Double Bill - INSIDE & Silk and Steel

INSIDE is a socially critical circus fairy tale. "The Kreuzberger Köckenberger shows a contemporary Rapunzel interpretation about outer and inner borders, ...with not only aesthetic but also political touches." Andreas Schäfer in "memo-media". In the solo piece INSIDE, new circus art meets the old art of storytelling. This very own "Berlin" style with its mixture of aerial acrobatics, balancing acts and fakirism is an absurd, breathless and personal piece.

Content Note: addresses pregnancy and prison

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LaMule Cirque was founded in 2016 by Thibault Gouin and Leila Köckenberger with the aim of combining circus art and social circus. Both are professionally trained circus and performance artists who have performed internationally for many years with their own companies and shows. Since its foundation, LaMule Cirque e.V. has been planning social circus projects and implementing them locally and internationally. Leila studied circus and performance art art Acapa (Tilburg, NL) where she developed the "aerial plastic". She is co-founder of the music/circus collective "cirque du Platzak" and the women's combo "compagnie les triplettes"; she has worked solo and created for international companies (e.g. petri dish, B) in combination with dance and theatre. In her work she remains in search of how to combine content with form.

Performance, tout public
Durée → 40 minutes

Distribution

Acting/Acrobatics: Leila Köckenberger // Director: Ilka Schönbein // Acting coach, dramaturgy: Francois Kah // Music composition: Max Swagemakers // Light/Sound: Marieke Ferger // Stage design: Thibault Gouin Special

Site → LaMule Cirque

Silk and Steel is an artistic research process in which the circus artist Jarmila Lee-Lou explores the disciplinary and gender-related contradictions of aerial artistry and strength sports. In collaboration with female-identified circus artists, strength athletes, and activists, she approaches a societal and artistic paradox in an explorative and interventionist manner: the strong female body and its aesthetic absence.Motivated by feminist critiques of body norms and the self and external exploitation of FLINTA* (women, girls, intersex, non-binary, trans, and agender) bodies, Silk and Steel engages with current discourses and transcends them through a powerful visual language in a circus performance. This performance seeks to create visibility for those who are considered too much, too big, too injured, or too wounded.

Special Content Note: addresses psychological violence, sexism, ableism, transphobia, body-shaming, self-injurious behavior, mental illness, disordered eating; shows naked skin; plays very directly to audience; strobe lights; very loud music

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Jarmila Lee-Lou Kuznik (pronouns: she, her) is a circus artist, dance educator, and curator based in Berlin. Her work revolves around a contemporary and female-oriented approach to circus art, reimagining content, aesthetics, and working conditions. Trained at Etage Berlin and the University of the Arts Berlin, she has performed at various international venues and corporate events with Entourage Berlin. She combines activism with performing arts and founded the MenstrulutionCollective in 2020, which showcases solo performances and an Open Stage with curated feedback in Neukölln. The collective evolved into Kunstkartell e.V., fostering accessible art spaces and connecting artists with socio-political aspirations. Selected as one of the mentees in the PAP Mentoring Program 2022-23, she is actively engaged in the Feminist Circus Initiative, aiming to address and combat discrimination and sexism in the German circus scene. 

Performance, tout public
Durée → 30 minutes

Distribution

Jarmila Lee-Lou

Site → Jarmila Lee-Lou