Tschemodan tsirk dobranotch

In the organizer's words:

TSIRK DOBRANOTCH IS A MUSICAL CIRCUS ENSEMBLE CONSISTING OF THREE INTERDISCIPLINARY CIRCUS ARTISTS AND THE WORLD-FAMOUS KLEZMER BAND DOBRANOTCH. THE ENSEMBLE PERFORMS CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS THAT FUSES THE TRADITIONS OF KLEZMER, YIDDISH THEATER AND HUMOR. AS EACH OF THE ENSEMBLE'S PERFORMERS HAS A MIGRANT BACKGROUND, THEIR PERFORMANCES DEAL WITH THEMES SUCH AS MIGRATION, EXILE, DISCRIMINATION AND JEWISH HISTORY IN EUROPE. TWO OF THE ENSEMBLE MEMBERS ARE THE GRANDCHILDREN OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS, ONE IS THE CHILD OF TURKISH IMMIGRANTS IN GERMANY, AND THE OTHERS RECENTLY FLED ST. PETERSBURG BECAUSE THEY PUBLICLY SPOKE OUT AGAINST RUSSIA'S WAR IN UKRAINE AND NOW LIVE IN EXILE WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMELAND. THROUGH PHYSICAL, MUSICAL AND VERBAL NARRATIVES, TSIRK DOBRANOTCH'S PERFORMANCES ADDRESS THEIR PERSONAL, FAMILY AND CULTURAL HISTORIES AND IDENTITIES.

"TSHEMODAN" ("SUITCASE" IN YIDDISH) DEALS WITH THE THEME OF MIGRATION. THE ENSEMBLE MOVES FROM THE STREET TO THE STAGE AND LITERALLY UNPACKS A CIRCUS (APPARATUS, PROPS, MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, ARTISTIC IDEAS) FROM THEIR SUITCASES. AT THE END OF THE SHOW, THESE ELEMENTS ARE PACKED BACK INTO THE SUITCASES AND CARRIED OFF THE STAGE AND OUT OF THE THEATER, WHILE THEY CARRY THE SHOW WITH THEM ON THEIR ENDLESS WANDERINGS

THE THEME OF FORCED AND VOLUNTARY MIGRATION PERMEATES JEWISH HISTORY, ART AND CULTURE, INCLUDING THE ART OF THE ASHKENAZI JEWS OF EASTERN EUROPE. FAMOUS YIDDISH SONGS AND PIECES OF LITERATURE INCLUDE WANDERING AS A MOTIF FOR JEWISH LIFE. KLEZMORIM ALSO TRADITIONALLY WANDERED IN GROUPS TO PERFORM AT WEDDINGS IN VARIOUS SHTETLEKH, WITH ENTERTAINMENT SOMETIMES INCLUDING JUGGLING, ACROBATICS AND FIRE MANIPULATION - CROSSOVERS TO THE WORLD OF THE CIRCUS. "TSHEMODAN" IS ALSO INSPIRED BY THE HISTORY OF THE JEWISH CIRCUS IN GERMAN-SPEAKING EUROPE - A DEEPLY ROOTED HISTORY THAT WAS UPROOTED BY THE HOLOCAUST. AS TSIRK DOBRANOTCH IS ONE OF THE FIRST JEWISH CIRCUS ENSEMBLES SINCE THEN, THEY TELL THE STORIES OF THEIR ANCESTORS AND KEEP ELEMENTS OF JEWISH CIRCUS TRADITION ALIVE IN THEIR PERFORMANCE

"TSHEMODAN" CONVEYS ALL THESE STORIES. IT TAKES THE AUDIENCE ON A JOURNEY THROUGH SYMBOLIC MOVEMENT CHOREOGRAPHY, KLEZMER AND YIDDISH LIVE MUSIC, TRADITIONAL YIDDISH DANCE, SPOKEN PERSONAL TESTIMONIES, CLOWN AND PANTOMIME IN THE TRADITION OF YIDDISH HUMOR, RHYTHMIC BOUNCE JUGGLING, FLOOR ACROBATICS AND AERIAL ACROBATICS. THE SHOW CULMINATES IN AN ECSTATIC KLEZMER DANCE PARTY IN WHICH THE AUDIENCE REVELS IN SHARED MUSIC AND MOVEMENT. IN THE MIDST OF TODAY'S POLITICAL AND SOCIAL UNREST, VIOLENCE AND POLARIZATION, "TSHEMODAN" PROMOTES UNITY, DIVERSITY AND RESILIENCE THROUGH UNIVERSAL STORIES OF MOVEMENT, MUSIC, CULTURE AND CONNECTION.