The challenge of being a human

When Circa director Yaron Lifschitz spoke to The AJN ahead of the circus company’s collaboration with Opera Australia for Dido & Aeneas, he said that there is only one commandment in circus – “Thou shall not bore”.

“We’re nine shorter than the Torah,” he laughed.

Indeed, there’s no boring audiences with anything that Circa does, particularly their upcoming production, Humans 2.0, showing at the Arts Centre Melbourne.

Created by Lifschitz, Humans 2.0 is the circus company’s next chapter of the internationally acclaimed Humans. While Humans 2.0 physically builds on the original 2017 piece, the new performance is also a commentary on how humanity itself has developed over time.

In Humans 2.0, circus and contemporary dance collide – performers move in harmony, bodies leap and are caught, physical limits are pushed to the extreme. It’s the artistic potential of circus that originally drew Lifschitz to the medium.

Twenty-five years ago, Lifschitz was searching for something in the artistic world that thrilled him. Trained as a theatre director, Lifschitz told The AJN that while he loved theatre, he didn’t love plays.

“I get bored easily,” he said. “I worked in museums and opera, events and installations and eventually wound my way towards this wonderful world where great people do incredible things.”

Circa, which is based in Brisbane, is one of the world’s leading performance companies and often partners with other companies or theatres to bring their stage productions to other cities. Which is the case for Humans 2.0 – a production that uses minimal props, emphasising the incredible ability of the human body.

“I enjoy the energy, the people, the excitement and the thrill of the form,” he told The AJN when asked what it is about circus that drew him into the art form. “Artistically I am drawn to circus as a set of languages and learning to engage artistically and philosophically with them. I love bringing an uncompromising show to the stage and watching the audience react with a powerful range of emotions.”

Circa has performed in over 45 countries and across six continents and has been seen by nearly two million people.

The company pioneered how extreme physicality can create powerful and moving performances, pushing the boundaries of the art form and blurring the lines between movement, dance, theatre and circus.

And Humans 2.0 is no exception.

Described as a “groundbreaking feat of acrobatics” and “a flawless display of human physicality”, Humans 2.0 is intimate, primal and deeply engaged with the challenge of being human.

Humans 2.0 is at Arts Centre Melbourne May 14-24. For tickets, visit artscentremelbourne.com.au