Contemporary circus festival

The festival’s 9^th edition’s programme was announced at the Alberto Sampaio Museum in Guimarães, with the presence of Bruno Martins and Cláudia Berkeley from the Didascália Theatre, a promoter of the festival, and the culture councilmembers of the municipalities which comprise the Cultural Quartet (Braga, Guimarães, Barcelos and Vila Nova de Famalicão).

According to the organisation, this edition will feature a worldwide debut, four national debuts and a total of eleven contemporary circus shows.

Joining the over two dozen presentations on the streets of the four cities will be training workshops and a parallel program dedicated to artists, students and cultural agents from in and out the country.

The Didascália Theatre’s artistic director highlighted that the festival, “through circus and the street arts, contemplates the state of the World,” adding that it’s treated as a “strong show” that has been attracting more and more spectators every year. In 2022, according to the organisation, 5500 people came to watch the shows, a number that Bruno Martins hopes to surpass this year.

In this year’s Vaudeville Rendez-Vous, the Didascália Theatre promoted the re-writing of several shows that passed through the initiatives in previous editions and in other moments of the national programme.

“The 2023 edition will be, as such, marked by the revisiting of many works that are the culmination of various artists’ and companies’ reflection processes,” the organisation explained. “An example of this is the debut of the show “Solos a 180º” – from the Portuguese Radar 360º company – whose motto for this new creation is the scene structure of an earlier show.”

This creation can be seen for the first time at 7pm on the 20^th of July, at Pontevedra Square in Barcelos, and at the Biscainhos Museum Garden in Braga at 11am on July 22^nd.

Moreover, there are debuts in the festival of French, Spanish and Belgian productions. The French company Le Doux Dupplice will present the show “En Attendant Le Grand Soir,” “which promises to challenge gravity itself, revealing moments of dance and acrobatics.” This performance is scheduled for 10pm on July 19^th at the Largo do Pópulo in Braga, and on July 22^nd at D. Maria II Square in Famalicão.

From Spain comes “Runa,” a creation by Amer Kabbani and his company, Cia 104, “which, between ruins of the World in Flames, rises as a testament of the necessary process of personal and collective rebuilding.” “Runa” can be watched at 10pm, on July 20^th, at the Guimarães Dukes’ Square, in the city of its name, and the next day at the same time at the Polidesportivo da Quinta do Aparício, in Barcelos.

Also coming from Spain is Manolo Alcântara and his play “Maña,” “a show where the concept is ingenuity and that will carry its heart on its sleeve from the beginning.” The debut is at 10pm on July 20^th at the Braga Municipal Square, passing through D. Maria II Square in Famalicão the next day at the same time, and again the day afterwards at Guimarães’ Creativity and Arts Platform.

“Grasshoppers,” from the Belgian company Circus Kaoten, can be seen on July 20^th in Guimarães, July 21^st in Braga and July 22^nd in Famalicão.