Gandini

In Smashed, the manipulation of the forbidden fruit takes a sagacious look at the strained relations between seven men and two women, kindly flaying traditional juggling and contemporary circus.

Smashed is an hour-long piece involving nine skilled jugglers, 100 red apples and a soundtrack featuring popular songs ranging from Tammy Wynette to Music Hall and Bach. A series of nostalgic filmic scenes explore conflict, tense relationships, lost love, and afternoon tea.

Inspired by the work of the great choreographer, Pina Bausch, director Sean Gandini and Kati Ylä-Hokkala have borrowed elements of her gestural choreography and combined them with the intricate patterns and cascades of solo and ensemble juggling. Simultaneously evoking great pleasure and small disquiet, Smashed lightly disrupts the rigid conventions of etiquette, dress and body language. The result is a new hybrid of juggling which is performed with meticulous unison and split-second timing.

This funny, inventive and characterful work is akin to dance theatre and will challenge your perception of contemporary juggling.


PRESS

"Here, juggling becomes flights of inspired poetry, musical choreography with strong dance elements, crazy-comedy surrealism, breathtakingly dexterous virtuosity, darkly absurdist drama. Gandini opens windows in the mind." New York Times and chief dance critic Alastair MaCualay


SMASHED was originally commissioned as a short outdoor piece for the Watch This Space Festival at the National Theatre in 2010.
Additional funding was received from the Arts Council England and La Brèche Centre for the Circus Arts to create the theatre version currently touring.