-6.00pm_ AFUK

In this edition of DEEP DIVE, we embark on another round of ROOT DIVING!

A program feature that offers significant encounters with luminaries of contemporary circus: Artists who have left their mark on the European stage over the years.

This year, the spotlight is on Alexandre Fray, the artistic director of the legendary circus company Un loup pour l’Homme.

In this workshop, Alexandre will share the experiments with which he has explored the complexities of roles in hand-to-hand acrobatics over time. Based on an introduction to his unique approach to care in his practice, this workshop will make room for new insights regarding our notions of responsibility, limits, consent - and a possible redefinition of the usual roles: passive/active, following/leading, victim/executioner. In order to unleash potential dramaturgical aspects of hand-to-hand.

READ MORE ABOUT ALEXANDRE ON P. 6-7

TARGET GROUP: : Mixed, both professional circus artists, students from AFUK, other types of performing artists.

Photo: Valérie Frossard

11_april_9.00am-12.30pm + 2.00pm-5.30pm_ AFUK

TARGET GROUP:

READ MORE ABOUT INBAL AND DOMITILLE ON P. 4-5

WORKSHOP

Inbal Ben Haim and Domitille Martin: In the Crossfield of Circus and Visual Arts!

Mixed, both professional circus artists, students at AFUK, other types of performing artists – plus visual artists/designers/ scenographers and others working visually with materials, as professionals or as part of their studies.

Inbal Ben Haim, circus artist, and Domitille Martin, visual artist and scenographer, have been cooperating for more than five years. During this time, they have initiated a series of projects that have all had focus on the cross-fertilization between circus and visual arts. And with a focus on body, material, and space, they have jointly developed a unique working method that both acknowledges and challenges their respective artistic foundations.

Taking point of departure in paper as material, they will introduce the workshop participants to these work methods and explore the potential for inspiration between these two art forms further.

The paper used will be recycled from the performance PLI, which is presented at C!CAF the day before.

Photo: Loic Nys

SHARING Company Cikaros: Making Space / Conceptions of Space

The Danish Company will share with us the creation process of Making Space / Conceptions of Space – a circus choreographic and philosophical work on body, space, and architecture!

Two women work with a scenography consisting of two movable metal structures and a wooden box. The scenography creates spaces, and the bodies engage with these spaces.

They improvise abstract stories within concrete, minimalist choreographies, balance on the edge, hang from the top, lean against the corner, stand on each other. They investigate the scenography as a prop, the prop as a space, and the space as a place. They work in the gaps and expose the spaces we might not otherwise see.

Since 2005, Cikaros has been working on circus choreographic works where they play with a physical language inspired by various disciplines – with bodily precision and philosophical undertones.

Performers: Signe Løve Anderskov and Henriette Aarup

Choreographer: Marie Topp

Photo: Cikaros

(SHARING + TALK)

TARGET GROUP:

Open to everyone!

13_april_3.00pm-4.15pm_

JOIN US FOR AN INDUSTRY EVENT AT AFUK!

CIRKUS SALON

Standing on the shoulders of former circus salons, and inspired by the current focal points of the industry, we invite you to an open conversation and reflection salon on resilience and vulnerability, initiated by a few selected voices from the circus community – and followed by a communal meal.

We will send out further information in newsletters, on ccaf.nu, and on social media. Stay tuned!

We look forward to seeing you there!

TARGET

GROUP:

Open to everyone!

15_april_5.00pm_ AFUK

Photo: Less Kuerdas in circusnext Lab, Oct. 2023, by Jean-Léo Bost

16_ april_ 4.45pm-6.15pm_

WORKSHOP

Karen Bourre and Julien Lanaud, Opopop: Exploring the Universe of Juggling!

In this workshop, the universe of juggling is explored – now from a child’s perspective:

In close contact with various objects such as balls, scarves, plastic bags, bounce balls, and hula hoops, participants will explore basic juggling techniques – as well as the handling and balancing of objects.

Juggling has the advantage that, unlike many other circus disciplines, it allows for concrete and rapid progress. Therefore, it is possible for everyone to play and contribute with their own creativity!

TARGET GROUP:

The children’s class at Ørkenfortet – as well as a handful of children from outside – age 8+

READ MORE ABOUT KAREN AND JULIEN ON P. 8-9

Photo: Cie Opopop

> 17_ april _1.00pm-3.00pm_ AFUK

How can you create authentic movement by utilizing and expanding the flexibility you already possess?

And from what starting point, and with what tools, can we explore the joints’ properties and limitations – regardless of age and physical background?

These are the kinds of questions that drive this practice-based contortion workshop. Alice will present a range of strategies for strengthening the specific authentic flexibility that each of us possesses, and together we will explore its expressive potential – all while maintaining the body’s healthy and sustainable alignment.

TARGET GROUP:

Mixed, both professional circus artists, students at AFUK

+ other types of performing artists, who wish to work on their flexibility and mobility in general.

The exercises will be adapted to each participant, there are no minimum requirements for participation

Alice Rende: Flexibility and expressive movement

Photo: Christophe Raynaud de Lage

Johannes Bauhofer (Los Putos Makinas): Object manipulation in movement

READ MORE ABOUT JOHANNES ON P. 12-13

How can objects be incorporated into acrobatic practice?

In this workshop, we will search for new ways to add object manipulation to movement – and vice versa. How do we gain full control over the object while simultaneously setting the body free? And how do we maintain spatial awareness? We will work in groups, duos, and solo, and we will investigate new qualities and energies in different tricks and sequences. We will show, share, and create together.

The techniques learned in this workshop can be applied to both traditional juggling equipment as well as everyday objects.

TARGET GROUP:

Mixed, both experienced circus artists specialized in juggling and students at AFUK

9.30pm-11.00pm

> 19 april

Photo: Juliane Kunzendorf and Luke Burrage

C!CAF CREDITS THANK YOU

Artistic director and curator:

Kitt Johnson

Technical director:

Nils Engelbrecht-Sørensen

KanonProdukton

Chief technician:

Mogens Kjempff

Producer:

Sarah Garde

Producer, Dansehallerne:

Sebastian Nervil

Koordinator af DEEP DIVE:

Stine Degerbøl

Festival assistant:

Marie Topp

Graphic design:

Nete Banke, Imperiet.dk

Technicians:

Per Lydersen,

Emil Vodder Kristensen

Brian Cord`Homme

Ariellah Winther

Sven De Løvenbo Christoffersen

Peter Kapabel

Nikolaj Roed Klüver

Big thank you to our fantastic partners: C!CAF is presented in collaboration with Dansehallerne.

All DEEP DIVE ACTIVITIES are coordinated in cooperation with Akademiet for Utæmmet Kreatvitet (AFUK).

And for indispensable support, sharing of ideas and knowledge: Dansk Samtids Cirkus, DYNAMO WORKSPACE, Sebastian Nervil, Stine Pilmark, Rie Hammer, Monna Dithmer, Hvidovre Avis, Christianshavneren, De Glade Gimper, X-acts bestyrelse: Flemming Madsen, Lene Bang, Annette Skov, Traudi Palsbøll, Søren Friis Møller samt Statens Kunstfonds Projektstøtteudvalg for Scenekunst, Wilhelm Hansen Fonden, Københavns Kommunes Kultur- og Fritidsudvalg, Dansk Artist Forbund, Nordea-fonden og Scandic.