Juggle Through

A collaborative circus project between Lebanon, Palestine and Switzerland

With :

The Assirk Assaghir circus school in Nablus, Palestine
Represented by Mohammed Shafee and Yasmeen Nabulsi

The Cirquenciel social circus school in Beirut, Lebanon
Represented by Rose Abou Elias & Cathrina Ighnatious

The Cirqu’en Choc company in Switzerland
Represented by Tania Simili and Estelle Samira Borel

Following a meeting in the Valais mountains for the Cirque au Sommet festival in 2022, the Cirquenciel team thought of Tania Simili and Estelle Borel for a new exchange project involving a third partner, the Assirk Assaghir circus school in Palestine, in order to further the work already begun and strengthen the ties between their institutions and countries.

JUGGLE THROUGH OR HOW TO JUGGLE WITH…

The vagaries of life, crisis situations, injustices, discrimination, humans, ups and downs, joys and sorrows, through the body and objects in motion.

Juggle Through took place in several stages in the three countries in order to exchange different practices and approaches to social circus according to social and geopolitical contexts. The project ended in Beirut in October 2023 with a 10-day workshop with young circus artists from Lebanon and Palestine.

Led by Tania Simili and Estelle Borel, this workshop, focused on staging intimate or political themes in contemporary circus, enabled eight artists from the Lebanese and Palestinian art scenes to develop two short pieces.

These pieces were staged by a duo, each time bringing together one young person from each country. Without consulting each other, the two teams chose to talk about borders…

Support

Juggle Through is a partnership and exchange project, supported in part by the European Union via Art Rue-Tunis and MitOst Berlin, as part of the Thoulaty all around culture program.