Shows a sketch of the ensemble

Credits: Common Ground

Shows a sketch of the ensemble

Credits: Common Ground

Hand to Hand

Workshop: AUF I BRUCH

Open Space, Bochum, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Workshop
New Circus

With Evertjan and Zinzi (acrobats from Common Ground specializing in partner and group acrobatics): Zinzi & Evertjan have been working together for 15 years, have won several awards at renowned festivals, including the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain, and have been part of international companies such as Company XY & the 7 Fingers.

The workshop is open to all young artists aged 16 and over who are interested and accept the Open Space Bochum disclaimer. We will then focus on the technical circus level of the participants.

About the Play:

In a world where nothing is the same anymore, we try to hold on to our habits and beliefs, but the foundations are shaky. Where is our base, our ‘common ground’?
A billboard reminds us of the illusion of a functioning consumer society, gradually the messages in neon colors crumble, the scaffolding also falls apart and forces the acrobats to adapt to the constantly changing circumstances. How do they deal with this? As a collective? As individuals? What do they build from the ruins of what is familiar to them? And what role does the audience play in all of this?
A physical exploration of community under pressure.

From and With:


The Common Ground collective consists of 6 internationally successful and award-winning artists. The members met at the Academy for Circus and Performance Art in Holland, where most of them studied. The collective was founded in 2015 before the first show of the same name, ‘Common Ground’, premiered in 2019 and has been touring internationally ever since.
The content is about working as a collective, the common ground that connects us and makes it possible to move forward together. Contemporary circus as a medium visualizes this collaboration, the trust in each other, but also the risks and pitfalls of collective dynamics in a unique way.
The new creation AufIBruch (AT) continues this idea and raises the question of how a collective functions under pressure. What if external circumstances change drastically, what if the foundations are shaken?
AufIBruch (AT) is the collective's second production.

Performers: Andreas Bartl, Evertjan Mercier, Zinzi Oegema
Emma Laule, Lisa Rinne, Marius Pohlmann

Director: Aedin Walsh

Music composition: Vahakn Matossian

Set design: Clàudia Vilà

Set construction: Cirque Mechanique

Technician: Jakob Tewinkel