Recirquel: Solus Amor

Directed and choreographed by Bence Vági, Solus Amor fuses contemporary circus with classical ballet and modern dance is a monumental aerial production that employs “cirque danse,” a genre created by Recirquel in the course of several years. The production talks about the different manifestations of love, exploring its different layers and forms. “In Solus Amor we are talking about grand, serious subjects,” says Bence Vági, “which concern everyone one way or another. We do so in a form and language that, instead of excluding, accommodate viewers who wish to think. Solus Amor is about faith and love, about nature and the universe.”

Solus Amor largely takes place in the air, enacting a veritable “aerial ballet” in front of the viewers’ eyes. Cirque danse is a hybrid genre, presenting a sequence of breath-taking tricks that defy the laws of physics as the acrobats simultaneously execute graceful and lyrical dance movements with exceptional ease. All of this fits the central theme of the show: love and its various manifestations. The original music, the grandiose stage and lighting design create an atmosphere delicately absorbing the audience. Appearing on stage this time alongside the humans, is an animal... and not just any old kind of animal, either: Vági has commissioned South African puppeteer and puppet theatre director Janni Younge to construct a lifelike polar bear.

As with every Recirquel production, the closely unified acoustic and visual world of Solus Amor is a key aspect. Together with Gábor Terjék, composer Edina Szirtes has written a complex and multi-layered soundscape. The early chamber music sound and crystal-clear singing mixed with primaeval melodies and futuristic effects combine to create something unexpected. And as with the music, it is also not possible to determine whether the visuals credited to set designer Péter Klimó and costume designer Emese Kasza were inspired by the distant past or the near future.