Project “Circus As A Way of Life” Held A Performance

“CRAZY OF THE DAY” CHEERED UP YOUNGSTERS

A play by the participants of the great regional art project “Circus As A Way Of Life”, under the name “Crazy Of The Day”, was put on yesterday afternoon in the amphitheatre of the Children’s village in Sremska Mitrovica. Young men and woman from the art organizations “Geto” (Ghetto) from Gračanica and “Kreativni pogon” (Creative Drive) from Novi Sad, as well as the residents of the Children’s Village, participated in a spirited performance abundant with circus artistry, under the artistic guidance of the instructor from the Greek street theatre “Helix”.

Costumed in white and with stunning red umbrellas and red clown noses, the performers of the show with skillfully conducted and well composed stage play, filled with imagination and humor, as well as serious life lessons, cheered up a large number of gathered spectators, mostly pupils from the primary school “Jovan Jovanović Zmaj” from Sremska Kamenica and the residents of the Children’s Village. Much applause and ovations were proof enough of how much “Crazy Of The Day” entertained the youngsters, while even the drizzle and cold wind could not prevent the success of the play.

Yesterday’s performance presented the newest skills which the young participants mastered during the ten-day creative workshops dedicated to contemporary circus, street theatre, physical theatre, creative thinking and professionalism. “Ghetto” and “Creative Drive” are the participants of a two-year long project which, with the support of the European Commission, is held parallel in Varaždin (Croatia) and Tirana (Albania), and is a side project of the Street Musicians Festival.

Twenty young people who performed in the play are part of the project “Circus As A Way Of Life” , included from last year, when they, during the summer, took part in creative workshops on the topic of circus craft led by the French troupe “Capilotracté”. This spring the project was continued with a new series of workshops in Novi Sad, now under the guidance of the street theatre instructor Nikos Katsipapas, from the Athenian troupe “Helix”.

– This play is one of the phases of our work, it is in progress, and will be finalized in July. This is also a great chance to, through this project, develop communication skills between participants. All these young people that went through our workshops now feel very close to theatre and the circus craft and are full of new creative ideas. The play is done through improvisational techniques, although a lot of what is in the scenes is very organized, still it is called like that because the actors do crazy things between themselves, and are also in contact with the audience – said Katsipapas, obviously pleased with the cooperation with young performers from Novi Sad and Gračanica.

The project “Circus As A Way Of Life” has as it’s end goal to chose top 20 participants from the workshops in Gračanica, Tirana, Varaždin and Novi Sad, who will form an independent art troupe. During the upcoming summer, the troupe will perform on several events, as are the Street Musicians Festival in Serbia, Špancirfest (Strollers’ Festival) in Croatia, IST Fest in Greece and others. The members of the newly formed troupe will, after the completion of the project, continue working and performing together.

The project “Circus As A Way Of Life” is organized by the Art Association “Inbox” from Novi Sad. The patrons of the project are the European Commission, Erste Foundation and the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia.