The International Contemporary circus and street art festival “Re Riga!” taking place from August 23 to 25 invites you to experience a hedonistic celebration on the edge of civilization and wilderness, visit autonomously created world with eight fans that create wind and make plastic bags dance in the air, participate in a literal blow up of the traditional ideas of circus and enjoy impressive acrobatic tricks, as well as spunky humor combined with poetic force.
The festival team has recently visited a large number of international festivals and conferences, choosing the most interesting artists who represent different countries and trends in contemporary circus. Performances will be provided in various formats – from special solo performances for a very limited auditory to large public screenings of street performances in outdoor spaces.
The festival’s main guest is SVALBARD from Sweden, who will perform their show “All genius all idiot” on 25th August at 19:00, in Riga Congress Center. The show is a hedonistic celebration on the border of civilization and wilderness, circus and music, human and animal, a journey between this and other worlds. The performance promises to blow up the traditional notions of what circus is.
The company “CIE NON NOVA” from France will perform their show “Windy afternoon” on August 23 and 24 in “Zirgu Pasts” – a theater space entitled “Mail of horses” owned by Latvian Academy of Culture. The show is an autonomously created world with the help of eight fans that provide wind and make plastic bags dance. The impossible becomes possible. The performance – installation was initially created for the Festival of Science held by the Natural History Museum in Nantes, France and since then it has gained public attention at the circus festivals around the world.
The company “15ft6” from Belgium will perform their show “Dynamite & Poetry” in the heart of Riga on August, 24 and 25. Experience the risk and evaluate the challenges and abilities of human body by impressive acrobatics tricks and spunky humor combined with poetic force. The company “15ft6” bring together four young artists – a former athlete, artistic gymnast, who worked in “Cirque du Soleil” and two Belgian Circus Art School (ESAC) graduates. Artists will also present the circus master classes in Latvian Academy of Culture.
Re Riga! festival will be warmed up already in early August by three different performances at various events in the city.
Festival “Piena svētki” on August 6th and 7th will feature two performances:
“Marathon” is a solo performance created by Sébastien Wojdan. The artist performs alone in the ring with the passion of a boxer and keenness of a long-distance runner, he will remind us of our heroic childlike enthusiasm and examine what happened with our childhood dreams.
The show “Breaking Point” studies tensions that arise in different situations, thanks to the people’s expectations and habit, even in relation to everyday objects.
During the Riga City Festival a company “EN DICIEMBRE” will perform their show “Pursuii” on August 13th in a very cozy and creative place of Riga suburbs – Kalnciema quarter. Sylvia Capella, whose circus discipline is air swing, especially for this show has acquired and will demonstrate circus wheel and Chinese pole.
Contemporary circus is a genre where various forms of artistic expressions are synthesized intelligently: it includes theatre, acrobatics, contemporary dance, poetry and others, but most importantly contemporary circus is a well- told story.
Re Riga! Festival’s creative director Martins Kibers comments: “To paraphrase the old joke about the circus and clowns in contemporary circus, it can be said that – the circus left, but the story remained. And certainly we must not forget about the miracle and joy that has always been among the present and basic intonations of circus. This notion affects the audience and leaves a footprint in the place visited by contemporary circus, in this case – Riga!”
Contemporary circus performances take place in Riga since 2013 – the organizers have so far brought more than 70 artists from 14 countries and watched by 25 000 spectators. See you in the Re Riga! Festival of 2016.
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