NoFit State is a contemporary circus combining traditional circus skills, high wire, trapeze and aerial straps with live musicand theatre to create a wonderful experience for grown ups and children. Before their visit to Limerick this month Limerick Post’s Eric FitzGerald saw their current show Bianco at NoFit State’s base in Cardiff, Wales
eric@limerickpost.ie
BIANCO by NoFit State contemporary circus is the next headline event at the Culture Factory for Limerick’s City of Culture year. Bianco is a performance combining traditional circus skills, high wire, trapeze and aerial straps with live music and theatre to create a wonderful experience for grown ups and children of seven years and older.
NoFit State was founded in 1986 by five friends with an interest in street performance. It has since developed into a large-scale contemporary circus company that tours the world. Before their recent return to their base in Cardiff, Bianco ran in Perth, Australia.
This is a circus with no ringmaster, no clowns and no animals. Even the circus tent is of contemporary design resembling a spaceship from another planet hovering over the ground.
Bianco is a two hour immersive, promenade performance; the audience stand at the centre of the show.
Directed by Firenza Guidi, Bianco was inspired by the book ‘The Elephant’s Journey’ by José Saramago, a tale of adventure and friendship.
For the audience Bianco is also an emotionally engaging adventure: the performers climb, swing, balance and jump to music from the NoFit State live band. It is a joyful, soulful experience, the technical skills are astounding but it’s the journey, the pace and beauty of Bianco that really impress.
As an experience, it feels like being an extra in a music video. There is an ensemble feel to the performance, everyone has a job to do and that job is always changing.
Portuguese juggler, Hugo Oliveira has an extensive piece at the beginning of the performance, but is busy throughout the show on the trampoline or as a counterweight for the acrobats as they are pulled upwards to the roof.
With a soundtrack that flits from punk rock, to Latino beats, to Folk, to Gregorian chanting, the music is the heartbeat of Bianco. The NoFit State band is a collective, some from the Royal College of Music and Drama who composed all the music and worked extensively with the show’s director.
Yvette Vaughan Jones, Trustee chairperson with NoFit State told Limerick Post, “Chris Martin (Coldplay) has been to see the show twice, referring to the NoFitState band as ‘fantastic songwriters’. When he tweeted about the band it was retweeted three million times.”
In comparison to the recent Fuerza Bruta show at Limerick’s Culture Factory, Bianco is an experience where the audience is close to the action, but while Fuerza Bruta was loud, exciting, industrial and assaulted the senses, Bianco is more about escapism and joyful abandon. It has a heart and soul and some movingly tender moments.
The NoFit State performers live, work and travel together as a company. When they are not on tour they are involved in community work from their headquarters in Cardiff, as the executive director of NoFit State Alison Woods explained,
“The performers come from all over the world including some of the toughest communities in Wales. They work with NoFitState and go through our community programme and end up on the international stage. They are amongst the best circus performers in the world today. If you come to see our show in Limerick, you will see things that you cannot imagine.”
BIANCO from NoFit State Circus plays at The Culture Factory, Limerick from Saturday June 14 to Sunday June 22.
Suitable for anyone aged seven upwards. Tickets €22 or €60 for a family of four.