The Genesis

It’s the mark of a maturing art form that what was once the preserve of the top-name artists is made ordinary and then elevated again to new heights. The international troupe of Copenhagen Collective take Circa’s signature two-high and explode it every which way in frankly dazzling fashion.

As Australia’s most famous circus company, Circa became renowned around the world for their clever and exciting blend of dance and acrobatics. Their use of two-highs (human totem poles where a performer stands on the shoulders of another) literally took their shows to a new level and enabled them to enhance their creative themes. Lately, though, their progress has faltered, the quality of their output has dropped and their over-reliance on two-highs has blandified each sequence.

Into the fray comes Copenhagen Collective, the punk upstarts to Circa’s prog rock crusties. Cofounded by Søren Flor, Joachim Ante, Sónia Cristina Silvestre Matos, and Alfred Hall Kriegbaum and based in the Danish capital, The Genesis is the company's debut work and is already soaked in exciting promise.

The founders are numerous and so are the cast with seventeen acrobats taking to the stage at one time or another. Seeing them all together at the beginning would be an impressive sight for any company that isn’t Cirque du Soleil but the key is (as always with circus) the direction. Being a mute art form, the expression is purely through physical movements. Or, at least, normally is: two-thirds through, one member of the crew comes to the front to get us to cheer and stamp and get us into a mood we were already in of ecstatic engagement. It’s a small touch that demonstrates that the Collective aren’t scared to bend or snap the usual rules of circus.

More blatant touches are seen in the show proper as they eschew the standard equipment with human equivalents. There are no hoops, silk or trapeze so, instead, they throw each other skyward about with giddy abandon. Two-highs temporarily take on a third performer only for the latter to jump aboard another two-high.

On the ground, acrobats simulate teeterboard-style leaps by launching each other through the air, somersaulting as they go. The two-highs soon become three-highs and there's a steady evolution from there until it becomes an orgy of arms, legs and heads all enmeshed into mind-boggling pyramids or separated into synchronised dances. There’s no shortage of artistic eye-candy to gawp at and applaud.

There is a theme of sorts fleshed out more by aesthetics than acting. Spotlights high up and around the stage lower down shine out red and green to flip the mood this way and that while a vibrant soundscape trips along from tap-tap techno to Goan trance vibes through to stirring string quartets. The dramatic underpinning inherent in a title redolent with religious origins and new beginnings is deep; so deep, in fact, that it is barely visible. And yet the show doesn’t suffer. For a debut outing, Copenhagen Collective have done enough to give their competitors something to think about. If you only see one circus show this year then you really need to get out more but you could do far worse than seeing The Genesis.


Photo credit: David Poznic