Afrika Afrika

Published Monday 28 January 2008 at 12:45 by Lyndsey Winship

Circus might not be an art we associate with Africa, but artist and impresario Andre Heller, who conceived this show, has travelled the African continent discovering performers who prove that it’s a thriving form.

From Morocco to South Africa and 15 nations in between, over 100 performers make up this infectiously energetic show - a very enjoyable couple of hours of fast-paced family fun.

Backed by a live band and singers, act after act gives their all on the big top’s stage. There are familiar circus skills like juggling and aerialism and some eye-popping contortion from a girl who seems to have removed her spine for the occasion. Then there are original acts, like the two teams of basketball-playing unicyclists who do a great, and very funny, routine. There are acts that are uniquely African, traditional dancers and gumboot dancers, but in a nod to the modern African diaspora there’s also a breakdance crew, who mostly hail from France.

Best of all are the fearless tumblers with a nice line in human pyramids. They provide the show’s most gasp-inducing moment when the men stack themselves up on each other’s shoulders and then the human towers suddenly start to plummet towards the floor. Your heart leaps, your stomach drops, it’s a thrilling moment and for all the fun and good vibes and skill in Afrika Afrika, there aren’t quite enough of those moments.

The downside of a show made up of a succession of acts - a burst of this, a burst of that - is that it’s hard to build up any kind of crescendo when you keep stopping for applause every five minutes (and they do milk the applause). Lots of modern circus has realised this, and tries to weave in a narrative between the tricks. Still, you could say gathering these acts together is a pretty good story in itself.