A mound of interlocking bodies folds together at center stage, dressed in all black and slick with sweat. One dancer is tossed into the air, flips mid-descent and lands back in the arms of the ensemble. With each tumble, toss and drop from aerial silks, “Humans 2.0” defies gravity.
“We just do us,” said Yaron Lifschitz, founder and director of the Australian contemporary circus company Circa. “Circus work has high levels of control and physical virtuosity which embodies unexpected human emotion.”
This marks Circa’s third time performing at Spoleto Festival USA. But this season, the company is taking it up a notch with two separate productions. In addition to “Humans 2.0,” Circa acrobats will also take the stage in a reimagining of Henry Purcell’s 17th-century opera “Dido and Aeneas.”
“Dido and Aeneas” will be performed May 26 and 28 at 6 p.m. and May 30 at 6:30 p.m., while “Humans 2.0” will be performed May 24 and 25 at 4 p.m. at the College of Charleston’s Sottile Theatre. Some tickets are still available for the May 26 and 28 performances of “Dido and Aeneas” as of publication, but “Humans 2.0” is sold out.
As a modern circus performance, Lifschitz said Circa searches for equilibrium among the group while moving through virtuoso sequences of balances, tumbles and rolls.
“In these moments of coordination and grace and connection,” he said, “they become organically more complicated and then keep evolving into different forms and shapes before finding the way back towards clarity and light.”
Opera requires a whole different level of production, Lifschitz said. More resources , more preparation and more commitment. But according to him, the emotional heft is worth it all.
Circa’s acrobats will quite literally be jumping back and forth between shows. Opera performers typically rest their voices for a day or more after each performance, so “Humans 2.0” has been scheduled for the days in between “Dido and Aeneas.”
Stamina is not an issue for the acrobats, Lifschitz said. Circa normally performs multiple shows at once on tour. The acrobats train specifically for tours, sometimes even practicing four or five different shows at once.
“You get good at what you train for. If you’re going to train to be a sprinter, then you probably aren’t going to run a marathon very well,” Lifschitz said. “Well, this is a marathon.”
“Humans 2.0” blends acrobatics and dance. It premiered in 2021 as a sequel to Circa’s 2017 production “Humans.” Bodies weave together through meticulous choreography, creating a single pulse among 10 acrobats on stage. The music of Ori Lichtik will accompany “Humans 2.0.”
“Dido and Aeneas,” a popular Baroque opera, takes a modern spin on the opera classic with jumps, twists and lifts. Joining the acrobats on stage will be a live chorus and orchestra. The opera, based on Virgil’s “Aeneid,” tells the tragic love story of Dido, queen of Carthage, and Aeneas, a Trojan hero. The Spoleto performances will mark the U.S. premiere of this production.
“It drags this fairly old art form kicking and screaming into the 21st century, which is something that is mildly uncomfortable,” Lifschitz said. “So adding acrobatics and circus to that is both a challenge and an opportunity.”
Circa has toured across the world since Lifschitz established the company in 2004. Its previous Spoleto performances were in 2011 and 2019.
The last time Circa came, its performances were the “exact opposite,” Lifschitz said. The company performed the smallest work in its repertoire, “What Will Have Been,” with three acrobats and violinists. As the ensemble gears up to take on Spoleto this time, Lifschitz said he is excited to see what conversations performances of this scale will provoke.
“My work is really based on refusing to have to choose between being entertained and being moved,” he said. “All those things should be possible, and circus is simply the best medium that I’ve discovered to do that.”
IF YOU WANT TO GO:
Some tickets are still available as of publication for the May 26 and 28 performances of “Dido and Aeneas,” which runs May 26 and 28 at 6 p.m. and May 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the College of Charleston’s Sottile Theatre, 44 George St.
“Humans 2.0,” which is sold out, runs May 24-25 at 4 p.m. at the College of Charleston’s Sottile Theatre, 44 George St.
Remi Turner is an arts journalism and communications graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
Help keep the City Paper free.
No paywalls.
No subscription cost.
Free delivery at 800 locations.
Help support independent journalism by donating today.