WATTWIL, SWITZERLAND—On the night of March 11th to March 12th, 2023, Mädir Eugster, the founder of the Wattwiler Rigolo Swiss Nouveau Cirque, died after a long illness. The fight against cancer was his final balancing act.

He didn’t choose the easy path in life—he knew that the simple route is pretty boring. That the
simple does not challenge, neither the body nor the mind, and that the best brings dazzling success. The simple brings with it little joy and, above all, there is no magic in simplicity. Mädir sought magic in everything: in the physical world, on the outside and in the natural, as well as on the inside, in the emotional, the tangible but inexplicable. It didn’t need to be explained, either; Mädir wanted the audience at heart to be touched by its magic.

Martin Willhelm Eugster, called Mädir, born on February 19, 1955, in Oberuzwil, did not make things easy for himself, and yet had joy and great fun throughout his life with what he did. He wanted to—was supposed to—become a teacher, and in fact became one… but after a few years, he felt, “That’s not it. There is no pleasure in that.”

So he chose a different path: he went to Paris, graduated from a circus school. The urge to do something, to create, to perform, to arouse wondering eyes, was simply greater for him than anything else.
After one year, he shared his enthusiasm with Lena Roth, whom he had met in the teacher training college of a circus theater. She followed and completed the course with him. Immediately afterward, in 1978, the two would found, along with friends, the original street theatre “Circus Rigolo.” That wasn’t the easy way either… but it did bring joy!

Mädir himself said, “Art schools are okay, but I remained self-taught. Street theater—learn there, and it works out!” If you’re good, your hat will jingle: the recipe for life is that simple. Whenever people were amazed and laughed, Mädir and Lena were happy, and spaces would fill up to capacity.
Mädir was meticulous in his creations, a bit mischievous too, and he developed his own feats stoically. He was an artist with a fine blade, challenging his body but not forgetting his spirit. After all, each number needed to have something to tell; just dancing on a tightrope says nothing.

It wasn’t easy, says his partner Lena Roth: “How often we realized that we weren’t having fun anymore. [Whenever that happens,] tinker and reinvent it until it works. Mädir spent months tinkering around with the ‘Beautiful Turns’ carousel, and years working on ‘Thousand Waters.’ No path was too rocky for him, no detour too far.”

Together, Mädir and Lena developed and staged performances and programs that would be played out on the street, in Rigolo’s own “palais,” in an open-air meadow, or half-covered inside of a cave. Because of all that, these shows became quite complex, and were staged in halls with spectator stands. “Moonrise,” “Escalier d’Archimède,” “Beautiful Turns,” and finally “Wings”—the climax of their program, and a metaphor for the liberation of life. For the first time, the Rigolo engaged international artists and performed internationally. Thousands of people were excited to see the show and deeply touched by it.

Parallel to this, and initially only noticed by a small audience, a brand-new balancing act was also created: “Sanddorn,” the act that finally made Mädir Eugster world-famous. He finally got the big applause he so deserved. And with it, the material support for his family and the Rigolo Swiss Nouveau Cirque. With help from his daughters Marula and Lara and six fellow artists, he brought the Sanddorn balance act everywhere from North America to Japan. The act has been seen more than 10,000 times worldwide, half of them presented by Mädir himself, in Cirque du Soleil, or in the Swedish Parliament before the King.

“Beautiful Turns”

Some people only turn themselves around, but Mädir was different: always up for and in search of the unexplored. How does an idea start to spin; how does it get legs, wings—and still keep its secret?

With his “retirement,” Mädir entered the background. He passed “his” Rigolo on to his three daughters, whom he had also cared for over the years as a loving father. His daughters, in turn, developed their own shows, “Sospiri” and “Ithir,” the last of which is currently being shown on European stages by Marula Eugster and her ensemble. This second generation of the Rigolo also doesn’t choose the easy way of doing things. They too know that circus must bring joy, for us and for the people!

It was a consolation for their father, who could watch—and ultimately had to, because he couldn’t add anything more himself—his daughters carry on the fantastic balance of life and live their father’s dreams: dreams once denied to girls within the none-too-distant past.

Mädir fought cancer for a year before finally giving up the balance between life and death. He died at the age of 69 on March 11, surrounded by his family in Wattwil.

This obituary, written by Michael Hug, was originally published in German.