Kompani Giraff [SWE] | A Study of Losses

Magical new circus performance to the music of American indie artist Beirut.

Tickets

Venue

Elverket, Linnégatan 69

Duration

75 minutes

27 Dec

19:00

28 Dec

15:00

28 Dec

19:00

29 Dec

15:00

2 January

16:00

3 Jan

16:00

4 Jan

15:00

4 Jan

19:00

5 Jan

15:00

Note! Recommended from 10 years

Empires fall, buildings become ruins, cultural artefacts are destroyed, animals become extinct. Most losses we do not recognise, precisely because they are lost. We look at what we think is history, but it is really a series of temporary preservations in a vast sea of losses.

Using circus, contemporary magic and object manipulation, Kompani Giraff creates in the A Study of Losses their own universe where they playfully seek the allure of the lost. Four circus artists and a collection of forgotten everyday objects wake up in an atmospheric landscape where even objects carry memories, dreams and phantom pains.

The music, specially composed in close co-operation between Kompani Giraff and the American artist Beirut, plays a key role in the storytelling. Beirut, or Zach Condon, composes 18 songs for the show. The poetic lyrics of the artist Beirut bring out the dizzying existential experiences of the show's theme. We are faced with the burning question: What have I lost and what am I afraid to lose?

A Study of Losses is a free interpretation of the novel by German author Judith Schalansky. List of some losses - a book that, with magical realism, describes life and history as a series of losses and disappearances.

A Study of Losses will premiere at Jatka78 in Prague on 10 September 2024 and will be performed at Dansens Hus stage Elverket during Christmas and New Year 2024.

About the Kompani Giraff

Kompani Giraff is a Stockholm-based contemporary circus company that creates visual and idiosyncratic circus performances with a passion for the magic of everyday life. With an innovative and playful design language, they explore the panorama of contemporary circus and make inventive and engaging performances for a young audience where contemporary circus, magic and object manipulation meet in a scenic universe unlike any other. Together with a hand-picked ensemble, the three artistic directors create unique performances with the visual elegance, soft magic and clever choreography that is today the hallmark of Kompani Giraff.
Photo: José Figuroa

About Beirut - Zach Condon

Beirut started as Santa Fe residents Zach Condons bedroom project, but has since come to involve far more people. Blending a variety of styles and expressions not usually found in contemporary pop music, Beirut offers escapist soundscapes that sound like nothing else.

When a 19-year-old Zach Condon returning home after four months of travelling in Europe, his trouser pockets were empty of money but his head was full of ideas. As influenced by the Boards of Canada as Goran... Bregović he strung together piece after piece of music that channelled what he had experienced. The result was the album Gulag Orchestra star (2006) which, together with its successor The Flying Club Cup (2007) are seen as two of the milestones of the last decade. Last year, in 2023, his latest album was released: Hadsel.