Source::AP
MARSEILLE, France
It’s been a tough year for the performing arts in most countries, with virus lockdowns canceling shows and shuttering venues. But the world’s top circus festival has found a way to flourish between the cracks in the rules — even without the huge crowds that would normally have attended.
Ending Saturday in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, the fourth edition of the Circus Biennale (BIAC), held every two years in the south of France, celebrates the injury-defying and spine-stretching arts that fuel the storied spectacle. More than 110,000 people attended the last BIAC, in 2019. This year it had up to 2,000 visitors, all professionals who work in the circus or are looking to buy shows.
Even that is a testament to the grit and determination of the organizers, who skillfully adapted their festival to the French authorities’ rules and regulations. But it’s important to show that culture is essential, according to Yoann Bourgeois, a dancer and choreographer who trained in the circus arts and is the flagship artist of this year’s BIAC.
“The management of this crisis has had an extremely violent impact on poets, artists, people who dedicate their lives to culture in general,” Bourgeois said. “It has categorized what is considered essential or non-essential. We are convinced that poetry is essential to live.”
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