Open Lines – Basinga

TOOK PLACE Sunday 6 August at 16.00
PLACE Refshaleøen, in front of the Wolf – near Refshalevej 177, Cph. K // see location
WHAT Tightrope walking
FREE
NB! Come regardless of the weather. The company has yet never cancelled and can cope with different kinds of weather.

 

Tightrope walking in 15 meters height

The line is 15 meters up in the air and 300 meters long. Tatiana-Mosio Bongonga will dance here. Without a safety line and without a safety net, but with the help of 60 volunteer ‘cavaletti’, who stand on the ground and hold the line. Sure, the tightrope walker is alone in the air, but keeping her there is a team effort.

It seems superhuman and fearless, but for the company Basinga, the art of tightrope walking is exactly the opposite. It’s about facing your fears and your weaknesses and working with them. Balance is the sum of an eternity of imbalances, for which it is important to make room. And we can only achieve the great if we make room for our weaknesses.

On the ground stand all those who hold the tight rope walker up. The cavaletti that keep the line taut. The musicians whose live-music drives her forward. The team of technicians who have set up the line and are watching her every step. And the rest of us, who hold her firmly in the air with our gaze.

She walks from the wolf on the wall of the shipyard and in the direction of the sea – the same route as many ships have taken before her. In the middle of Refshaleøen’s bombastic shipyard buildings, she is tiny. But Tatiana-Mosio Bongonga is not to be overlooked. Powerful, intense and with a charisma that sparks between line and ground.

DO YOU WANT TO HELP HOLD THE LINE?

Cavalettis are the ropes that go from the line down to the ground, where they are held in place by you – 60 people who want to help. Without ‘cavalettists’, the line would swing from side to side and make it impossible for the tightrope walker to keep her balance.

Will you join? As a cavalettist, your body weight will hold one of the support ropes. You will feel every step of the tightrope artist and the movement of the rope, and you will learn to react to help her keep her balance. You are never alone, as the technical team of Basinga is there to assist you. You must weigh min. 40 kg and be able to participate:

5 Aug. at 15.00-17.00 – rehearsal
6 Aug. at 15.00-17.00 – performance

If you are interested, please send an email to kv@kit.dk

You will get a gift certificate of DKK 400 as a thank you.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Tatiana-Mosio Bongonga is a tightrope walker and one of the artistic directors of Basinga. She has been walking on the tightrope since she was 8 years old. After a break while completing her degree in psychology, she returned to the circus and the renowned school CNAC in France, from which she graduated in 2007.

She has worked with several companies and at countless festivals and major events such as the opening of the Panafrica Festival in 2009, crossing the Montmartre in Paris, and in 2012 she won the coveted gold medal at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain. Tightrope walking is her passion and living philosophy, and she likes to share her experiences through workshops. She has created the company Basinga together with…

Jan Naets, who is the technical director and the other artistic director. He was originally trained as a special educator, but in his spare time was taken by the circus as a volunteer at a large festival in Antwerp. The company Les Arts Sauts brought him home as manager. Since then, he has followed the technical circus path with lots of courses and diplomas and is today also production manager for Cirk VOST. He is always looking for the next challenge. The bigger the better.

CREDITS

Tightrope walker: Tatiana-Mosio Bongonga
Musicians: Djeylaroz, Adrien Amey / Camille Secheppet, Makeda Monnet / Lovisa Elwerdotter / Pascale Valenta
Choreography: Anna Rodriguez
Costume design: Solène Capmas
Technical team: Jan Naets, Gael Honegger, Simon Pourqué, Maël Bongini, Maxime Leneyle / FX Delaby;
Production: Camille Foucher, Anaïs Longiéras

In collaboration with Urban Ranger Camp

Photos: Marine Gastineau

Duration: 30 min.