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News • Helsinki • Finland • 2013-03-13

Contemporary circus to wow audiences at Cirko Festival 2013

Running in Helsinki and surrounds from 8th –12th of May, the Cirko Festival has just unveiled its programme for 2013. The event will showcase both top international acts and Finnish premieres, introducing the most current offerings of contemporary circus. The five-day event will be hosted at Cirko – Center for New Circus in Suvilahti, Stoa in Eastern Helsinki and Louhisali in Espoo, Finland.

The opening show, Circo Aereo\'s new performance \"Light Blue and Orange\", leads its audience into the glamorous world of cabaret. The mysterious and traditionsteeped art of hair hanging swings into the audience’s consciousness with the Finnish premiere of Capilotractées from Sanja Kosonen and Elice Abonce Muhonen. Then the C’ensemble – a group of Finnish theatre and circus professionals – will presents their very first appearance.

The cream of international festival performers is represented this year by the British “Gandini Juggling” group with their visually captivating performance “Smashed”. Combining theatre, dance and juggling, this collaborative piece is bound to fascinate its audience. Renowned American juggler Jay Gilligan will also present a world premiere with his experimental and explorative performance \"Prototype\". Meanwhile, the Norwegian-French group Magmanus explore new techniques while attempting to disrupt the laws of gravity with their counter-intuitive and hell-bent endeavour “Attached\".

Amid all the excitement, Finnish company WHS present their 10-year celebration performance of the much-loved piece “Odotustila” or “Waiting Room”. This show has conquered the world\'s stages for a decade, becoming a classic of contemporary circus. The line-up also features Agit-Cirk from northern Finland. “Tenho” tests the limits of contemporary circus to breaking point – from brutal strongman stunts to Chinese chair acrobatics – and explores Helsinki’s deepest darkest eastern suburbs with the Periphery project.

Mother\'s Day is celebrated in Suvilahti in form of a Circus Brunch, performances and workshops presented by various circus schools and associations, including Sirkus Magenta, Circus Helsinki and the Linnanmäki Circus School. Jampacked daylight hours full of circus will culminate from Wednesday to Saturday in Festival clubs at Suvilahti’s own Restaurant Lämpö, where patrons can enjoy a good atmosphere, live music and a programme of nightly entertainment.

Cirko Festival is the largest internationally recognised annual contemporary circus festival in the Nordic countries. British newspaper “the Guardian” featured the festival in its list of the “Best European Art Events in 2013”.

Opened in 2011, Cirko – Center for New Circus in Suvilahti, Helsinki is a dedicated circus centre which organises residential activities for circus professionals and produces performances for the public, alongside hosting two annual contemporary circus festivals.

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