Residency of Accompany ME hosted by Festival Spoffin in partnership with International Contemporary Circus Festival "Cirkuliacija"
©Frits Weener
Accompany ME is a new circus company combining the talents of two young artists: Monika Neverauskaitė (Lithuania) and Elena Damasio (Italy). They both studied at Codarts in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in the discipline of Cyr Wheel. With their first show ‘À mesure - Handle with care’, the artists want to leave a positive and heartwarming message. The piece is about normalising love in its many forms. The language of the cyr wheel is explored in all its facets and combined with the use of culinary objects, such as eggs - known for their fragility - contrasted with the strength and speed of the wheel to represent the opening up of vulnerability in a close relationship. The risk is always present, making the show sensitive and lively. The struggle of the two artists not to crush the eggs is reminiscent of their own efforts to keep the relationship healthy and nourishing. The play aims to show a relationship between two women, written and created by two women.
The EFFEA subvention was very useful and necessary in helping us bring our creative vision to life, finalise and present our work at its best.
First Residency: Lithuania
The first part of our residency took place at the Taurage Cultural Centre in Lithuania. These days were dedicated to refining key scenes and crafting the light design for our performance together with the light technicians and the authors/artists.
Light creation means deciding which lights are used and where they are placed in order to give each scene the desired atmosphere in alignment with the dramaturgy of the show. They are integral in shaping the emotional tone.
After that, we moved on to the performance phase, where we had the opportunity to showcase our piece, including its premiere, as part of the Cirkuliacija festival.
We could show our work to very different audiences and in quite different venues. The performances took place at the Taurage Cultural Centre, Vilnius Arts Printing House and Theatre of Kaunas City Chamber. This gave us a variety in the performances and gained experience.
It was a blast for us to perform at Cirkuliacija.
Second Residency: The Netherlands
The second part of the residency was held in The Netherlands, hosted by Circus Amersfoort and Festival Spoffin in August. While the first residency in Lithuania focused on finalising the indoor version of the show, this phase was dedicated to adapting “À Mesure - Handle with Care” for outdoor performances.
During this period in Amersfoort, we worked on the readaptation of the show to an outdoor version, meaning making it a little shorter and cutting parts of the scenes to make them more fluid.
The show turned out very well outdoors and the audience’s positive reactions confirmed the success of this adaptation.
We, as Accompany ME, were very happy to be chosen for the EFFEA. We can say it was necessary for our work since we are an emerging circus company. The residency and the performing part have been a good way to conclude the creation process and start the performing life of this beautiful show.