CIRCUS CONCERT: THREADS (2022/2023)

CIRCUS CONCERT: THREADS

sep.

Saturday 13:00

EVENT DATE PASSED

Threads join, threads mend and threads become entangled. Threads can also be made into ropes you can balance on, or strings to play with. Cirkus Cirkör’s poetic acrobatics and new chamber music by composers from the Baltic Sea region come together in a performance where knitted pieces made by people in different countries convey a message of peace. Suitable for all ages.

Participants

Musicians from the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Anders Jonhäll, flute
Niklas Andersson, clarinet
Karin Eriksson, violin
Ann Christin Wingård Ward, viola
Christina Wirdegren Alin, cello
Johan Ullén, piano
Pelle Jacobsson, percussion

Cirkus Cirkör

Cirkör is a non-party political organization founded in 1995 with the aim of transgressing internal and external boundaries within the arts and society through circus. With a focus on interdisciplinary art, education and state-of-the-art technical innovation, Tilde Björfors has been Cirkus Cirkör’s artistic director from its inception. Projects include performances and concepts that tour the world in combination with lectures, workshops and events whereby the art of circus is used in the context of the daily activities within business and industry as well as public and non-profit organisations. Cirkus Cirkör offer courses and educational programmes for people of all ages and physical or mental ability. They also run a national three-year upper-secondary school programme and have contributed to including circus craft and pedagogy in higher education.

Tilde Björfors, concept and director

Tilde Björfors is artistic director of Cirkus Cirkör, which she cofounded in 1995. She has been involved in creative work, performance, training and management within the industry for over 25 years. Tilde has been a driving force when it comes to establishing contemporary circus as an artistic discipline in Sweden.

By following her vision to combine the performing arts with research and science, and by creating clashes between genres and art disciplines, she has turned Cirkus Cirkör into a unique combination of world leading performing arts company, educational institution and social activist organisation.

Over the years, she has combined contemporary circus with higher education and the establishment of a circus-oriented upper-secondary school programme, activities for children and young people, scientific research and social commitment in a unique way; always with the intention to cross boundaries and invite clashes between art disciplines and genres. Not only has it placed Cirkus Cirkör at the cutting edge on the international stage, it has also made the company a force to reckon with in society. Tilde Björfors has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Expressen theatre prize and the Swedish Theatre Critics Association’s theatre prize in 2016 as well as the European Movement in Sweden’s European of the Year award in 2017. In 2018, Tilde and Cirkus Cirkör received the Premio Europa per il Teatro, the Europe Prize New Theatrical Realities XV award and the Swedish King’s Medal 8th size.

Alexander Weibel Weibel concept and direction

Alexander Weibel Weibel is a Spanish circus artist specialising in balancing acts that include balancing on ropes and wires as well as balancing objects on his person. He can even play the violin at the same time. Alexander trained at a circus school in Madrid before attending the National Circus School of Moscow and the Stockholm School of Dance and Circus where he was awarded the Sophie Hulthén grant for circus artists.

Alexander has appeared at and toured festivals throughout Europe. Awards include the jury’s prize at the Cirque De Demain in Paris 2011, the Innovation Prize at the IV Circus Festival of Albacete and the audience’s prize at the Newcomer Show in Leipzig.

His first encounter with a Swedish audience took place during the pre-production Knitted Piece that was later developed into Knitting Peace, directed by Tilde Björfors. Alexander has participated in Satyagraha and other Cirkus Cirkör productions. He has also directed the school production Trassligt for Cirkus Cirkör and he has been assistant director in other productions.

Johannes Ferm Winkler, visuals

The video artist Johannes Ferm Winkler has made video scenography for, among other things, Ålevangeliet directed by Tobias Thorell at the Folkoperan (2022), The Emperor of Portugallia directed by Pontus Stenshäll at Gothenburg City Theater (2021), Hedwig and the angry inch directed by Dritëro Kasapi in Malmö Stadsteater, Riksteatern and Malmö Opera (2020), In Search of Lost Time with script & direction by Maja Salomonsson & Nina Jeppsson at Orionteatern (2019), The Nether directed by Lena Endre at Dramaten (2017) and to the Nobel Banquet directed by Visual Relief and Devine Opera (2013).

Marina Cherry, artist

Gustaf Rosell, artist

Baha Swidan, artist

Matilda Hyttsten, costume

About the concert

Works by nine contemporary composers from Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine and Russia feature in the contemporary circus productions Threads and Glass that will be performed during the Baltic Sea Festival family day. This is Cikus Cirkör’s Baltic Sea Festival debut, and it is the first time the work exclusively with art music. Concept and direction by Alexander Weibel Weibel and Tilde Björfors.
“We are so pleased with this collaboration, meeting across boundaries and disciplines is always incredibly exciting.”
Threads has some similarities with Cirkör’s internationally acclaimed Knitting Peace from 2013.
“We will use yarn as a metaphor, and we will be moving in a similar setting while the aesthetic expression is new and different,” says Alexander Weibel Weibel. Threads and yarn can be used to clearly show how people deal with life and themselves. Some are straightforward and know what they want, others tend to complicate and make a mess of everything. Threads also connect things. People’s actions today can lead to consequences later in life. It may not be obvious, but it is the idea behind the work.”
Video installations by Johannes Ferm Vinkler in combination with the music create a special ambience.
“Images are important as we have no other scenery on stage. For example, we show footage of the We Knit for Peace in connection with Knitting Peace.”
Threads is a lighthearted, fun production. Glass is suitable for all ages, but it is more aesthetic and pared down. Different types of glass are used on stage, and machine meets the physical body in the form of a circus crane that enable the artists to fly.
“Glass is a good way of showing the contrast between hard and fragile, as when the body encounters the 5.5-metre-tall steel fork.”
Alexander Weibel Weibel recommends the audience to visit both performances as they will be very different. When this interview was made, he and Tilde Björfors were still in the middle of the creative process, so the music that will be used was played non-stop at home.
“Some of the music really resonates with me, such as “Dance in in Red” by Zita Bruzaite. As soon as I hear it, I want to see someone fly. Others are more difficult to take in, Tebogo Monnakgotla’s “Toys”, for example. It’s crazy to listen to, but I think it will really work on stage.”
Around ten members of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra will be present on stage during both performances.
“Unfortunately, they don’t take part in the circus acts, but we will make sure to have some kind of interaction with them.”