We’re celebrating 25 years of Cirque Bijou. Each month we are looking back on some of our favourite projects of the last quarter century.
Project 3Sixty was the brainchild of our co-Artistic Director Julian Bracey. It is a show that still holds a very special place in his heart.
Incorporating circus, trials riding, free runners and breakdancers, as well as cutting edge 3D mapping projections and a pyrotechnic finale… this show had it all!
Originally commissioned by Bristol City Council and supported by the UK Schools Games and Arts Council England, Project 3Sixty was inspired by the growing popularity of urban sports and the decision to include them in the Olympics and Paralympic Games.
The project had several key aims:
- to create a show that appealed to ‘hard to reach’ groups, people who would not normally watch theatre or live performance in general
- to inspire people to push themselves physically in performance, sport and play, whatever their age or ability (our youngest cast member was 16 and our oldest 45)
- to combine circus and live music with urban art forms that are currently exploding on the streets around us and to ensure we did this in a credible way
The Cast
Once we had come up with the overall concept of the show we started the casting process.
Live music was an important feature of the show. We commissioned the mighty Boxettes to write the music. The Boxettes were a young, incredibly talented all female vocal group featuring world beatbox champion Bellatrix. It also featured Nao who has since gone on to have global success in her own right filling stadiums across the globe.
The show also featured break-dancers, free runners, aerialists, and mountain bike riders.
Video Mapping
This was also the first show in which Cirque Bijou experimented with video mapping, a relatively new artform at the time. Cirque Bijou worked with the video artist Howie Bailey to create a stunning three-dimensional set that created a unique surface to project on to and also provided an incredible playground for the performers to leap over and swing off.
The show was a great success one of the highlights being asked to perform at the National Theatre to celebrate the closing of the 2012 Olympics.
