As A Tiger In The Jungle

A performance inspired by the lives and destiny of our performers Renu and Aman, and their experiences as rescued child circus slaves in India. But also from other Nepalese children being trafficked into slavery in Indian traditional circus. From 2002, when this was discovered, over 700 children have been discovered and rescued. Still between 1000 and 2000 children are believed to be kept in bonded labour in Indian traditional circuses.

In 2013 producer Ali Williams spent a year working as the Creative Director of Circus Kathmandu. Circus Kathmandu was a group of 13 young men and women who all were rescued from Indian circuses, including our performers, Renu and Aman.

Sverre Waage was invited to come to Kathmandu to meet and have a workshop with the newly formed circus company. That was the start of a collaboration with the aim to build bridges between the developing circus environment in Kathmandu and the International community of performing art producers and programmers in Norway, UK and Europe.

The first main achievement is the production and touring of As a Tiger in The Jungle, representing the international partnership of prize-winning director and play-writer Sverre Waage (Norway) and Ali Williams (Wales), co-founder and former creative producer of NofitState Circus.

Ali and Sverre have been working with the two Nepalese circus artists, Renu and Aman, since 2016. As a Tiger in The Jungle is a unique fusion of Asian and European performance, circus and music. Original music score composed by Per Zanussi.

With: Renu Ghalan Tamang (Nepal), Aman Tamang (Nepal) & Loan TP Hoang (Vietnam/Norway)

Text, Script and Direction: Sverre Waage (Norway)
Music: Per Zanussi (Norway/Italy)
Musicians in studio: Harpreet Bansal (India/Norway), Sanskriti Shrestha (Nepal/Norway) & Per Zanussi (Norway/Italy)

Creative Production Manager: Ali Williams (Wales)

Set - & Costume Design: Rhi Matthews (Wales)
Set - & Circus Rig Design: Tarn Aitken (England)
Light design: Leif LePage (France/Wales)
Assist choreography: Hanna Filomen Mjåvatn (Philippines/Norway) Assist circus skills: Mish Weaver (England)

Producers: Sverre Waage (Norway) & Ali Williams (Wales)

Funded by: Arts Council Norway, Arts Council Wales, FFLB, FFUK, Spenn, DTS/UD/stikk.no.

Supported by: PIT, Bærum Kulturhus, nofitstate, Pontio, Black E, Chora Chori Nepal, SAMPAD

BASTARD/amber

Amber has her own special place. Here the rope she loves to climb is hanging, and while she climbs she reflects about how her body and brain functions and why? Do hands and feet have their own memory? Or is it the mind deciding everything?

25 minutes of circus and text in a perfect blend. For children over 3 years and families.

Direction, script and text: Sverre Waage
Music: Nils Økland
Performer: Karoline Aamås (in Norwegian, Portuguese, English and Icelandic) or Hege Eriksdatter Østefjells (in Norwegian and English) or Naomi Bratthammar (in Norwegian) or Viivi Roiha (in French and Finnish)

Amber (Bastard, original title) has toured in Norway, Sweden, Finland, France, Portugal, Madagascar and Iceland. Translated into Finnish, French, Portuguese, English and Icelandic.

Amber can come with the circus tent, play the indoor version or site-specific in a park, forest – whereever it's possible to hang a rope safely minimum 5m over the ground. The audience gather close around the 3m in diameter performance space. Amber was originally created for our tiny circus tent and the circus performer Karoline Aamås.

the circus village

The Circus Village, our mobil international festival and circus centre did the first pilot tour in 2007, and since The Circus Village has been rigged for 36 festivals from 2007-2019. Of that amount 2 of them have been outside Norway: a Nordic Circus Village (Volcano Circus Festival) in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 2013, and The Circus Lab EEA project with a Circus Village in Viseu, Portugal, in 2015. All together more than 540 festival days over these years.

We create and produce festivals, performances, residencies, workshops, labs, community projects etc.

We lobby toward a governmental funded infrastructure of contemporary circus in Norway, and for the local, regional and national government to include circus in their cultural agenda.

We take part in international networks for development in the field of production, creation and presentation of contemporary circus.

We can offer 6 circus tents for a mobile festival and circus centre with a total audience capacity of 1200 in our 4 circus tents for creating and presenting performances. We also have spaces for residency, workshops, labs, seminars etc. Accommodation with kitchen available. We can contribute with an artistic experience in creating, producing and presenting performing art, circus art and new circus since 1982, and knowledge of the history and theory of circus and contemporary circus in general, also as part of the general development of the modern performing art - live art and contemporary performing art in special.

Send any and all inquiries to sverre@cirkusxanti.no!

pluto crazy

Cirkus Xanti

Text, script and direction: Sverre Waage

Co-production: Sirkus Aikamoinen

Sincerely to the hearts!

English translation of Vilpittömästi Sydämeen, Tomi Purovaara

The multitalented theatre person and the pioneer of the Norwegian contemporary circus Sverre Waage brought to Jyväskylä festival his energetic and playful combination of reality and dreams. The reality and circus has winded together also in his previous direction works, for example in Trollprinsen (2004-5) which was awarded  the national Hedda prize.

Waage´s Circus Xanti and Sirkus Aikamoinen co-produced this new piece Pluto Crazy, starring the artists of Aikamoinen.

The tension of the performance is created between the everyday reality and the dream world. The story begins with a circus reality scene which presents the artists as ordinary human beings. The arena is about to wake up for a circus when the red curtain falls down from the ceiling.

The highlight of the serial of circus numbers is the bearded drag-character (Oskar Rask) wearing red dress and dancing shoes, demonstrating the quality of circus: the multilayered play of seduction with body and sex, makes you laugh – and takes your breath.

The innocent, straight to the heart targeted energy of the Aikamoinen team holds the spectator in a tight grip all through the show. The eyes of the viewers are opened to the miracles: the eyes, pointed towards the audience that Sade Kamppila paints to the back of her palms of the hand, remain in the minds of the viewers all the way to home.

In the end the arena transforms into a dream-like vision of the world. The acrobat flies across the air. Underneath her , move the beeping mechanic little mice and the good-humoured jongleurs.  The world of Waage and Aikamoinen is a place answering to the questions of art and being – even to those questions that we haven´t been able to even ask.

Tomi Purovaara is a freelance circus writer and a cultural adviser. In 2002-2012 he worked as the initiator and the managing director of Cirko Center for New Circus in Helsinki. Launched in May 2011 the National Circus Center CIRKO offers rehearsal, residency, performance and festival premises for the Finnish circus community. Purovaara was also one of the founders and the first director of the Finnish Circus Information Center in 2006-2011. Since 2003 he has written several articles and 3 books on circus. The newest one, Contemporary Circus. An introduction to the art form was published in English in January 2012 by the Stockholm University. Purovaara is a member of the Committee for Stage Arts in the Arts Council of Finland. Since 2006 he has been an Expert in the assessment panels of the EU Culture Program applications.