free program
For the MUCH Opening Gala three recently premiered Hungarian productions are paraded, the debut project of a new company, an Austrian-Hungarian collaboration centered on costumes, and the fusion of a renown ensemble with a chamber choir. No long opening speeches are to be expected - let the local circus speak for itself!
***Here is the detailed programme of MUCH Circus Festival: https://trafo.hu/en/much_cirkuszfesztival_2026
Ylzé: Same
Same is a powerful and spectacular physical dialogue between two people, where every movement raises the question: where does one begin, and where does the other end? There are no fixed roles, rather dynamics that are familiar from any close human relationship.
YLZÉ is an interdisciplinary performing arts collective where dance and circus intertwine with visual storytelling and sound. Founded by Renato Illes & Gabor Zsiros, hybrid artists creating productions that explore the world of cirque danse.
Compagnie Fenfire: STICK – Fabric of Circus
The show sets examines the „costume“ from the perspective of object manipulation. The costume becomes a flexible object that enters into a dialogue with the body. The three artists (Anna Weszelovszky, Christiane Hapt, Sebastian Berger) interweave their skills of fabric and circus, and work with strong visual elements and contrasts. Their research focused on physical boundaries and how fabric can restrain or enrich people.
The project FENFIRE was founded in 2004 in Vienna, and the duo now mostly work in the experimental trans-disciplinary field of juggling and object manipulation. Anna Weszelovszky is also an interdisciplinary creator coming from stage performance but lately rather interested in 3D design, 3D printing, costume creation, electrical engineering and programming.
Grotesque Gymnastics: Felfeszítve (Dum pendebat filius)
The Vass Lajos Chamber Choir and the Grotesque Gymnastics company present an interdisciplinary performance which recounts the Passion of Jesus Christ, combining the pure, meditative sound of Renaissance choral works and the expressive drama of improvised music with the movement world of contemporary circus. Between the ten movements of the piece, improvisational contemporary music interludes are inserted by the playing of percussionist Ágoston Szabó Sipos. The story of the Passion appears on stage through movement art and aerial acrobatics. Above and below, tradition and modernity, the encounters between abstract sacred spaces and the flesh-and-blood reality of the Passion all become visible.
Grotesque Gymnastics was founded in 2013 by Gáspár Téri and Ilka Bardóczy. Their sarcastic outlook defines the unique atmosphere and style of the group’s performances. Their most important goal is that, alongside the display of superhuman abilities in their circus performances, human fallibility and fragility should also become visible.
