Carmel ThomasonThis August bank holiday will see a huge red and white Big Top erected on The Lowry Plaza as French contemporary circus company Circa Tsuica take residence at the Quays.
Circa Tsuica is part of the Cheptel Aleȉkoum collective, around 20 circus artists who live, work and train together in the remote French village of St-Agil and tour the world with their feel-good shows.
Most of the collective met as students at the Centre National des Arts du Cirque (CNAC) and on graduation moved to an old farmhouse where they set up a circus tent in a field. Ten years later, they have spread out around the village, where a fifth of the 250 inhabitants now have some circus connection.
Reinventing circus traditions for the 21st century, the 11 acrobat-musicians on this tour are collaborating with 20 young musicians from the MAPAS Jazz Band, Salford to perform a new show called, Now or Never.
The show promises to be an exhilarating fusion of stunning acrobatics and funky brass rhythms, with plenty of opportunities for the audience to play a part too.
As the party begins, the performers mingle with the crowd, making and sharing Breton crêpes, before launching into a feast of music and circus – featuring trapezes, tightropes, Cyr wheels, trick bicycles, trampolines and seesaws.
The event forms part of Circus250, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of the modern circus by northerner, Philip Astley in 1768.
Circa Tsuica – Now or Never is at The Lowry Plaza from 30 Aug to 1 Sept 2018. Tickets cost: £16, concessions £13, Family ticket £50. See website for details.
Dave Porter
