Sacre

The Australian Circa Contemporary Circus and its visionary head Yaron Lifschitz are regulars at the festival. Last year, their creation "Humans 2.0" swept the audience off their feet, and this year the highly decorated ensemble opens the festival with a radical reinterpretation of a modern classic: Stravinsky's "Sacre" ballet, which depicts an archaic ritual of spring sacrifice, was a scandal when it was first performed in 1913. Lifschitz and his circus company meet Stravinsky with breathtaking acrobatics and dynamic dance, composer Philippe Bachman contributes new sounds, the stage almost explodes with bodies carried away by a wild, death-dealing ritual. The press attested the Circa Company "stratospheric skill".