An Intoxicating Cocktail Of Ballet And Juggling

It is never easy to bring two art forms together in a single rendition and presenting a completely new derivative. Renowned juggler Sean Gandini has been doing the mashup for quite some time now. By merging Juggling and Ballet dancing he has created many seamless performances.

According to The Washington Post, this crossover performance has been named by Gandini as "4X4: Ephemeral Architectures". It is an absolutely stunning teamwork of ballet dancers and jugglers involving a lot of geometrical measurements to ensure safety and smoothness throughout the performance. It ensures that the ballerinas don't get hit by the juggling props while performing and even if it happens, there is very less chance of anyone getting injured as the props are very light. Emma Lister, the show's artistic coordinator and one of the performers says, "Every finger and every foot has to be in the exact right spot. Even the spotlights have to hit their marks exactly."

As per Gandini, the show is called "4X4: Ephemeral Architectures" as four dancers and four jugglers take to the stage to create patterns in the void by virtue of their acts that last for a while and then disappear. There are five musicians assigned to play "Suspended opus 69", a piece created by Nimrod Borenstein exclusively for the performance. It is so synchronized that the performers have dropped only a handful of balls in the hundreds of performances they have done. As Lister depicts, some of the juggling skills have gotten into the dancers while the jugglers have picked up some dancing skills.

In an interview with Chichester Observer, Sean Gandini explained how this idea came into being. He and his wife, who is a retired rhythmic gymnast, always thought of a fusion between juggling with something more cadenced to form a completely new art form. Juggling is considered to be associated with circus and magic tricks by most people and Gandini felt this opinion needed to change.

It took a year of research before the idea was put into work. The introduction of the perfect piece of music also took a significant time as it is the most important element that holds a performance together. Music also sets the desired tempo for the act. The act was performed on 13^th January at the Chichester Festival Theatre where it was hugely appreciated by the audience.

There is no doubt that the "Ephemeral Architectures" is making ripples with each performance. This marriage between ballet and juggling is already being considered a wonderful new art form and is surely going to fetch more patrons in the coming years.

TagsBallet, Juggling, Dance, Sean Gandini, Ballet Dancing