Circus Without Borders looks at acrobatics as survival in Africa and the Arctic, at The Cinematheque February 17
Documentary is a perfect primer for Kalabanté’s Afrique en Cirque at the Chan Centre next week
The Cinematheque screens Circus Without Borders at 7 pm on February 17 as part of Chan Centre Connects
THEY HAVE ONE OF THE most dynamic, enduring friendships on Canada’s circus scene. But Guillaume Saladin and Yamoussa Bangoura could not have come from more different backgrounds.
Saladin spent much of his childhood in frozen Igloolik, as the son of anthropologists, while Bangoura came from the circus scene that thrives in the sunbaked streets and beaches of Guinea. They became pals and world-class acrobats working together at Montreal’s Cirque Eloize—and each held out a dream to found his own company. While Saladin wanted to bring hope to an Inuit community through circus, Bangoura strove to establish a centre in Montreal that would draw on a program he had set up for Guinea’s youth.
Seven years in the making, American director Susan Gray’s documentary tracks the men’s two circus companies — Artcirq and Kalabanté, travelling from the frozen Far North to the red-mud dirt roads of West Africa, and confronting difficult issues facing youth in these remote parts of the world.
Vancouver audiences have had the chance to see both artists’ work over the years: Artcirq dazzled viewers when The Cultch and DanceHouse presented Unikkaaqtuat at the Playhouse right before the pandemic hit; and Bangoura wowed crowds with his crew when Cavallia’s epic Odysseo came here in 2013. Fans will get another chance to see the latter’s magic, now with his own music and choreography, at Kalabanté’s Afrique en Cirque, when its 12-member corps hits the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on February 24.
But for now, the film is a hope-filled escape from reality, with gasp-worthy feats, heart-warming acts, plus the beautiful imagery of far-away beachscapes and snowscapes. In other words, it will lift your spirits with the gravity-defying power of one of Bangoura's airborne flips.
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