Galapiat Cirque

il va pleuvoir (working title)

collective cirkus top creation
for 7 circus artists

PREMIERES May 2027

CONTACT: Camille Rondeau / camille@galapiat-cirque.fr / (+33) 6 31 45 19 93

At the beginning of this adventure, there is a need to reconcile with circus.
Each of the artists carries dreamy experiences in their suitcase, but often solitary ones.
By reconnecting with an essential aspect of circus - the collective - they are seven to embark on this journey of creation and life.
Their meeting point is Rotterdam, a city of birth, study, work, or simply a place where one ends up by accident.
If not a city of the heart, it at least has the merit of embracing all the world’s flaws, including the circus and those who make it.
Nearly 1000 kilometers away, the Galapiat Cirque big top stands ready,
ready to welcome this group of incongruous and irreverent dreamers,
ready to raise its canvas and set sail for other possible worlds.

Statement of Intent (March 2025)

At the heart of the big top,
a motley crew of seven gathers,
carrying dreams of change.

They are here
because they belong to the same family
with its social order, its history, its flaws, its taboos, and its quarrels.
But also with its shared values.
They want to believe that collective action,
that making space for multiple voices,
is a political act in a world where individualism reigns.
That our differences are a treasure, and with the freedom to speak comes the responsibility to think about what what we say.
that empathy is not a weakness,
and that curiosity is a rare and precious gift.
It all seems obvious, and yet…

By shedding society’s norms of ambition and greed,
these seven artists will create their own haven,
seeking no productive goal
other than to exist.
But existence itself is not without risk !
Because yes,
circus is not something you do, it is something you are.

Around a seven-meter-long table,
a trapeze that isn’t really a trapeze,
a pile of objects suspended or delicately balanced,
the unlikely heroes of this glorious fiasco
will push the limits of reason, decency, and the absurd.

And then, suddenly, it starts to rain. Just like that, out of nowhere.
We wonder if this is the start of a great flood, but we pretend it’s nothing more than a light June drizzle.
And so the big top becomes a world to be explored from every angle
from the dome to the stands,
from entrance to exit.
Absurdity, play, and ridiculousness are rare commodities, and they intend to cherish them.

Voices, double bass, accordion, guitar, and clarinets struggle to breathe in unison.
And live music becomes the soundtrack of their quest.