Cirkus Cirkör’s “Knitting Peace” will take to the stage at the Macau Cultural Centre’s (CCM) Grand Auditorium tomorrow and Saturday, offering a show that is a metaphor for hope in a troubled world.
Filled with yarn, tangles, ropes and threads, the around one-and-a-half-hour contemporary circus by the Swedish circus company premiered in 2013 and explores, among others, the possibilities of knitting peace.
The performance features elements such as acrobatics and trapeze, alongside live music. Details provided by CCM noted that Cirkus Cirkör’s touring performance, their most beloved and successful show, was inspired by the “circus artistes’ desire to push boundaries of what’s possible” and combines themes of unity, peace and aspirations “intricately woven with ropes, tangles and threads”.
Performers Alexander Weibel Weibel from Spain and Finland’s Aino Ihanainen, who also handles stage design and has been with the show from the beginning, met with reporters yesterday for a group interview at the Macau Cultural Centre in Nape, offering more insights into the upcoming performance.
“Knitting Peace” does not follow a linear story and is more about its themes, Ihanainen said in response to a question by the Post. “We all have our own stories and our own little storylines that somehow also come together during the show. And it’s a lot like, when we started to make the show”, where each performer was thinking of what they were striving for in life and their struggles as a starting point.
Telling their own struggles and ways of sorting things, Ihanainen told the Post: “It’s more like an inner story. And then the people can read into that and maybe find something that they can understand in their own way or relate to”.
Regarding the preparation that goes into “Knitting Peace”, Weibel Weibel told the Post that aside from the technical part, some of the things involved have to be remade or rebuilt prior to each performance, while some elements are made using yarn. He added: “There is for example a ladder that is woven together that falls apart. So that has to be remade. There are certain things that happen during the show that get woven together”, existing only when they are prepared.
Meanwhile, on what they hope to leave their audience with, Ihanainen explained during the group interview what they are trying to do through their performance: “It’s to inspire people to maybe find some things in their lives or like in society or in general. To make small changes and to think about the things that they want to do in life also and strive for that”, adding that things that are impossible can also be made possible.
Weibel Weibel added that they would like the audiences to leave with hopes for a better world and that things can change to make the world a better place.
More details about the show can be found on the CCM website. Moreover, aside from the show, workshops are also set to be held today and at the weekend.
Performers Alexander Weibel Weibel (left) and Aino Ihanainen, who also handles stage design, pose after yesterday’s interview at the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM). – Photo: Rui Pastorin
These undated handout photos provided by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) show scenes of “Knitting Peace”, which will take to the stage at the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM) tomorrow and Saturday.
