Upsala Circus St. Petersburg (RUS)
poetic introduction: Ruth Geiersberger
Poetry is a universal language. This includes haiku, a Japanese poetic form that celebrates the art of reduction in just three lines. Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694) is among the most famous haiku poets, a reformer whose philosophical nature poems elevated the three-line form to the status of serious literature. Rather playfully, Upsala Circus from St. Petersburg takes up the themes and motifs that characterize Bashō's poems: the changing of the seasons, meditative circling of a thought, human relationships, animals. And humor. One of Bashō's most famous haikus, after all, goes like this, "Ancient pond / A frog jumps in / Plop." Director Jana Tumina created "I Am Bashō" with children and teens with and without disabilities. For a year they read haikus together, worked on texts, objects, ideas, created sketches - and learned to understand each other better. With their bodies they tell of the beauty they discover in and around themselves. Thus they turn out to be true disciples of Bashōs, whom they portray on stage as much as the eternal principles of life and death. Using the tools of theatre, mime and circus arts, they create a world of beauty that each audience member can interpret for themselves.
Text source and further information about this event: http://www.staatstheater-mainz.com/web/veranstaltungen/grenzenloskultur17/bashoe
