Can you imagine a circus show without trapeze artists, animal feats or bumbling clowns?
‘Alchemiya’, an upcoming show by the artist duo of Romain Timmers and Sharanya Rao, breaks the mould of the circus in many ways, beginning with moving the show out of the confines of the pitched tent to a theatrical stage. In fact, this ‘first-of-a-kind’ contemporary circus in India features an eclectic mix of musical fusion, contemporary dance movements, juggling, acrobatics and emoting.
Romain Timmers, director of the show and founder of Compagnie Distil, a modern circus and vertical dance company in the city, believes that the circus is a dying art form the world over in large measure, due to the failure to break free from the time warp.
“The contemporary circus, which is now an established art form in Europe for over two decades, reflects a breaking of the stereotype,” he says.
‘Changing perceptions’
“The idea of the show may well be to provide the audience an escape from the humdrum… even offer viewers an immersive experience with bursts of rhythm, melody and energetic movements. But, having said that, the show at its core is not only about the spectacle or entertainment value but also about changing the audience perception of the circus,” said Mr. Timmers.
Mr. Timmers points out that for all its entertainment value, the traditional circus has been a collage of unconnected live acts. ‘Alchemiya’ is structured in a manner where the acts flow organically and seamlessly from one act to the next.
For the French circus artist settled in the city, the project is a part of a process that initiated 10 years ago while he was working on a juggling solo act, with the starting point being the analogy of the sound of a tabla or a ghatam with the suspension of a bouncing ball.
Mr. Timmer’s first wish was primarily to showcase a performance that would introduce the notion in India of the contemporary circus.
“This performance is a way to build bridges between different art forms, cultures, people, and allow them to exchange, connect, and create a common language which will lay down a base for such art form to evolve and flourish in India,” says Timmers who will be juggling balls, performing dance manoeuvres and playing tabla and the cajon at the show.
The ‘body vocabulary’, as he puts it, will have movements from the repertoire of Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Kalaripayattu.
As his artist collaborator and dancer/movement artist Sharanya Rao puts it: “This performance is about sharing a moment — a moment of transformation of common reality into poetic fiction where the audience sets up a dream-like journey inside the mind of a circus artist.”
According to the artists, the show seeks to transmit the importance of knowing and understanding that there is a modern approach to the circus, far apart “from the old-fashioned, dusty image that it still holds here, with all due respect to the tradition and the artists.” The contemporary circus bears an immense field of possibility and creativity.
Recently, the pitch video for ‘Alchemiya’ was up on the crowdfunding platform Wishberry, targeting seed funds for rehearsals, artists’ residency, lighting and stage props.
“The crowdfunding platform for creative artists follows an all or nothing policy where in case of donations falling short of target the funds are channelled back to donors. Fortunately, ‘Alchemiya’ faced no such predicament as it managed to mobilise in excess of the target,” said Dhruvi Narsaria, Wishberry associate.
The artist duo move to a Bengaluru studio for a three-week residency to finalise the probably hour-long theatrical performance and for set piece rehearsals.
Premiere in January
“We expect to stage the premiere some time in January, hopefully in Auroville,” says Mr. Timmers. When it does go on stage, ‘Alchemiya’ promises to be a mind bender as far as popular perception of the circus goes.
Perhaps, as the message that bookends the Alchemiya YouTube teaser states: “It is important when you first see magic, to recognise it. You don’t often get a second chance.”
