Contemporary Circus

Blue Area

Countries included in this area are: Albania, Austria, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Ireland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom

Blue Semifinal Show takes place in Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Winners of the Semifinal shows will perform in the European Final in Rome (Italy).

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Jurors

Damir Dantes

From 1992 to 2004, Dantes learned the art of pantomime at various international houses. He learned from Marcel Marceau and Peter Makal, and played with the theater diva, Maria Becker. He made his public debut as a solo mime artist at the age of 24, at the Stuttgart Pantomime Theater. The Zurich Opera House is currently hiring Damir for the extraordinary mimic role of Pierrot in Massenet's "Manon".

Diogo Bastos Pinho

Diogo Bastos Pinho, a multidisciplinary artist, started his professional career in 2007 in Teatro Experimental do Porto. After that, in 2010, he founded his company Teatro em Caixa, where he works today. He is an actor, musician, puppeteer, stage manager, and play writer. In his early career, he learned circus disciplines from Frasier Hooper (UK) and Ivan Prado (ES). In his art, he goes for the Dadaistic approach, and as a stage manager he knows how to put on a good show.

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Prizes

SEMIFINAL - WINNER

Cash Prize
Cash Prize of € 300
Brought to you by MarteLive Europe

Travel Grant 
All travel costs to Rome covered to reach the MArteLive Europe Final Show and the MArteLive Biennial, both taking place on December 7-8-9, 2021.
Brought to you by MarteLive Europe

SEMIFINAL - SPECIAL PRIZES

Artists selected by the Jury among the Semifinalists

MArteLive Art in Progress
1 Week Stay at Art Residencies in Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania and Poland in the Summer of 2021, for artists selected by the Jury.
Brought to you by:
* ProCult in Italy and Poland
* Tuzla Live in Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Kintai Arts in Lithuania

FINAL - SPECIAL PRIZES

Artists selected by the Jury among the Finalists - European and Italian contests

ATCL Lazio Prize
One gig in Italy in the events season 2022/2023 organized by the leading promoter ATCL Lazio (ITALY)

Scuderie MArteLive Prize
Up to 4 engagements in festivals in Italy such as Tolfarte Festival, Arte in strada a Mirabello, Rome Buskers in Town, Carpineto Buskers in Town, for up to 1200 € gross cachet to be agreed with the festival organizations (ITALY)

Biennale MArteLive Prize
Participation in the 2023 MArteLive Biennial in Rome (ITALY)

Yellow Area

Countries included in this area are: Armenia, Belarus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Sweden and Ukraine.
The Yellow Semi-Final show takes place in Vilnius (Lithuania).
Winners of the Semi-Final shows will perform in the European Final in Rome (Italy).

Jurors

Sasu Peistola                       Helsinki, Finland

Sasu Peistola is a member of a Finnish contemporary circus group Agit-Cirk. One of Agit-Cirk's goals is to create and produce unique and modern high-level multidisciplinary circus art performances and taking performances to places and events where circus arts have not been seen before.
Sasu Peistola has performed as an acrobat for 13 years in 17 different contemporary circus productions and dance theater productions. His work as a performer is mixed with high level circus skills, creativity and Finnish madness. During the years together with her partner Jenni Lehtinen their style has become identifiable, unique and charismatic.
​Currently he is touring with his own circus performances Tenho outdoor, 2+2+2, Nuanc3d VR and Väkevä&Lyydia.

Aleksey Smolov                       Riga, Latvia

I'm a contemporary circus performer and teacher currently based in Baltics. I was doing martial arts for 10 years before being introduced to the performing arts - circus and dance - and fiercely fell in love with it. A Cyr wheel became an apparatus of my passion in this ongoing adventure and a medium to explore the outer and inner worlds.
Acquiring knowledge of the performing arts mostly in autodidactic way, I eventually got into an academic environment of the university, and currently take independent courses in the Department of Circus of the Stockholm University of the Arts to deepen my artistic and technical skills.
I have been participated in various shows for venues, collaborative projects and site-specific performances with many beautiful artists In my artistic career .I'm a co-creator and a performer of the first Latvian contemporary circus and dance performance "Faux Pas", largely performed in Baltics and abroad, introducing Latvian artistic language to audiences of Hungary, Sweden and Japan.
On top of that, I have a big pleasure to share knowledge and skills acquired through years of practice, performing and studies with students of Riga Circus School, where I work since its establishment in 2017 at the position of a head circus teacher.

Konstantin Kosovec

Is a contemporary circus artist and teacher based in Vilnius, Lithuania. He is practicing multiple disciplines(aerials, poledance, handstands, dance) but main passions stays with the aerial rope for the last five years.
Professional practice:
One of the founders of “Taigi Cirkas” and “Insomnis” companies.
One of the founders and project coordinator of the Contemporary circus association of Lithuania.
Starting from the year 2012 Konstantin was a part of multiple creations in contemporary circus field. Big part of the creations and projects in the career where also specific and/or mixing circus and dance fields being a part of creative team and occasionally a project leader.

Kęstas Matusevičius

I am a circus artist from Lithuania, graduated from SaSak circus school in Lahti, Finland, co-founder of contemporary circus group Kanta Company. Now we are finishing our new contemporary circus show called "Clothes and Us". With Kanta Company and as solo artist I have been performing in festivals like Cirkuliacija (Kaunas, Lithuania), New Circus Weekend (Vilnius, Lithuania), Kukkofestivaali (Lahti, Finland), ReRiga (Riga, Latvia), European Juggling Convention (Finland, Spain). I specialize in hand-to-hand, object manipulation and acro-dance. Currently, I am also working as a circus teacher for kids and adults in circus center "Cirko Sapiens" (Kaunas, Lithuania).

Ďiugas Kunsmanas

Ďiugas Kunsmanas – freelance aktor, acrobat, dancer. 2017 graduated “Vytautas Magnus University” bachelor’s degree in theater and cinema acting. During studies was an active member of a theatre group “Teatronas” directed by Gildas Aleksa. Became a member of Lithuanian contemporary circus association and was a part of circus festivals “Cirkuliacija” and “New Circus Weekend”. 2017 was awarded for physical performance “Nutricula” directed by Yasen Yasilev. 2019 graduated from preparatory contemporary circus school “Flic scuola di circo” Turin, Italy. Now creating multidisciplinary performances, actively participating in international projects “Kaunas European Capital of Culture 2022”, “Baltic Nordic Circus Network”. Currently teaching in “Movement laboratory Kaunas”, “Academy of Music and Theatre”, “Cirko Sapiens” contemporary circus center.

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Prizes

SEMIFINAL - WINNER

Cash Prize
Cash Prize of € 300
Brought to you by MarteLive Europe

Travel Grant 
All travel costs to Rome covered to reach the MArteLive Europe Final Show and the MArteLive Biennial, both taking place on December 7-8-9, 2021.
Brought to you by MarteLive Europe

Heldeke! Prize
Heldeke! (theatre in Tallinn) will provide an opportunity for the semi-final winner in the contemporary circus discipline to showcase a performance at Heldeke! and will offer 150€ stipend to help cover production costs to bring the show to Heldeke! in Tallinn. OR, if the performance of the semi-final winner requires a larger space than offered at Heldeke! venue, Heldeke! will provide the opportunity for the semi-final winner to showcase their work at TaDaa! Festival (professional street performance festival) in Estonia and will offer 150€ stipend to help cover their production costs to participate at the festival in 2021 or 2022. www.tadaafestival.org

SEMIFINAL - SPECIAL PRIZES

Artists selected by the Jury among the Semifinalists

MArteLive Art in Progress
1 Week Stay at Art Residencies in Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania and Poland in the Summer of 2021, for artists selected by the Jury.
Brought to you by:
* ProCult in Italy and Poland
* Tuzla Live in Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Kintai Arts in Lithuania

FINAL - SPECIAL PRIZES

Artists selected by the Jury among the Finalists - European and Italian contests

ATCL Lazio Prize
One gig in Italy in the events season 2022/2023 organized by the leading promoter ATCL Lazio (ITALY)

Scuderie MArteLive Prize
Up to 4 engagements in festivals in Italy such as Tolfarte Festival, Arte in strada a Mirabello, Rome Buskers in Town, Carpineto Buskers in Town, for up to 1200 € gross cachet to be agreed with the festival organizations (ITALY)

Biennale MArteLive Prize
Participation in the 2023 MArteLive Biennial in Rome (ITALY)

Green Area

Countries included in this area are: Andorra, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Tunisia.
The Green Semi-Final show takes place in Kracòw (Poland).
Winners of the Semi-Final shows will perform in the European Final in Rome (Italy).

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Jurors

Karim Troussi                       Marrakech, Morocco  / Paris, France

Karim Troussi began his artistic career in Morocco before moving to France in order to deepen and complete his formation at the National Superior Conservatory of Dramatic Art in Paris, and at the Circus National Center in Châlons.
Always moving between his homeland in Morocco and France, he is currently associate director in Ciel du Jour (Grenoble) and works with the Ecole Nationale de Cirque du Maroc.
As a director, he has worked with Peter Brook, Ariane Mnouchkine, Hans Peter-Klaus, Jack Garfein, Daniel Mesguich, François Rancillac. 
Active member and supporter of his community, Karim Troussi has organized internships and participated in various cultural exchange projects in Morocco, while traveling all over the world.
Tireless explorer, he currently  follows several researchers in the fields of pedagogy, gesture and acrobatics (with Alexandre Del Pérugia), of hearing and voice (with Alfred Tomatis), and  of kinesiology and massage.

Paolo Stratta                       Bologna, Italy / Brussels, Belgium

Paolo Stratta is an Italian actor, director and theatrical manager.
President of the Italian Association of Contemporary Circus (ACCI), he also represents Italy in the European Federation of Professional Circus Schools (FEDEC) based in Brussels.
Graduated from DAMS, University of Bologna, in History of the Show, he’s the editorial director of the circus series from Casa Editrice Funambolo.
Founder of Cirko Vertigo, he directs the Sul Filo del Circo and the Living Circus Festival.

Fabio Pinna                       Rome, Italy / Ribeirão, Portugal

Fabio Pinna is an acrobat, performer, and teacher from Italy.
He began his journey into movement with martial arts and breakdancing, before discovering circus. He completed his circus education at FLIC (Italy) and Rogelio Rivel (Spain) and spent the following 15 years researching movement and artistry and artistry with movement, both on stage and off stage.
Fabio is a specialist of cyr wheel and has been one of the longest active teachers in Europe, influencing an entire generation of artists and teachers with his methods and research into the pedagogy of balance and organic movement.
He is currently based at INAC - Instituto Nacional de Artes do Circo, Portugal, where he teaches the professional course and receives students from all over the world.

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Prizes

SEMIFINAL - WINNER

Cash Prize
Cash Prize of € 300
Brought to you by MarteLive Europe

Travel Grant 
All travel costs to Rome covered to reach the MArteLive Europe Final Show and the MArteLive Biennial, both taking place on December 7-8-9, 2021.
Brought to you by MarteLive Europe

SEMIFINAL - SPECIAL PRIZES

Artists selected by the Jury among the Semifinalists

MArteLive Art in Progress
1 Week Stay at Art Residencies in Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania and Poland in the Summer of 2021, for artists selected by the Jury.
Brought to you by:
* ProCult in Italy and Poland
* Tuzla Live in Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Kintai Arts in Lithuania

Spazju Kreattiv Prize
3 Weeks Stay at Spazju Kreattiv Art Residency in La Valletta - Malta, to work and engage with local communities.
The experience takes place in 2022/2023 and includes a per-diem allowance of € 25.

FINAL - SPECIAL PRIZES

Artists selected by the Jury among the Finalists - European and Italian contests

ATCL Lazio Prize
One gig in Italy in the events season 2022/2023 organized by the leading promoter ATCL Lazio (ITALY)

Scuderie MArteLive Prize
Up to 4 engagements in festivals in Italy such as Tolfarte Festival, Arte in strada a Mirabello, Rome Buskers in Town, Carpineto Buskers in Town, for up to 1200 € gross cachet to be agreed with the festival organizations (ITALY)

Biennale MArteLive Prize
Participation in the 2023 MArteLive Biennial in Rome (ITALY)