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Great audience reaction
from C-12 Dance Theatre's fantastic show Trolleys
While most people might be out doing their weekly shop on a Saturday afternoon, the shopping trolleys assembled in Bell Square last week were being put to a much better use.
from C-12 Dance Theatre's fantastic show Trolleys
While most people might be out doing their weekly shop on a Saturday afternoon, the shopping trolleys assembled in Bell Square last week were being put to a much better use.
They were playing a starring role in Trolleys, a stunning contemporary dance work by C-12 Dance Theatre which was performed twice to a fantastic audience. Both shows were incredibly well received and we had a lovely tweet from someone in the audience.
Visited my first @BellSquareLDN event and @C12DANCETHEATRE were amazing. Look forward to the next show in couple of weeks.#hounslow #entertainment #highstreet
— Vinal K Karania (@vkkarania) June 2, 2018
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We also filmed the event by doing a Facebook Live broadcast which has been viewed a lot since the event and it also captures some of the crowd feedback - a lot of 'Oohs', 'Aaaahs' and 'Encores' as you will see (and hear) in the video below.
So what is Trolleys?
The story is a simple one - five shopping trolleys randomly appear and two of them meet and fall in love.
Moved by the dancers, the trolleys spin, glide and slide and this is highly physical - we've never seen dancers spinning trolleys before and we've seen a lot! It's a humorous outdoor performance where high-octane contemporary dance, acrobatics and street dance merge with the extraordinary world of trolleys. It's also quite breathtaking and absorbing with maximum use made of the outdoor space.
If you enjoyed coming along or watching the video, we look forward to seeing you at our next show - Sur Mesure: Sat 16 June, 1pm & 3pm
To keep up with upcoming events, visit our What’s On pages here. And if you are attending Bell Square events – don’t forget to share your experiences on social media using the #BellSquareLDN hash tag.
Let's celebrate 250 years of circus!
FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Introduction
2018 is the 250th anniversary of the circus and we’ll be celebrating with some fabulous events at Bell Square this summer!
The Birth of Circus
Despite circus being mentioned in Greek and Roman times, the word really only referred to the ‘circular’ amphitheatres used for public performances. Circus as we know it started in London in 1768.
FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Introduction
2018 is the 250th anniversary of the circus and we’ll be celebrating with some fabulous events at Bell Square this summer!
The Birth of Circus
Despite circus being mentioned in Greek and Roman times, the word really only referred to the ‘circular’ amphitheatres used for public performances. Circus as we know it started in London in 1768.
Philip Astley left his home town of Newcastle-under-Lyme at the age of 17 to join the Light Dragoons cavalry regiment. He had always loved horses and proved to be an outstanding horseman in the army. Seven years later, having reached the rank of Sergeant-Major, he left the army and was given his favourite horse, Gibraltar, as a leaving gift.
In 1768, finding a patch of waste land (now under Waterloo Station), he drew a circle on the ground. Here, he and his wife Patty taught riding in the morning and put on shows for the public in the afternoon. Along with horseback acrobatics, he presented clowns and jugglers, and his wife Patty rode a horse surrounded by a swarm of bees! The circus, as we know it today, was born.
A year later, he acquired a better site near Westminster Bridge and set up a circus with 3-tiered wooden seating (just as we have at Bell Square today!). The shows became more elaborate with fireworks, and acts including a man and a dog on a tightrope.
These spectacular shows started to tour around the UK and Astley built several permanent amphitheatres which were just as intricate and ornate as the theatres and opera houses of the time.
Within a few years of 1768, many new circuses set up, usually run by circus families such as Barnum’s, and quickly spread across Europe and then onto America. They became a huge commercial success, attracting many thousands of people to their performances. They continued to develop, with animals such as big cats and elephants joining in the early 1800s, and freak shows later.
The start of ‘Contemporary Circus’
In the 1970s, ‘contemporary circus’ emerged as a reaction to this traditional form of circus with its animals, ringmasters and suchlike, all in a ‘big top’ tent. Contemporary circus still brings us the clowns, the trapeze artists, the jugglers, the high-wire acts - the skills and daring that we associate with circus. It still has all the flying, the falling, the fear and the beauty, the gasps and the cheers.
But it has spread its wings, finding a place in parks, in theatres, on a piece of waste land, and on the street. It has broadened its form, sometimes including a narrative, and often combining with other artforms such as dance, or theatre, or big sculptural structures.
But at its heart, it is still about the astounding skills of the performers - and the awe and wonder of their audience.
The Circus at Bell Square
This summer, some of the finest contemporary circus companies in Europe will perform at Bell Square in celebration of its 250th anniversary. With London being the birthplace of this fabulous artform, where better to celebrate!
From France, from Belgium and from here in the UK, with all their different styles, scales and skills, these companies show the diversity of circus in 2018.
In June, we welcome Sur Mesure from Belgium with their dazzling acrobatics and live band.
In July, we have the fabulous Gandinis, combining juggling and dance - and taking juggling to completely new heights.
In August, come and see the high-wire artists of Cirque Rouages tell their story of lost love.
And in September, watch one of the UK’s most exciting circus companies, Ockham’s Razor, surf and ride their beautiful wooden structure in The Belly of the Whale.
An exhibition of Circus
And when the performances are over, the circus keeps on going! From the autumn, a new exhibition telling the story of circus from 250 years ago to the present day will tour Hounslow’s libraries.
This fascinating exhibition has been created by Cathy Haill, the circus historian at the V&A, especially for Hounslow.
It has been commissioned by Creative People & Places Hounslow in collaboration with the Borough’s Libraries. Follow CPP Hounslow twitter to be the first to find out more - @CPPHounslow
So, roll up, roll up the circus is coming to town!
And if you are attending Bell Square events – don’t forget to share your experiences on social media using the #BellSquareLDN hash tag.
2018 Circus performances at Bell Square
16 June, 1.00pm & 3.00pm: Sur Mesure - Fillage
28 July, 1.00pm & 3.00pm: Gandini Juggling and Seeta Patel Dance Company - Sigma
25 August, 8.00pm: Cirque Rouages - …Sodade…
8 September, check website for times: Ockham’s Razor - The Belly of the Whale.
For full details, visit our What’s On pages here.
A VIEW FROM BELL SQUARE’S ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: THE ROLE OF THE CHOREOGRAPHER IN OUR NEXT SHOW, ‘TROLLEYS’
Introduction
On Saturday 2 June, the hugely successful, international touring show, Trolleys, comes to Bell Square. Bizarrely, the idea for this show came out of an advert for Riva Coffee that Australian choreographer Shaun Parker made in 2007!
Introduction
On Saturday 2 June, the hugely successful, international touring show, Trolleys, comes to Bell Square. Bizarrely, the idea for this show came out of an advert for Riva Coffee that Australian choreographer Shaun Parker made in 2007!
So how does a choreographer develop these ideas?
Trolleys
Part dance. Part ballet. Five guys on shopping trolleys perform an extraordinary outdoor spectacle. Choreographed by Shaun Parker, and performed by London-based C-12 Dance Theatre, Trolleys enthrals and amazes.
Five shopping trolleys randomly appear on the Square. Two meet and fall in love. Another has an argument with a stranger who then becomes a friend. Three others revolt and ignite a dance of anarchy.
Set to pounding electro-acoustic music, the trolleys spin, glide and slide in a show that is both heart-warming and heart-breaking at the same time.
The show is an international collaboration between C-12 Dance Theatre, a company based in East London, and Shaun Parker who lives and works in Sydney.
The role of the choreographer
A choreographer designs and creates dance, as a composer writes music or a writer creates a play. The choreographer specifies the movements of the dancers, and the speed, energy and feel of the dance piece. As dance does not usually have a spoken text, the choreographer creates a piece of dance that conveys emotions or tells a story through movement.
The choreographer then directs rehearsals, teaching the dancers how to perform the various sequences of movement in the piece.
Shaun Parker
Shaun Parker was initially a very successful dancer, touring internationally with some of Australia’s leading dance companies and national theatre companies.
After 17 years of performing around the world - and experiencing the work of many choreographers - he decided to return home to Sydney to work as a choreographer himself. He says: ‘With choreography, I never chose it; it chose me’. He goes on to explain: ‘I was about 36 and I thought: I have to do my own thing and set up my own company.’
So in 2010, Shaun Parker & Company was born. Now, he is an award-winning choreographer whose work has included film, television, and live dance shows in iconic venues such as the Sydney Opera House. He has also worked commercially on music videos and advertising campaigns.
His TV advert for Australian-brand Riva Coffee (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgNsFFbFfeM) wowed TV and cinema viewers, as four dancers danced with their supermarket trolleys, finally reaching for the coffee and sending it down the checkout conveyor belt! Shaun immediately saw the potential to develop this idea into a full-length dance performance. And through connections in London, he hooked up with C-12 Dance Theatre to collaborate on making the new show.
Shaun’s approach as a choreographer
In talking about his approach and style, Shaun says: ‘My work is very human. When I create dance, I want people to be moved and to feel and to think, and to become lost in the performance. I want to use art, dance and music to remind people of their humanness, to celebrate empathy, and to inspire us to strive to become more than society’s limitations placed upon us.’
In an interview with Jodie McNeilly for Tanz Connexions (Dance Connections), Shaun discussed how he sees his work as Australian. ‘What makes my work typically Australian is the physicality of the dancers, which is a signature of most Australian dancers. This has a lot to do with growing up outdoors, doing a lot of sport, being under the sun with all that space. Our dance studios are big and so it is possible to ‘whack up a leg’, making our dances expansive, spacious and hyper physical.’
He also readily admits that he has a naughty sense of humour and this cheekiness is evident in many of his shows!
Trolleys shows all this style and humour and is very demanding for the dancers. Shaun says: ‘Trolleys is very athletic, merging contemporary, acrobatic and street dance with the extraordinary world of trolleys. Soaring patterns of the music visually match the movements of the trolleys. It is very emotive and quite beautiful. Using an everyday, mundane object that takes on human qualities, we tell a story that draws you in’.
Come and see Trolleys at Bell Square on Saturday 2 June 2018 at either 1.00pm or 3.00pm.
We look forward to seeing you there.
To keep up with upcoming events, visit our What’s On pages here.
And if you are attending Bell Square events – don’t forget to share your experiences on social media using the #BellSquareLDN hash tag.
Bell Square starts the season with Akademi performing Sufi:Zen
Well wasn't May 19 just the perfect weather for a Royal Wedding and perhaps even an FA Cup Final? And of course, it was even more perfect for our first event of the year at Bell Square, featuring Akademi and the very popular Sufi:Zen.
You can check out the daytime performance in this Facebook Live video below - unusually the dancers were wearing shoes and the reason was because the black material on the staged area was very hot due to the sun beating down on it all day. The evening event proved to be a bit cooler and we were delighted to host large crowds for both events.
Well wasn't May 19 just the perfect weather for a Royal Wedding and perhaps even an FA Cup Final? And of course, it was even more perfect for our first event of the year at Bell Square, featuring Akademi and the very popular Sufi:Zen.
You can check out the daytime performance in this Facebook Live video below - unusually the dancers were wearing shoes and the reason was because the black material on the staged area was very hot due to the sun beating down on it all day. The evening event proved to be a bit cooler and we were delighted to host large crowds for both events.
We have had some brilliant feedback on social media as well which we are really pleased with such as this tweet from @Kamalpreet
Thinking back to yesterday evening and watching a Sufi dance by @Akademi in #Hounslow, @BellSquareLDN. A cultural experience in 'Hounslow Quality' (as captured in the photo). pic.twitter.com/650FWwL2kT
— kamalpreet (@kamalpreetkb) May 20, 2018
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And this lovely post from @ambikajois on @instagram - please share your great experiences too as we read all the messages sent and love to hear your stories.
Next month we have C-12 Dance Theatre performing Trolleys on Saturday 2 June, 1pm & 3pm
We look forward to seeing you there.
To keep up with upcoming events, visit our What’s On pages here.
And if you are attending Bell Square events – don’t forget to share your experiences on social media using the #BellSquareLDN hash tag.
From our Artistic Director: A Preview of the Spring & Summer Season
Come to an amazing array of outdoor performance from the UK & abroad. Bell Square returns for 2018 with a packed programme of amazing outdoor performance.
From May to August, you can see 8 world-class shows at our permanent outdoor arts space in Hounslow.
These extraordinary shows come from some of the best artists in the UK and from across Europe – in the first few months, we have shows from France and Italy, Belgium and Catalonia, as well as from the UK. The programme also brings many other influences from around the world, including international choreographers and different cultural styles.
Come to an amazing array of outdoor performance from the UK & abroad. Bell Square returns for 2018 with a packed programme of amazing outdoor performance.
From May to August, you can see 8 world-class shows at our permanent outdoor arts space in Hounslow.
These extraordinary shows come from some of the best artists in the UK and from across Europe – in the first few months, we have shows from France and Italy, Belgium and Catalonia, as well as from the UK. The programme also brings many other influences from around the world, including international choreographers and different cultural styles.
They also bring a wonderful mix of dance, theatre, music and circus. 2018 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of circus in London – and we will join in the national celebrations throughout the year with our own programme of contemporary circus at Bell Square.
Most importantly, this new programme of events will bring together our local communities to laugh, play, watch in awe - and contemplate the stories of life that affect us all.
And to do this together in our public space, where everyone is welcome to come along and watch for free.
The season opens on 19 May with the return of Hounslow favourites, Akademi, with their renowned show, Sufi Zen. This beautiful dance performance explores the stillness of Zen monks and the passion of Sufi mystics. Evoking a cultural landscape that extends from Persia to Japan, Sufi Zen exists in a world of contrasts, of calmness and energy, and ice and fire.
June is then all about fun! London-based C-12 Dance Theatre bring their show, Trolleys. A collaboration with famed Australian choreographer, Shaun Parker, Trolleys is part dance, part ballet, and part outdoor spectacle – it is a ballet for five shopping trolleys! This is high octane contemporary dance, acrobatics and street dance, merged with the extraordinary world of trolleys!
Then the circus comes to town. Sur Mesure from Belgium bring their show, Fillage, combining circus and live music in a show set on a sunny afternoon at the beach. Sax, trumpet, trombone, guitar, singing, and even an enormous sousaphone, accompany the fun and frolics, juggling and acrobatics - and all on a giant trampoline!
At the end of June, urban dance hits Bell Square from St Etienne in France. Cie Dyptik perform D-Construction, a show that questions the profound nature of social links in public space. What unites us? What separates us? What federates us? And to what extent are we able to question territories, borders and institutions? The show is performed on a giant cage, with the audience up close, in the midst of the action.
In July, we welcome back Insectotropics, the outstanding Catalan company that brought their dark retelling of Red Riding Hood to Bell Square in 2015. Using their trademark mix of digital projections, live painting and performance, The Legend of the Burning Man tells the story of Mohammed Bouazizi who sparked the Arab Spring when he set himself on fire in protest at the authorities in Tunisia. The show examines the spread of news across the internet, how social media offers partial and self-interested perspectives, and how public opinion and feelings are manipulated. Who controls what we believe?
Next up is Gandini Juggling, a London-based company led by Sean Gandini who make extraordinary shows, challenging everybody’s assumptions about what juggling can be. The Gandinis often collaborate with other artists and in Sigma, they worked with Seeta Patel, one of the UK’s leading Bharatnatyam dancers, to combine contemporary circus with Indian dance. The rhythms of the dance are reflected in the patterns of the juggling – completely entrancing! We are really delighted to have this show at Bell Square as it was made here in Hounslow, at Watermans, last summer before going to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and scoring a string of 4 and 5 star reviews. Welcome home to this one!
In August, Stalker Teatro come from Turin in Italy for their visit to Bell Square. Stalker work with people to make social theatre. In Steli, the artists and audience work together to build a giant construction of colourful wooden sticks. The project is inspired by how we live in cities today and allows us to build something beautiful together.
On the August bank holiday weekend, we welcome back Cirque Rouages from France with their stunning, night-time circus show. A nostalgic story of love and loss, longing, memories and survival is told by two musicians playing and singing on a huge circus structure of wheels and tightropes. My greatest disappointment last year was when torrential rain stopped this show going ahead at Bell Square – and there were many people who had come to see it who were very disappointed, too. It is a beautiful and completely enchanting performance as dusk fades into darkness - so we decided to try again. This year, the weather is going to be perfect!
Check out the full details at www.bellsquarelondon.com. And let us know what you think of the 2018 programme on twitter @BellSquareLDN or Facebook – BellSquareLDN.
Special thanks to Arts Council England and LB Hounslow for their support of the programme.
From our Artistic Director: Never Work with Animals!
In the depths of winter, the Bell Square events take a break. On these cold, dark February days, my mind often wanders back to the balmy days of summer when we were out on the Square, remembering some of the shows, having chats with the audience, and working with some truly lovely artists. And it also wanders back sometimes to the little things that, just occasionally, didn’t go quite to plan…
In the depths of winter, the Bell Square events take a break. On these cold, dark February days, my mind often wanders back to the balmy days of summer when we were out on the Square, remembering some of the shows, having chats with the audience, and working with some truly lovely artists. And it also wanders back sometimes to the little things that, just occasionally, didn’t go quite to plan….
Never work with animals… ‘Never work with animals’ is good, sage advice for anyone working in the arts. It is a lesson which should be absorbed as soon as possible by anyone starting out in the arts. Whenever I have digressed from this advice, it has always ended badly. A donkey falling off the stage into the orchestra pit. A bat flying loose above the audience. Diana Rigg, playing Cleopatra, wrestling with a hot and feisty snake as she prepared to thrust the ‘asp to her bosom’. I could write a book on this topic, never mind a blog post.
This sage advice, though, never mentioned animals in the audience. When we’re not at Bell Square, we all work at Watermans, the arts centre in Brentford. In a venue, only highly trained and perfectly behaved guide dogs or assistance dogs generally come to events. (There are odd exceptions, of course.)
But out at Bell Square, things are different. Alongside the audience gathered for the event, passers-by often stop to watch what’s going on. And sometimes furry passers-by stop to watch, too…
Dogs There have been many dogs at Bell Square events over the years – large, small, young and a bit giddy, some old and just glad of a lie-down at the side of the Square whilst their owner watches a show. Some join in with a few barks when the audience cheers a circus artist for an impressive performance. But none has put a foot wrong - or a paw.
Cats Cats. I know cats. And I know they have their own minds. Four years of regular events have proven to me that cats do not like outdoor arts – there is never a cat in the audience. Alternatively, there are no cats in Hounslow town centre. Only once did a confident black cat turn the corner onto the Square, hesitate barely a second, then stroll nonchalantly across the performance space – whilst the actors just had to wait.
And others…. But it’s not just cats and dogs. Hounslow is way more interesting than that. The blue and yellow macaw, often seen on the shoulder of its owner walking around the town centre, has been to events sometimes, watching intently. And thankfully silently.
Not all our furry and feathered friends are quite so welcome, however. At the opposite end of the avian spectrum, pigeons make a nuisance of themselves in most urban arts venues. Pigeons alone would fill a chapter in that book I could write. Pigeons just walking straight through the front doors of the venue and up to the bar – regularly. That was in Manchester. Pigeons moving into the roof space and setting up an instant colony. And creating the most shocking and appalling sight of my entire life when I went up to see what was making ‘that strange noise’ above the ceiling. That was also in Manchester. They are particularly bad pigeons up there.
At Bell Square, the local pigeons have generally not been much trouble. There was just one occasion, when a performer, as part of the show, threw handfuls of rice all over the Square. And within seconds, every pigeon in Hounslow descended, en masse, Hitchcock-style, over the audience and the Square. I suppose you could say we brought that (s$*t) on ourselves.
When I write that book, though, I’m sure it will only be Bell Square that has produced a ferret. It was on a lead. It came up to the edge of the performance space calmly, quietly, creating no fuss at all. The show was about to start and a hush had fallen over the audience. The music had started and the quietly enigmatic dancers of Akademi had walked onto the performance space to begin their show, Sufi Zen. Yes, a show about Zen. As the small, creamy coloured weasel paused to watch, a palpable wave of anxiety spread through the audience. All focus on the dancers was lost, and the first person to scream unleashed an unimaginable cacophony of horror and fear from the assembled crowd. The ferret, and its owner, sensing their presence was unwelcome, shuffled off up the High Street. After some time, a suitable calm prevailed and the show could begin…again.
What next? So, Hounslow, who else are you going to bring to the shows this year? There must be some rabbits out there who might like circus?
Happy New Year from Bell Square - a poem from us
Welcome to 2018 and we would like to take the opportunity to share with you another great piece of writing from one of our attendees.
Bell Square Ambassador Catherine watched FlameOz, our last event of 2017, and wrote this joyous, beautiful poem, read it in full below
Welcome to 2018 and we would like to take the opportunity to share with you another great piece of writing from one of our attendees.
Bell Square Ambassador Catherine watched FlameOz, our last event of 2017, and wrote this joyous, beautiful poem, read it in full below
Flame OZ
Tonight was a performance by Flame OZ
It left the crowd in awes
The three fire musketeers
Receive all our cheers
For they filled us with delight
With their amazing fire light
There were pendulums of light
That were a fiery sight
Although their actions seemed random
They moved in tandem
Next was the light sabre
That created many a chamber
Of hearts and butterflies
Mimicking a thousand fireflies
The finale had fountains of light
The sizzling flares
Made everyone forget their cares
Not minding the scorches from torches
Faces in the blaze aglow
As ‘Merry Xmas’ flashed
Their steps matched
Everyone was soon mellow
Voices began to soon bellow
Praises and claps from every fellow
---- ends ----
Thank you again Catherine for your great contribution, we love poetry!
To keep up with upcoming events, visit our What’s On pages here - news of 2018 upcoming events will be announced shortly.
And if you are attending Bell Square events – don’t forget to share your experiences on social media using the #BellSquareLDN hash tag.
A BEAUTIFUL POEM FROM BELL SQUARE AMBASSADOR CATHERINE
Our ever popular Winter Lights event was held at Bell Square recently - and as you can see from the photo gallery it's a dazzling and beautiful for everyone that comes along. As always, it's a free event and everyone is welcome.
One of our Bell Square Ambassadors Catherine came along and was inspired to write this beautiful poem, read it in full below
Our ever popular Winter Lights event was held at Bell Square recently - and as you can see from the photo gallery it's a dazzling and beautiful for everyone that comes along. As always, it's a free event and everyone is welcome.
One of our Bell Square Ambassadors Catherine came along and was inspired to write this beautiful poem, read it in full below
WINTER LIGHTS
The ceremony of winter lights
A harbinger of many cold nights
Lit up with many-hued beacons of hope
Held by the future of tomorrow
& yesterday’s shadow
Making memories new
And brushing old ones anew
At the church, a sea of illuminated creatures
Heard the mayor praise Hounslow’s features
She sparked the fire
Of Hounslow’s desire
Up went the gargantuan bell held by a rope
As did the lady on the tight rope
There resounded in the air
An echo, as a hundred rockets did flare
And the speakers did blare
Hounslow was the place to be
For all those who did dare!
- Catherine Habbie
Thank you Catherine - we love your writing and poetry!
To keep up with upcoming events, visit our What’s On pages here
And if you are attending Bell Square events – don’t forget to share your experiences on social media using the #BellSquareLDN hash tag.
A Review of Guixot de 8 from Bell Square Ambassadors Navya and Thara
Guixot de 8 took up residence in Bell Square earlier this month and here is the view from the eyes of two of our junior Bell Square bloggers Navya and Thara.
Guixot de 8 took up residence in Bell Square earlier this month and here is the view from the eyes of two of our junior Bell Square bloggers Navya and Thara.
And here it is, along with some great photos they took as well:
On Saturday 4th November, we went to Bell Square to see the Guixot de 8 games. We saw many games and they were all unique and something we had never seen before. They were made of old reused parts of bicycles and kitchen utensils such as pans and spoons.
As a person who’s only seen newly built toys, this was a great opportunity to have fun with old but new games. It was interesting to see how creative the builders from Barcelona had been and how they used physics to make games without using electricity. We really enjoyed playing all the games and how difficult they were. They all required different skills and determination.
We saw all the children and also many adults trying to succeed in the games. They got frustrated but were still very invested in achieving the aim of the games.
Overall this was a great experience and something we’d love to do again.
Thanks again to Navya and Thara for coming along and they took some great photos which you can see here.
To keep up with upcoming events, visit our What’s On pages here
And if you are attending Bell Square events – don’t forget to share your experiences on social media using the #BellSquareLDN hash tag.
A View From Bell Square's Artistic Director: Ray Lee Presents Chorus
Something strange is going to land in Bell Square. What are these giant machines, these futuristic creations from a bygone age? Where have they come from?
Something strange is going to land in Bell Square. What are these giant machines, these futuristic creations from a bygone age? Where have they come from?
Towering high in the air, a series of metal tripods stand like three-legged giant insects. Their rotating arms have loudspeakers that create pulsating, harmonic music. Red lights on the arms whirl around like planets in motion, producing orbits of colour. These rings of light, high above us, combined with the hypnotic sounds, are really quite transfixing.
This strange thing that will soon appear is Chorus, a monumental installation of giant, moving sculptures with spinning sound machines.
I saw this installation at a festival last year. It was a bitterly cold January night with a biting wind and frost on the ground. I am a fairly hardy outdoor arts programmer and used to being outside in all weathers but the temptation of a hot cup of coffee in a nice warm café would normally have been too much, even for me, to resist that night. But then I saw Chorus in the distance, towering in the crisp night sky! Hot cups of coffee were forgotten!
Standing 5 metres high, each tripod turns at different speeds to give changing sounds and rhythms. Together, they sound like a celestial choir. You can wander amongst the installation, appreciating the different voice of each machine and its place in the 'chorus'. The music of these machines is absolutely beautiful - abstract, gentle sounds that draw you in, so you don't want to leave.
These amazing machines are the work of British artist, composer and performer, Ray Lee. He has created many large-scale music installations which have toured the world and won him many awards, including the British Composer of the Year Award in 2012.
His big fascination is with how scientists and philosophers talk about the universe, and his spinning sound sculptures are inspired by 'circles of ether', the invisible forces that surround us.
Long ago, early scientists believed that ether filled the whole of space. Even as modern science developed a new understanding of the universe, we still talk about 'the ether' - like something has 'vanished into the ether'. We think of the clear sky, the upper regions of the air above the clouds, or the heavens. The 'ether' has also been said to be full of radio waves - and that it is through ether that sound waves pass.
Ray Lee says, 'I am fascinated by the way science represents our view of the universe. I have a child-like fascination with radios, radio waves, magnetism. There is a magic in turning on the radio and receiving signals through the ether - or in holding 2 magnets in your hands and feeling this invisible force pulling your hands together or pushing them apart'.
Chorus is not only a sculpture or installation – it is also a performance. The sculptures, or machines, make sound. When the machines move, it changes the sound, so the idea of this being a live performance is important. There is a relationship between the audience, the artists, and the machines. Audiences talk about Chorus as 'an experience' rather than about it having a specific meaning.
The artist hopes that we find a space, a moment, for contemplation, that takes us outside our everyday lives. A place where we don't have to explain our experience, but that lets our minds drift off among the stars.
As darkness falls at Bell Square on Saturday, 2 December, the machines will start to sing their siren call. Come and see them at 4.30pm, 5.30pm or 6.30pm.
A VIEW FROM BELL SQUARE'S ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: STREET GAMES FROM BARCELONA
Guixot de 8 is a Spanish company that make street games. Using recycled materials, they make original games in their workshop in Barcelona. They pack the games into a van and go wherever they are invited. They then set up the games in the street and play with anyone who wants to try their hand.
Guixot de 8 is a Spanish company that make street games. Using recycled materials, they make original games in their workshop in Barcelona. They pack the games into a van and go wherever they are invited. They then set up the games in the street and play with anyone who wants to try their hand.
Guixot de 8, led by creative force Joan Rovira, have been making street games since 1991. They have been to 30 countries in all 5 continents. Joan says they have made about 300 games which has given new life to about 10 tons of scrap!
Spain has a deep-rooted love of games in the street. These are usually well-known, popular games – and also ‘cucan
a’ which involve endless variations of climbing up, or along. a greasy pole in celebration of different festivals and other special occasions in small towns across Spain! But Guixot de 8 were the first to create sets of original games and turn them into a street show.
Since then, many more companies dedicated to street games have emerged – Tombs Creatius, Toc de Fusta, Itinerània, Katakrak and others. Talking with Joan, he explains that the best companies have developed their own style such as games made of wood, or traditional games made in giant versions for the street.
I have seen many of these street games in different places and they are always a magnet for children and adults alike. It is lovely for anyone, and perhaps especially an adult, to stop and play in the street with other people. It is genuine fun, completely absorbing. And easy to find that you have been very happily distracted from whatever else you may have been doing!
There is something timeless about these street games. They are not new, shiny, the latest thing, not digital, not even electric. Each one is carefully made by hand and is quite beautiful and special, based on simple physical and mechanical principles. I asked Joan why, in a time when people have access to so many digital games, he thinks people find these hand-made street games so appealing.
Joan Rovira: ‘I think it’s because they are an alternative to screen games. I think that playing with simple physics is attractive. Physics has a poetry that captivates you. Also, the games seem easy but they are not! It makes people keep trying, over and over again. When playing the games, people are all children – just of different heights!’
One of the things I love about these games is that you just start playing them with people you don’t know. They are so much larger than the games you might have at home, so they contain an implicit invitation to play with them as a community.
Joan says that they often create a very trusting relationship between people. ‘Sometimes, someone takes a person’s bag, and then passes it to another person to keep, whilst the owner is playing. This is a bit unthinkable in current times, but it has happened many times’.
‘People also learn from each other – passing on what they have learned from the person playing before. People give each other advice and applaud those who succeed. People will chase after a ball that has fallen out of the game for others’.
‘People laugh together, people smile, people think.’
So often at Bell Square, people say the events bring people together and make them feel connected to others in their community.
Let’s take our public space and play games together! See you on Saturday, 4 November!
Guixot de 8 bring their Street Games to Bell Square on Saturday 4 November from 10.00 am - 1.00 pm, and again from 2.00 – 5.00 pm.
A View from Bell Square's Artistic Director: Stage or Street? Iron Skulls at Bell Square
Next up at Bell Square is Spanish dance company, Iron Skulls, with their show, Sinestesia.
A few months ago, this show played at Sadlers Wells in central London, generally considered to be one of the world’s premier venues for international dance. A review described the show as “fast, furious, streetwise and great fun” and “brilliant, high octane!”
Next up at Bell Square is Spanish dance company, Iron Skulls, with their show, Sinestesia.
A few months ago, this show played at Sadlers Wells in central London, generally considered to be one of the world’s premier venues for international dance. A review described the show as “fast, furious, streetwise and great fun” and “brilliant, high octane!”
So, can a show transfer successfully from the main stage at a traditional dance theatre to the gritty, urban environment of a city street? Well, this is street dance – and I would say the street is where it truly belongs!
Seeing a performance in a theatre, and seeing it outdoors, is a very different experience. I will be first in the queue to see a great piece of dance in a theatre – there can be something very special about the intensity and focus that this type of space brings.
But I also love seeing performance in a public space. This is for everyone. There are no conventions here, no artificial barriers - you can sit, stand, move around, enjoy the show however you like. There is often a very direct connection between the audience and artists in an outdoor setting. The artists are very close to you and the experience feels very real - sometimes quite raw.
Shows meant for indoors and outdoors are therefore usually quite different in style. Very few shows work well both indoors and outdoors, because the context is so very different.
Iron Skulls, though, is one of the few companies that perform successfully both indoors and outdoors, even with the same show - they understand how to adapt their shows for different environments.
Iron Skulls Company, based in Barcelona, is a dance collective that started in 2013, formed from a group of B-Boys called Iron Skulls Crew. B-Boying is a form of street dance started by young Puerto Ricans and African Americans in the mid-1970s on the streets of the Bronx. The Iron Skulls dancers come from across Spain and bring diverse influences to the group – contemporary dance, hip hop, martial arts and acrobatics. They also interweave music production, fashion and graphic design, creating a very distinctive style of urban dance.
The “virtuosic, visual drama” of Iron Skulls (Guardian) has successfully graced the stages of the world’s most famous dance theatres. It has also toured to many of the most famous outdoor festivals. In 2017 alone, they have performed in France, Germany, Luxembourg, Finland, Slovenia, Hungary, Gibraltar, the USA and Costa Rica, in addition to Spain and the UK.
I saw this show outdoors in a huge public square in rural Spain. It was great. I also saw it with an audience of about 8000 other people, which did create a special kind of atmosphere!
But for me, the soul of Sinestesia is on the street. And I think I will like this show best of all when I see it at Bell Square – on a city street where it truly belongs.
Come and decide for yourself – and let us know what you think!
Iron Skulls Company perform Sinestesia at Bell Square on Saturday 7 October. There will be an afternoon performance at 2.30 pm and a ‘night-time’ performance at 6.30 pm. The show lasts 25 minutes.
Blogger in Residence London Unattached reviews Teatr Biuro Podróży presents Silence
Lucy from London Unattached came to Bell Square for the first time recently – here’s her first impressions of the space, performance and the crowd:
Lucy from London Unattached came to Bell Square for the first time recently – here’s her first impressions of the space, performance and the crowd:
I believe that theatre is for everyone, so when you discover a dynamic space like Bell Square in Hounslow, which is host to a fabulous outdoor art’s festival right in the heart of the town centre what’s not to love. This is a place where anyone and everyone of any age can access exciting theatre and performance from the UK and all around the world.
You can read the full blog here
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To keep up with upcoming events, visit our What’s On pages here
Regular attendee Eva talks about the ‘You’ve Been Bell Squared’ Effect
I remember my first visit to Bell Square was to watch Carousel last year – it was close to sunset and there was a actually a circus carousel in the middle of the brick-paved square.
I witnessed a most unusual phenomenon which transformed the local environment, brought people together for something really impactful and turned a normal day into something extraordinary.
I remember my first visit to Bell Square was to watch Carousel last year – it was close to sunset and there was a actually a circus carousel in the middle of the brick-paved square.
I witnessed a most unusual phenomenon which transformed the local environment, brought people together for something really impactful and turned a normal day into something extraordinary.
That was Bell Square; the invisible theatre – you don’t know it exists until it magically pops up in front of you – creates a huge impact and then disappears again. It’s as ethereal as the Cheshire Cat but whenever I go to see a performance or when I take other people along, I always feel I’ve been ‘Bell-Squared’ and so do they.
So what is the 'Bell Square effect'? It’s a very positive thing – it puts the shine back in your eyes and a beat in your heart. It’s really quite hard to pin down the ‘je ne sais quoi-ness’ of it all, but if I was to try and articulate it, I would say it’s more about the eclectic mix than any one particular thing.
During the week, Bell Square is a somewhat mundance, paved red brick area which is transformed every other Saturday into an outdoor arts space, in the round with ‘pop up’ wooden seats. Hundreds of people arrive and gather in the space – all ages, backgrounds and nationalities are eager to see what’s on. Before each performance, a very loud bell tolls for five minutes – it sounds ominous almost but it’s certainly not, it’s the klaxon for people to assemble, the invisible curtain to rise and the company of performers to begin their show.
This is where the magic happens – it may be a company of contemporary dancers putting on something hard hitting, a social commentary like Company Chameleon with their show Of Man and Beat. Alternatively, it might involve walking round Hounslow with Tilted Productions to watch scenes of Belonging(s) play out in unusual settings such as a car park or beside a tower block.
Whatever is on, the ringing bell marks the start of an absorbing journey which may last up to an hour or more. Many of the performers are outdoor arts groups who also perform in theatres – there is something very special about these outside shows – there are no walls, there are no barriers, there is no stage. Many of the performers are happy to speak with the audience afterwards; it’s as if they are important as the players themselves to the success of the event.
What all of these performances have in common is they captivate the audience and everyone is drawn in momentarily and that experienced is shared. Whether it’s dance, acrobatics or theatre, there is a connection made between the public and the performers.
No matter how I’m feeling when I arrive, when I leave, I always feel like I’ve been part of something powerful and transformative and that I’ve learned something about life and the world through these powerful performances. It’s an incredibly powerful and uplifting experience.
Are you ready to be Bell Squared?
To keep up with upcoming events, visit our What’s On pages here
And if you are attending Bell Square events – don’t forget to share your experiences on social media using the #BellSquareLDN hash tag.
Introducing Blogger in Residence Lucy from London Unattached
TrendFEM is passing on the Bell Square Blogger in Residence baton to a new blogger who takes up residency in Bell Square for the next two months.
TrendFEM is passing on the Bell Square Blogger in Residence baton to a new blogger who takes up residency in Bell Square for the next two months.
Lucy Foxell is a writer for London Unattached, a widely read and award winning London blog which focuses on all the great things this city has to offer in including Bell Square
You can follow London Unattached on social media here:
https://instagram.com/londonunattached/
And if you are attending Bell Square events – don’t forget to share your experiences on social media using the #BellSquareLDN hash tag.
To keep up with upcoming events, visit out What’s On pages here
An view from Bell Square's Artistic Director: Cia Ignifuga in London for the first time
Across Europe, there are many festivals of outdoor arts. One of the biggest and most spectacular is Fira Tàrrega. Every September, this tiny Catalan town in Northern Spain plays host to an extraordinary array of outdoor theatre, dance and circus. With roots dating back to the 1930s, Fira Tàrrega attracts thousands of artists, audiences and programmers from across the world. The annual trip to Tàrrega feels like a pilgrimage to the spiritual home of outdoor arts.
Across Europe, there are many festivals of outdoor arts. One of the biggest and most spectacular is Fira Tàrrega. Every September, this tiny Catalan town in Northern Spain plays host to an extraordinary array of outdoor theatre, dance and circus. With roots dating back to the 1930s, Fira Tàrrega attracts thousands of artists, audiences and programmers from across the world. The annual trip to Tàrrega feels like a pilgrimage to the spiritual home of outdoor arts.
Over four days, the festival presents hundreds of performances by artists from across Spain, Europe and beyond. I go to Tàrrega to look for some of the best shows for Bell Square for the following year. It is impossible to see everything, so I always arrive with a rigorous schedule that fills every waking moment with the most interesting looking shows!
A couple of years ago, when I arrived in Tàrrega, I asked Jordi Duran, the Artistic Director of the festival, for his top 3 recommendations of shows to see at the festival that year. One of them was A House Is Not A Home – a new show being performed for the first time by a young theatre company called Companyia Ignífuga. It wasn’t on my list but it was a great recommendation!
On 23 September, Cia Ignífuga brings A House Is Not A Home to Bell Square. The company and the play on which their show is based will not be familiar to most people in London, so I hope some background information will be interesting alongside seeing the show.
CIA. IGNÍFUGA Who are Cia Ignífuga? In English, they are Fireproof Theatre! The company started in Barcelona in 2011. At the Institut del Teatre, the university of performing arts in Barcelona, a group came together around a shared vision of what theatre should be, at this early point - this still rather disorientated point - of the 21st century.
This group of young theatre makers and actors want to make shows that comment on our contemporary lives. And they want our experience as audiences, when we see their shows, to be emotional as well as intellectual.
A HOUSE IS NOT A HOMEA House Is Not A Home is Cia Ignífuga’s third show together. It is based on Interior, a play by a Flemish writer, Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949). Maeterlinck is remembered and recognised principally for his early plays, written in his late 20s and early 30s. Interior was one of these notable works, written in 1894 when he was only 32.
Most of Maeterlinck’s work is written in a way that stirs the reader’s own feelings, stimulating their own imagination, and this comes through strongly in Cia Ignífuga’s adaptation of Maeterlinck’s play. Maeterlinck wrote what he called ‘modern tragedy’ and believed that people are powerless against the forces of fate, that we are all pushed and pulled by circumstances beyond our control.
A House Is Not A Home is a very simple story. Friends and family start to arrive at a house for a dinner party. The group are laughing and enjoying themselves, whilst they wait for the last guest to arrive. It gets quite late and still the guest has not arrived.
A car then arrives at the house, unnoticed by the residents inside. The two people inside the car have come with bad news. They can see the people inside the house, in high spirits, and argue about how they can break the bad news to them. How can they disrupt this happy occasion? The show then centres on this tension between the anxiety of the people outside the house, and the happiness and innocence of the people inside - and how, with a few words, their sense of security will be shattered.
It was partly Cia Ignífuga’s presentation of the piece that attracted me to this show. Going to see it one night at the festival, I walked along a dark lane away from Tàrrega’s town centre to an even darker, muddy field. In the field stood a ‘small house’. The living room lights were on and we could see the inhabitant of the house preparing for her guests to arrive.
A few rows of chairs were set out for the audience a little way away from the house. We were all given headphones through which we would hear the conversations inside the house and inside the car. It is a slightly unsettling experience, voyeuristic. You can hear every word that they say, but you are outside in the dark. They can’t see you, watching.
The show demands from us a degree of self-reflection. It reminds us of those moments, when we walk past our neighbour’s house at night and, protected by darkness, feel a temptation, almost a compulsion, to look into their home, to look into their lives, just for a moment as we pass by.
The show does create a certain degree of discomfort. Laughing, Jordi had said, “It will be one of the most disturbing pieces in the festival this year!” The conversation through headphones is close to you, you feel almost inside the show. But you are also at a distance. You are safe, it’s not you that this is happening to. But it could be you. This could happen to any one of us.
Come and see something different – and support this great young company! This is their first international performance outside Spain.
A House Is Not A Home is at Bell Square on Saturday 23 September 2017. There are 2 performances – at 7.30 pm and 9.15 pm. The show lasts approximately 1 hour. Please arrive at least 20 minutes in advance to pick up your headphones and be instructed on how to use them.
BELL SQUARE AMBASSADOR CATHERINE REVIEWS SILENT PROTEST
It was a unique march this August in Bell Square. The banners had no words, neither did the speeches but it was brimming with meaning.
Silent Protest
It was a unique march this August in Bell Square. The banners had no words, neither did the speeches but it was brimming with meaning.
As each protestor carried their blank banners representing the scores of messages collected online earlier to voice protests for personal crusades, the bells of the Trinity church nearby pealed and the hymn ‘The Old rugged cross’ could be heard aptly mirroring the sentiments. Bell Square though was lined up with messages and a few curious onlookers followed the march and stopped by to read the messages which were as varied as ‘Everyone should get presents’ by a 9 year old girl to ‘Muslims are not responsible for everything’.
The blank canvasses although abstract, did elicit more than a cursory glance.
Sometimes, actions do speak louder than words!
THANKS CATHERINE FOR A GREAT CRITIQUE!
Bell Square Ambassador Sarah Shares Her Impressions of Joli Vyann
Outdoor arts with its lack of confines and endlessly imaginative use of space and surrounding encompass the new direction that art is taking. Instead of demanding underprivileged and culturally isolated communities to seek out the arts, the arts are conveniently brought to them as well as new experiences.
Outdoor arts with its lack of confines and endlessly imaginative use of space and surrounding encompass the new direction that art is taking. Instead of demanding underprivileged and culturally isolated communities to seek out the arts, the arts are conveniently brought to them as well as new experiences.
Our July performance of Lance Moi by dance duo Joli Vyann offered just that. It was a moving portrayal of human intimacy and explored the possibilities between two people. It was intensely real and vivacious in its production of human love and our audiences loved it.
A few members of the local community stared and waited fascinated as the dancers practised. Staff from the local Chinese restaurant peered, curiosity getting the better of them, out of their window to see the preparations.
One South Asian woman stood, lips pursed and arms crossed as she eyed the duo. I handed her a flyer and wanted to know if she was excited for the show. She uncomfortably expressed how odd it was for her to see two people so intimately dancing. She continued to describe her shock at the brazen sensuality of the duo in touching and moving with each other. I could instantly see her perspective and each movement the couple did turned suddenly from intimate to unnecessarily sensual. Coming from a similar background, the women’s opinions reflected sensibilities in the community that I am very familiar with. However, the novelty of Outdoor arts or the Arts in general is that it allows you appreciate the nuances of other cultures whilst understanding what makes it different from your own. The women left me still visibly uncomfortable as I continued to hand out flyers.
The Bell Square audience, indicative of the Hounslow community, is always diverse. As the show began older Indian aunties stopped to stare in awe as the dancers teased and leaped across the square. A young Somali family, two boys still in their long white thobes from the mosque, scrambled to sit at the front of the stage to stare as one dancer climbed on top of the other's body until she stood one foot in the air and the other balancing precariously on his head. The whole community held its breath as the woman was flung into the air and landed almost gracefully on her partner’s chest.
After the show I approached the women again. I expected a conservative dismissal of Joli Vyann with its perceived over the top theatrics and sensual dancing yet she smiled and spoke about how much she enjoyed the performance.
This is why Outdoor arts are so essential! Bell Square and the emerging outdoor arts programme exposes different perspectives to the diverse community that so consistently go there. Whether it is Polish theatre which tempts us to be nostalgic about faraway lands we’ve never been to or contemporary football Hip-Hop with Highly Sprung that speaks on a past time that's familiar to everyone, Outdoor arts bridges a gap in the community that Hounslow sorely needs.
A View from Bell Square's Artistic Director: Silence comes to London
Intro When Teatr Biuro Podróży premiered their new show, Silence, in 2016, I did wonder what to expect. It was described as a sequel to their earlier show, Carmen Funebre – or Funeral Song. Carmen Funebre was a show about the impact of war on civilians as the former Yugoslavia broke up in the 1990s. It was a mighty piece of theatre, uncompromising and searing in its impact. It is also known as one of the most legendary pieces of outdoor arts ever made. So, would this sequel live up to its predecessor’s reputation?
Intro When Teatr Biuro Podróży premiered their new show, Silence, in 2016, I did wonder what to expect. It was described as a sequel to their earlier show, Carmen Funebre – or Funeral Song. Carmen Funebre was a show about the impact of war on civilians as the former Yugoslavia broke up in the 1990s. It was a mighty piece of theatre, uncompromising and searing in its impact. It is also known as one of the most legendary pieces of outdoor arts ever made. So, would this sequel live up to its predecessor’s reputation? Like most people that night, as the show came to an end, I was left stunned, in silence. As the company took their bows at the end of the performance, it was some moments before the silence gave way to applause. The intensity of those few moments have stayed with me ever since.
As this wonderful show comes to Bell Square on 9 September, you may like to know a little of the background of Teatr Biuro Podróży and Silence.
The company This famed Polish outdoor theatre company was set up by Paweł Szkotak with a group of young and passionate actors in Poznan in 1988. Since then, they have created 14 different theatre productions, and performed over a thousand times for audiences in 50 different countries. They have always been determined to make theatre in a different way to accepted traditions, and to make that theatre for people who don’t normally go to well-known theatre institutions. They care about people and the stories of their lives. Teatr Biuro Podróży’s shows are social, political and powerful.
The company emerged onto the scene as civil resistance in Poland demonstrated the people’s demand for change and led to the end of communist rule in the summer of 1989. The new company came up with the name Biuro Podróży, which means Travel Agency. In a country behind the Iron Curtain, very few people were able to obtain passports. As the rest could travel only in their imagination, the ironically-named Teatr Biuro Podróży offered an ‘escape’ through theatre.
The group’s most famous piece, Carmen Funebre, was made in 1993-94. As the Balkans Wars raged, just south of Poland, and the former Yugoslavia broke up, 4 million people were displaced in the 10 years from 1991-2001. Carmen Funebre was based on interviews with victims of the wars and specifically explored the impact of war on civilians. This seminal theatre production continues to tour the world today.
Silence In Silence, the sequel to Carmen Funebre, the company returns to the story of refugees and migrants caught up in the spiral of war. Directed by its founder, Paweł Szkotak, the show uses physical theatre, overwhelming music, and the highly visual effects of fire, and tyrants towering on stilts, to tell the story of people again trapped in the turmoil of war. In the context of carnage and cleansing in the Middle East, Teatr Biuro Podróży tell the fate of refugees caught up in the mass exodus to Europe, looking for a safer place.
In Silence, the situation is seen from the viewpoint of someone living in a besieged city, a city destroyed by bombs. Someone who, a few years ago, could never have imagined that they would one day become a refugee. Children are represented through life size puppets – the innocent witnesses of the death of loved ones, and the victims of exile and starvation. Silence asks that, for a moment, we put ourselves in their world.
Teatr Biuro Podróży present Silence at Bell Square on Saturday 9 September 2017 at 8.00 pm. The show lasts 50 minutes. For full listing and video trailer click here.
Blogger in residence TrendFEM reviews Joli Vyann
We are delighted to share another review of one of our Bell Square London events by our blogger in residence Mary Nguyen of TrendFEM.
We are delighted to share another review of one of our Bell Square London events by our blogger in residence Mary Nguyen of TrendFEM.
Joli Vyann, an ‘innovative fusion of circus, dance and theatre’ company, stunned the local audience of Bell Square London, at the end of Hounslow’s busy high street, with their audacious, yet ethereal performance Lance Moi En L’air(Throw me in the air). They danced slowly together to soft music, by Xavier Demerliac, a blend of light acoustic sounds and percussion instruments which enhanced the timeless states of their bold and impressively delicate movements.
Ex-stuntman Jan Patzke and ex-gymnast Olivia Quale formed Joli Vyann in 2012 and have continued to tour internationally, captivating audiences with their refreshing take on dance and acrobatics. In the middle of Bell Square, whilst Patzke was crouched on the floor, Quale skillfully climbed on his back. Steadily, he stood up tall without holding her hands. Then, somehow, Quale was standing on top of Patzke’s head, balancing herself on one foot. There, Joli Vyann had become a 8 ft tall person.
You can continue reading Mary's review of Joli Vyann at Bell Square London on her blog here.
Our next event is coming up:
Cirque Rouages
Sodade
Sat 29 July, 8.45pm
Captivating French circus, performed at dusk. Live music, acrobatics and circus performers tell an
enchanting tale. Details on the What's On Page