22nd September.
PINK BOOTS AND AN ALCOHOLIC SOCK by Harvey Cobb
This show really appealed to me when I saw it announced. I am a fan of circus arts and always go for the quirky, eccentric and even the very silly – Pink Boots and an Alcoholic Sock promised all that. I started off quite liking Mr Cobb and I tried very hard to like his show, but sadly I didn’t.
23rd September
KALEIDING by Lily&Janick
This was more like it with circus and productions skills very much in evidence. In the Korzo’s relatively small studio space a great deal of effort had clearly been made to create an environment which embraced and included the audience. The three tiers on each side of the performance area offered a perfect view of the floor of the stage which was effectively a huge black mirror which provided another dimension to the proceedings. The cryptic billing for the event promised “two performers, four bodies” – and now we knew what that meant. The reflections were a crucial element in the presentation. The clever name is an amalgam of the words kaleidoscope and colliding, both words perfectly describing the piece.
Kaleiding was in two distinct halves, the first a slow, meditative, almost Zen-like affair with Lily Schlinker and Janick Kremer sliding around, intertwining their bodies. The second part was an altogether different affair, involving some serious balancing moves. It began with some housekeeping as they donned tracksuits and set about cleaning the floor in a sort of choreographed polishing and culminated in the couple being stranded on the last reflective panel after all the others had been pushed aside. Kaleiding was enhanced by fine sound design by Rutger Zuydervelt of Machinefabriek and lighting by Edwin van Steenbergen and Batist van Baekel. Michael Hasted
Throughout the Festival weekend
Michael Zandl (creator of the wonderful Sawdust Symphony) has his wood-related installation Pieces of a Mind running during the Festival and it can be visited, for free, when the Korzo is open, whether you have a ticket for a show or not.
Cirque Mania continues at the Korzo until 24th September.
