“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

“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

“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 […]

«We are creating a new show that plays –in keeping with our very own approach to storytelling– on the balance between a sweet and nostalgic form of absurd. Regardless of the simplicity and bareness of the theatrical apparatus, ours is a surrealist universe, somehow fiercely serene, a self-reflecting form of theatre, where actors use the proscenium to engage in a dialogue with the audience, where illusion and tricks are always disclosed at the end, where we laugh and are moved, where the clowns do not play the fools, but rather embody the frailness of losing heroes. »Daniele Finzi Pasca