The circus is in town – a reason for childish joy for many. Only animal rights activists usually protest, but at Circus Roncalli there is nothing more to complain about. Since 2018, elephants have only appeared here as pretty video projections on a veil around the ring. Circus purists might complain: A circus without beasts, without the danger of snapdragons and the taming of the wild, is missing something.
How good that Bernhard Paul exists. The director in the leather jacket is acting like a beast this time. When greeting the premiere audience, the 76-year-old becomes snappy, growls against gender (“dear children”) and takes aim at the city of Munich and the non-existent cultural funding for art in the arena like his, and the circus has actually counted since then National Socialists no longer part of culture. And then he does something very indelicate in the show business, he talks about money: “70,000 euros for four weeks! At first we thought they wanted to sell us the place. It’s the most expensive place we’ve ever rented. “
“Booo!” The audience is ashamed of their Munich. Whereby: The wonderful, well-heated nostalgic tent is on Werner Eckart’s private property in the Werksviertel, very Instagrammable behind the Ferris wheel, on the construction site for the planned concert hall of the Free State, which is paying the leasehold for it. However this is calculated, the city is unlikely to collect any money.
After this greeting, the mood is on the floor, things can only go up. This is what happens, for example, with Danil Lysenko’s juggling. At 24, the Ukrainian can already call himself the owner of various world records. He throws up to eleven rings up under the dome and catches them again. However, there is room for improvement in terms of the sober, sporty staging.
This also applies to the overall concept of the “All for Art for All” program: initially, some artists step forward Tableaux vivants as a living Mona Lisa, Man with a Gold Helmet, Munch’s Scream and so on. As a handstand artist, Maria Sarach twists herself out of a Mondrian graphic image and bends its rectangles with her serpentine lines. But the fine red thread of art fades more and more, and soon number follows number.
The strongest are once again the softest
Number girls also follow, the Roncalli ballet: no longer up to date. What does it mean when women in business suits dance without pants? That you can have a career as a woman, but only with sexy legs? Lili Paul-Roncalli, Paul’s daughter born in Munich, also shows this off. The Let’s dance-Winner knots her limbs in a full-body nylon stocking while lounging on a pool table. This is what men’s fantasies looked like in old erotic films.
Strong men dominate here. Like the Russian slingboard troupe Jump ‘n’ roll, and yes, we are happy to once again be able to applaud a number of Moscow’s model athletes – incidentally, quite peacefully alternating with Ukrainian artists. Even the Colombian muscle men get a standing ovation Hermanos Acero, who lift and balance each other in a very exciting way. But fortunately there are more modern gender games: for example Duo Turkeev she drags him along in the splits while flying by the straps. Or when, with an equilibrium couple from Fulda, Vanessa lets Sven practice a handstand on her outstretched lower leg. Cool!
In the “Duo Turkeev” she drags him along by the straps while doing the splits.
(Photo: Leonhard Simon)
The clowns are true multi-talents – and always ahead of their time.
(Photo: Leonhard Simon)
But the strongest are once again the softest: the clowns. Because the acrobats are more of a filler for breaks at a festival of laughter. Despite all the nostalgia, the jokers are always ahead of their time as real queer-tists: multi-talented people who juggle, dance, do magic, poetize and do caretaker services – but also like to pass this on to viewers, like the gentleman who feels like one throughout the entire performance supposedly has to hold up a mast that is in danger of collapsing. Strictly monitored by the “Wiu-Wiu” clown with a red crown of hair.
The Russian-Ukrainian Israeli Anatoli Akerman is the biggest star here in the ring. After his numbers he always leaves a mess in his room like a messy child, speaks like the Mainzelmännchen (“Guudn Aaaaabnd!”) and has knuckles with bumpy knees like Karl Valentin. Roncalli belongs in Munich, and Bernhard Paul likes it here too, he has promised to come back.