Viewing posts tagged "festivals"
15.05.2013 POSTED BY Geraldine
Summer 2013 sees our third tour with rock behemoths MUSE.
We've kept our involvement under wraps, not least because we've been incredibly hard at work on some giant props to rival the 12m silver flying UFO that we created for the band in 2010 (above).
Designing, building, testing, rehearsing, tweaking, testing again... and we're ready for the first gig at the Coventry Ricoh Arena next Wednesday 22nd May.
Cirque Bijou director Julian Bracey leads a team of 7 who will tour to 11 countries for 20 gigs between now and August. Tour dates are listed on the band's website.
You'll just have to wait till next week to find out what we've made...
31.10.2012 POSTED BY Geraldine
Battle for the Winds Wind Vessels from Somerset, Dorset and West of England will process through Bridgwater this Saturday to celebrate Bonfire Night as part of the town's historic Guy Fawkes Carnival.
This mighty annual celebration hosts carnival parades, a firework display and of course the traditional Squibbers, who performed a display this summer in Weymouth as part of Battle for the Winds - their first performance ever outside of Bridgwater.
If you enjoyed Battle for the Winds, or if you missed it, this will be a chance to see extracts from some of the regional shows as well as join in the procession, which takes place on Saturday 3rd November between 6pm and 7pm.
Bridgwater Carnival's website has more information on the events.
Photos courtesy Richard Tomlinson (above) and Jake Hancock (below).
26.09.2012 POSTED BY Kate, Company Manager
Our 'Starstruck' performance for Gravity Fields Festival was my favourite aerial crane show of those we've done. It involved the local community, spanned several hours so that the audience could come and go and had a strong and engaging narrative.
The show ran over two hours with a huge, specially created projection screen hanging in front of the Guildhall. It pulsed with images of the sun, moon and solar system with an ethereal musical composition to complement the imagery.
We depicted the Big Bang with an aerial hoop encased with fire and pyrotechnics; the 'Birth of the Earth' saw a contortionist performing on a spinning, hand-painted globe; Newton made discoveries flying around the Solar System. A straps duet symbolised the force of Gravity; and a beautiful relationship unfolded between a child and the moon. The final image contained all the aerialists, Newton, the planets decorated by children from local schools and a stunning, flaming Mercury.
Our Newton was also part of one of the six processions that were moving around the town, performing on a Human-Powered vessel (one of those that was made as part of our Battle for the Winds project). The vessel was animated by a group of Newton's peers with our artists working with local BTEC performing arts students to create a street show and animations.
23.08.2012 POSTED BY Geraldine
Hampshire, Somerset, Sussex and Yorkshire did battle last Saturday at the Friends Life Twenty20 Cricket Finals in Cardiff's Swalec Stadium.
To celebrate the competition's tenth anniversary, Cirque Bijou were commissioned to create a celebratory performance on the pitch in between the semi-finals and the final. We had less than 3 weeks to pull together a 65-strong company featuring 51 artists, sound crew, costume design, stage management, choreography and music direction. The show needed to be audible and visible to an audience of 16,000, but involve minimal infrastructure as we would only have 23 minutes setup time before the show. We needed to get a PA, sound desk and 17 microphones in place during this time, as well as all artists and stewards in place and ready to go.
The 20minute performance included flag dancers parading through the stands, a 25-piece street band, a brand new costume for our beatboxer Hobbit, designed by Sarah Dicks, and a battle between the whole cast - with street dancers and drummers on one side and beatboxer and flag dancers on the other. Despite a torrential downpour during our only 2 hours rehearsing onpitch, we (and fans) were lucky on the day and the matches and show went ahead without a hitch, featuring on Sky Sports and Radio 5 Live.
10.08.2012 POSTED BY Geraldine
Project 3Sixty is at Watch This Space Festival at The National Theatre, this weekend!
10pm shows on Friday 10th and Saturday 11th and 1pm street show on Sunday 12th.
After a well received but rather drizzly couple of shows earlier this week in Victoria Park for BT London Live, we're very excited to bring one of our favourite shows to one of our favourite festivals this sunny August weekend - and hope many of our friends will be able to join us there.
Kiss FM caught up with some of the team earlier this week during rehearsals in Victoria Park:
First performed at home in Bristol in 2009 as a commission for Bristol City Council, Project 3Sixty has been adapted for empty fields, theatre spaces, an arena, the high street and high end corporate events with restricted performance space. This time the show has been reworked specially to fit the performance quad outside the National Theatre and there are three chances to catch Project 3Sixty for free!
The tremendous Boxettes provide backing to an awesome company of international-standard artists from breakdance to trials mtb, parkour and circus. 3D video mapping turns the set into another world. You've got to see it.
More info: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/project3sixty
31.07.2012 POSTED BY Geraldine
Photo above - The Arrival of Doldrum - Royal Navy Crown Copyright, photo Joel Rouse
Along with partners Desperate Men, we have returned from our production Battle for the Winds, 3 spectacular days of performance to celebrate the Sailing events at Weymouth and Portland, 26-28 July.
Somerset Wind Gatherers - Photo Maisie Hill
A collaboration on an epic scale: Battle for the Winds included
- seven companies of street theatre artists, assembled for the Battle for the Winds, with their specially created Wind Gathering Vessels
- brand new aerial performance from a crane directed by Billy (Cirque Bijou co-director) and devised by a company of 7 of the UK's most exciting aerialists
- DiverseCity's company of 64 disabled and able-bodied performers from UK and Brazil, presenting Breathe
- a spectacular display by the Royal Marines 4 Assault Squadron, who delivered the stone-hearted Doldrum to the beach amidst flares, ships and pyrotechnics
- 212 Bridgwater Carnivalites who lit up the beach with the first ever Squibbing display outside of Bridgwater
- the awesome, primal spectacle of 2012 community participants wading into dark waters with flaming torches
Fire Torches - photo Maisie Hill
Part of London 2012 Festival and Maritime Mix, the Cultural Olympiad by the Sea, Battle for the Winds was presented in the Olympic Live Site to an audience of 8000, as well as on the streets of Weymouth and Portland. Our biggest project yet, and four years in the making, it required a huge amount of careful production management and logistics. Julian, Bijou co-director, was overall Production Manager for Battle for the Winds, and Kate Lanciault, our Company Manager, looked after the onsite logistics.
Battle for the Winds attracted attention and was featured on the BBC news on 29 July, Sky News on 28 and 29 July and covered by Reuters, ITV westcountry and countless local radio, TV and newspaper articles.
No rest for us as rehearsals have already started today for Project 3Sixty at BT London Live in Victoria Park 6-7 August, followed by Watch this Space at the National Theatre, 10-12 August.
08.06.2012 POSTED BY Geraldine
We are super excited to be producing the circus and street theatre stage at Bristol Harbour Festival for the ninth year running. Set in leafy and laid-back Castle Park on 21st and 22nd July, our beautifully designed stage offers a range of treats, tricks and surprises, daring stunts, feats of agility, games and general silliness. Also, we don't want to jinx it or anything, but it's always sunny at the Cirque Bijou stage at Bristol Harbour Festival.
2012 highlights include...
- Comedy comperes Goronwy Thom and Richard Geraghty (Slightly Fat Features)
- Unique trapeze performance from Belgians Bert and Fred, silver medallists at Young Stage International Circus Festival 2012
- The ever competitive, non-Olympic but still very important Balloon Toss, hosted by Desperate Men, in which you have the chance to win some great prizes or just get very wet...
- Innovation and Invention, an episode from Battle for the Winds, our epic production (co-produced with Desperate Men) to mark the London 2012 Sailing events at Weymouth and Portland, 26-28 July.
See the Harbour Festival website for more details and programme updates.
See you there!
24.05.2012 POSTED BY Kate
Across the South West the Battle for the Winds teams were mobilised and ready for action as the Olympic torch swept through the region from 19th - 23rd May. There were performances of all kinds in Cornwall, Exeter, Taunton, Cheltenham, Swindon and of course at home in Bristol. Cirque Bijou produced this show, utilising the harbourside cranes as we previously had done for the launch of the M Shed.
A busy week - as described by Billy on his Battle for the Winds blog. Not long now till Weymouth...
23.04.2012 POSTED BY Geraldine
The Caucus Race is a chapter from Alice in Wonderland which involves lots of nonsense and a chaotic, rule-less race. Every year in Oxford, The Story Museum celebrate the anniversary of Charles Dodgson's first telling of the tale, which took place on the beautiful River Isis by Christ Church college. This year, as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations, they have teamed up with Big Dance and invited us to join in and together we're producing The Caucus Race - a free, fun family event. Expect surprises...and bring your dancing shoes.
If you'd like to get involved, through dance, theatre, music or art workshops, please contact geraldine@cirquebijou.co.uk for more information.
The Caucus Race is part of the London 2012 Festival and is made possible by support from Arts Council England and the generous provision of Merton Field by Christ Church.
