Cirkus Cirkör - Knitting Peace

Researchers believe that the pursuit and desire to get better is what keeps us alive. The worst that can happen is that we achieve our goals without finding anything new to strive for. Circus artists often strive to achieve the impossible. Is the pursuit of an impossibility the path to happiness? To strive for peace on earth, is it to strive for the impossible? Can the endeavor itself change anything? Is it possible to make peace?

It is easy to give up in the face of its smallness, the greatness of the world and the complexity of things. By totally indulging in the yarn's different shapes, the artists strive to find meaning.

In a poetic new circus performance filled with yarn, tangles, ropes and threads, questions of striving and knitting are woven together with breathtaking artistry, looped live music and suggestive scenography. Five new circus artists create a magically beautiful world of ropes and yarn, where the audience is invited to be surrounded by enigmatic music, sensitive poetry and a powerful pursuit of meaning. Can the endeavor itself make a difference? Is it possible to make peace?

PRODUCTION FACTS
The performance is part of the international collaborative project Lacrimae, whose main partners are the circus companies La Putyka from the Czech Republic, Cahin-Caha from France and Cirkus Cirkör from Sweden. Lacrimae aims to develop the new circus as an art form through artistic research, exchanges of experience and cross-border collaborations.

Knitting Peace is largely a collaboration between creators and artists who go in and out of each other's roles. The knitted costumes are, for example, created by the artist Aino Ihanainen, the lyrics are written by the artist Matleena Laine and parts of the music are performed by the artists.

ENSEMBLE:
Aino Ihanainen - handstand, live knitting
Ilona Jäntti / Nathalie Bertholio - aerial acrobatics, floor acrobatics (rope, ring, fabric, roue cyr)
Jens Engman / Mikael Kristiansen - handstand, dance acrobatics (tangled)
Matleena Laine / Tiziana Prota - aerial acrobatics (entanglement, ladder), vocals
Alexander Weibel Weibel - lindane, balance acrobatics, violin
Samuel ”Looptok” Långbacka / Olof Göthlin - knitted live music

CREATIVE TEAM:
Direction and idea - Tilde Björfors
Composer and sound design - Samuel “Looptok” Långbacka
Set design - Fanny Senocq, Tilde Björfors, Stefan "Drake" Karlström, Joel Jedström and the ensemble
Knitted scenography and knitted suit - Aino Ihanainen
Costume design - Anna Bonnevier
Mask design - Helena Andersson
Lighting design - Ulf Englund
Choreographic advisor and artist coach - Cilla Roos
Attributes and decorative painting - Tomas Helsing
Technical coordination and construction - Joel Jedström
Circus construction - Ulf “Poly” Nylin
Assistant Director - Maria Wallin
Assistant lighting design - Fredrik Ekström

PRODUCTION TEAM:
Producer: Camilla Hammarström
Technical producer: Fredrik “Fefe” Deijfen
Riggers & Stage Technician: Matt Horton
Technical support: Fredrik Ekström, Joel Jedström, Ingrid Stensson
Production assistant: Emma Therkelsson
Marketing: Henrik Sundin
Touring & international relations: Anna Nerman Sylla
Business Manager Art & Production: Lena Kjellander Stockhaus