Circus concert: Threads

Works by nine contemporary composers from Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine and Russia feature in the contemporary circus productions Threads and Glass that will be performed during the Baltic Sea Festival family day. This is Cikus Cirkör’s Baltic Sea Festival debut, and it is the first time the work exclusively with art music. Concept and direction by Alexander Weibel Weibel and Tilde Björfors.
“We are so pleased with this collaboration, meeting across boundaries and disciplines is always incredibly exciting.”
Threads has some similarities with Cirkör’s internationally acclaimed Knitting Peace from 2013.
“We will use yarn as a metaphor, and we will be moving in a similar setting while the aesthetic expression is new and different,” says Alexander Weibel Weibel. Threads and yarn can be used to clearly show how people deal with life and themselves. Some are straightforward and know what they want, others tend to complicate and make a mess of everything. Threads also connect things. People’s actions today can lead to consequences later in life. It may not be obvious, but it is the idea behind the work.”
Video installations by Johannes Ferm Vinkler in combination with the music create a special ambience.
“Images are important as we have no other scenery on stage. For example, we show footage of the We Knit for Peace in connection with Knitting Peace.”
Threads is a lighthearted, fun production. Glass is suitable for all ages, but it is more aesthetic and pared down. Different types of glass are used on stage, and machine meets the physical body in the form of a circus crane that enable the artists to fly.
“Glass is a good way of showing the contrast between hard and fragile, as when the body encounters the 5.5-metre-tall steel fork.”
Alexander Weibel Weibel recommends the audience to visit both performances as they will be very different. When this interview was made, he and Tilde Björfors were still in the middle of the creative process, so the music that will be used was played non-stop at home.
“Some of the music really resonates with me, such as “Dance in in Red” by Zita Bruzaite. As soon as I hear it, I want to see someone fly. Others are more difficult to take in, Tebogo Monnakgotla’s “Toys”, for example. It’s crazy to listen to, but I think it will really work on stage.”
Around ten members of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra will be present on stage during both performances.
“Unfortunately, they don’t take part in the circus acts, but we will make sure to have some kind of interaction with them.”