“When the Cirque du Soleil approaches creators it asks them to venture into new scenographic and narrative territories. (…) We started from stereotypes… in order to overturn them. Ubiquitous slowness? We replaced it with speed – that of the Tarahumara, a Mexican people who live in the mountains and can run up to 200 kilometres non-stop, barefoot or wearing light sandals. Speed thus becomes an interesting element in circus language too, with its quest for extreme performance, thanks to magnificent acrobats and gymnasts drawn from around the world. For us, then, Mexican people display a great physical and spiritual capacity to go beyond incredible limits.” Daniele Finzi Pasca

“I dedicated this dream to the angels, who come and visit me at night. To the world of clowns, to which I belong, to the Cathedral of Chartres, which after my mother’s womb, is the second place where I was nurtured. To the pictures that my parents stole to reality, and which I put into movement, to the circuses and to their artists. What I meant to bring forth under the big top is theatre and its peculiar perspective made of overlapping images. I thus asked the acrobats to think as actors would, and to be beautiful and honest, just as beautiful love stories are. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by brilliant creators, with whom I immersed in a common world and a bonding adventure, receiving the full support of a production crew who allowed us to carry on with our dream. I also kept close to the friends from my troupe, Teatro Sunil, with whom I have been seeking beauty and honesty on stage for more than twenty years. To make one’s own funeral does feel good. For a moment, one feels necessary and motivated to keep going on this journey, which is in fact but a […]

“Corteo, which means “cortege” in Italian, is a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown. The show brings together the passion of the actor with the grace and power of the acrobat to plunge the audience into a theatrical world of fun, comedy and spontaneity situated in a mysterious space between heaven and earth. The clown pictures his own funeral taking place in a carnival atmosphere, watched over by quietly caring angels. Juxtaposing the large with the small, the ridiculous with the tragic and the magic of perfection with the charm of imperfection, the show highlights the strength and fragility of the clown, as well as his wisdom and kindness, to illustrate the portion of humanity that is within each of us. The music, by turns lyrical and playful, carries Corteo through a timeless celebration in which illusion teases reality.” Daniele Finzi Pasca

“I decided to discover Chekhov looking for particulars and details, both in his life and in the pages of his writings, and not only that. I thought of giving shape to the silences contained in the notes of his diaries and of creating images from his annotations. I come from a theatre deeply impregnated with the language of clowns, of jugglers, of the delicate and magical world of acrobats. That is how I will recall Chekhov and to do it I will surround myself with the same accomplices as always, creators with whom I have worked for years and with whom I share not only the same sense of aesthetics and way of thinking of the theatre, but also the passionate way of defending our imaginary world.” Daniele Finzi Pasca

“Corteo, which means “cortege” in Italian, is a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown. The show brings together the passion of the actor with the grace and power of the acrobat to plunge the audience into a theatrical world of fun, comedy and spontaneity situated in a mysterious space between heaven and earth. The clown pictures his own funeral taking place in a carnival atmosphere, watched over by quietly caring angels. Juxtaposing the large with the small, the ridiculous with the tragic and the magic of perfection with the charm of imperfection, the show highlights the strength and fragility of the clown, as well as his wisdom and kindness, to illustrate the portion of humanity that is within each of us. The music, by turns lyrical and playful, carries Corteo through a timeless celebration in which illusion teases reality.” Daniele Finzi Pasca

“Corteo, which means “cortege” in Italian, is a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown. The show brings together the passion of the actor with the grace and power of the acrobat to plunge the audience into a theatrical world of fun, comedy and spontaneity situated in a mysterious space between heaven and earth. The clown pictures his own funeral taking place in a carnival atmosphere, watched over by quietly caring angels. Juxtaposing the large with the small, the ridiculous with the tragic and the magic of perfection with the charm of imperfection, the show highlights the strength and fragility of the clown, as well as his wisdom and kindness, to illustrate the portion of humanity that is within each of us. The music, by turns lyrical and playful, carries Corteo through a timeless celebration in which illusion teases reality.” Daniele Finzi Pasca

“Stage gutted, technicians and actors move like cats in the dark as they get ready, slowly immersing themselves in the story. And it will be the story that little by little envelops the spectator, the story of a book given as a present, of a garden to build, of a fight that we all, sooner or later, will have to experience and face. Julie believed that everyone should try to build an inner garden to take shelter, to welcome those whom we love, those who got lost, and those whom we would like to discover. So now we are going to tell this story, with a bench and a garden. And there will be the fragility that each of us defends with shells and armours. The lightness of the memory of her laughter, her booklets full of notes and calculations, her advice and her dreams. The mission of each life is to build an inner garden where we may take shelter, where we may welcome those we love, those who have lost their way, those whom we would like to meet in intimate and reserved surroundings. We have often told stories confined to closed spaces, imagined in the secret box […]

“Corteo, which means “cortege” in Italian, is a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown. The show brings together the passion of the actor with the grace and power of the acrobat to plunge the audience into a theatrical world of fun, comedy and spontaneity situated in a mysterious space between heaven and earth. The clown pictures his own funeral taking place in a carnival atmosphere, watched over by quietly caring angels. Juxtaposing the large with the small, the ridiculous with the tragic and the magic of perfection with the charm of imperfection, the show highlights the strength and fragility of the clown, as well as his wisdom and kindness, to illustrate the portion of humanity that is within each of us. The music, by turns lyrical and playful, carries Corteo through a timeless celebration in which illusion teases reality.” Daniele Finzi Pasca