From August 31st to September 4th, the 16th edition of the Mirabilia Festival brings the best of cutting-edge European contemporary circus, in Cuneo, Italy.

Emerging stronger than ever from the pandemic, the Mirabilia International Circus & Performing Arts Festival returns with a special 16th edition called “Strange Beasts from Outer Space” as conceived and organized by the IdeAgorà Association under the artistic direction of Fabrizio Gavosto. This year’s festival offers a strong program, further highlighted with numerous professional events.

The festival hosts the International Network of Circus Arts Magazines (INCAm)’s first in-person annual meeting after the pandemic. As well, the TAKE OFF 2.0 project, originally designed to support innovative Italian companies that make competitive international market productions based on original dramaturgical writings, has a presence at the festival, providing workshops and training sessions. In collaboration with Juggling Magazine, the festival also presents numerous engaging roundtables, one of which will examine the role of critical and dramaturgical writing in the development of circus arts.

The artistic programming ranges  the entire spectrum of the performing arts, including contemporary circus, dance, theater, music, and video installations. Corresponding with the festival’s title of “Strange Beasts from Outer Space,” live audiences can immerse themselves in the world of strange figures and characters through shows that juxtapose the relationship between conflict and love, between man and nature. Emblematic of this theme is definitely Teatro dei Venti’s outdoor presentation of Moby Dick.

Other highlights of this year’s program include two shows premiering from the French company  CirkVost and Spain’s Nueveuno Circo—a company that, together with Defracto and the Gandini Project, has radically changed the concept of juggling in Europe. CirkVost gives us the national premiere of A-Tripik, an installation for adults that is remarkable for its acute reflections on  power, money, friendship, and seduction as brought to life through the amalgamation of clowning, acrobatics and vocal polyphony.

Nueveuno Circo will likewise present their newest show, Sinergia 3.0. Combining juggling feats with object manipulation, vertical, and dance techniques all plotted with a careful eye for how shapes look and move in space, the show derives its concept from a personal reinterpretation of Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci. Throughout it, four performers deploy their juggling sets as tools to face the daily struggles of life in a generally individualistic society. Conflicts and challenges are handled through their interactions and the commitment to integration.

In its 16th edition, the Mirabilia Festival promises to be both a return to form for live events and a new opportunity to see great art and meet great artists. For more information about the event, visit the festival’s website.

Companies Presented

CIRCUS

Transe Express (FR), Cie Nueveuno (ES), CirkVOST (FR), Akoreacro (FR), Teatro del Sottosuolo (IT), Il Teatro Viaggiante (IT), Circo Medini (IT), Cie Doisacordes, Progetto Antilia | Mario Levis (IT), Progetto Antilia | Selvaggia Mezzapesa (IT), Progetto Antilia | Giulio Lanzafame (IT),  Progetto Antilia | Silvia Martini (IT),  Progetto Antilia | Duo Linda (IT), Cecilia Rosso (IT),  Il Microcirco (IT), Circo in Rotta (IT), Cordata For (IT),The Three Dots Company (IT), Bingo (IT), Teatro del Sottosuolo (IT), a.s.d. Il Gecko Tarantasca (IT), TeatrAzione-Up scuole di circo-Circobaleno (IT) , Scuola di circo En piste (IT), Ava Hangar & Fabbrica C (IT)

DANCE

Abbondanza / Bertoni (IT), Cie. Twain (IT), Progetto House of Roots | Natiscalzi DT (IT), Progetto Swans Never Die | Balletto Teatro Torino (IT),  Progetto Swans Never Die | Zerogrammi (IT),   Progetto Swans Never Die | Daniele Ninarello (IT),  Progetto Swans Never Die | Egribiancodanza (IT),  Di Rocco / Rosati (IT),  NOD, Funa (IT), Eventi Verticali (IT), CIFRA danzateatro(IT), COORPI (IT),  SpellBound (IT),   Danzicherie (IT)

THEATER

Teatro dei Venti (IT), Accademia Internazionale di Teatro di Roma (IT), Stalker Teatro (IT), Isacco Basilotta (IT), Collettivo EFFE | Giulia Odetto (IT),  Luigi Ciotta (IT), Faber Teater (IT),La supercasalinga (IT) Mr. Mustache (IT)

MUSIC

Zastava Orkestar (IT), Fabbrica C (IT)

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All images are courtesy of Mirabilia Festival.  Main image features Arret d’Urgence by Akoreacro (FR).