The Circus of Vices and Virtues 2002

Cirque Boom and its rabble-rousing team of dance, theater and circus artists vaulted into NYC's experimental theater arena with its Circus of Vices and Virtues, a visually compelling, thought-provoking, high-energy production based on the drawings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The Circus played to sold-out houses at the Brooklyn Lyceum (www.gowanus.com) in June 2002.

The theoretical genesis of the Circus of Vices and Virtues lay in a collection of disparate sources: the Vices and Virtues series of prints by Pieter Bruegel, first encountered through September 2001’s Bruegel Triptych (see below); a need to react artistically to the (en)forced moral reconfiguration of the country post-9/11; and an interest in convening a group of peer collaborators around an experiment: the creation of a new work of content-driven circus theater.

The Circus of Vices & Virtues 2002 was part commission and part collaboration. Six directors & choreographers, each armed with a circus skill, a vice, and a set of guidelines, were charged with creating the Circus’ seven original acts. Eleven performers collaborated in solos, duos, trios and as a full ensemble in the development of acts and of group scenes. The show was then gelled by a collaborating team of sound, lighting, costume/set designers and a dramaturg/project director.

The Circus of Vices and Virtues 2002 featured:

- A 10 member ensemble of multidisciplinary performers including members of Judy Oberfelder Dance Projects and Circus Amok
- Seven acts directed by six emerging and established directors and choreographers including affiliates of Bond Street Theater and Norway's Stella Polaris circus
- Dramaturgy and project direction by European circus school veteran Ruth Juliet Wikler
- Sound designed and mixed live by underground innovator DJ fflood.

The Circus of Vices & Virtues was made possible by a grant from the Puffin Foundation.

Photos (c) Dave Goshfeld 2002.

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