Italian circus artist offers free performance in Hanoi
The Italian female artist performs acrobatic and balancing moves alone on stage, creating a unique circus show imbued with fairytale colors mixed with contemporary touches.
THE HANOI TIMES — Hanoi audiences will, for the first time, experience a unique circus performance as Italian artist Clara Storti takes the stage at the Central Circus on July 19 and 20.
According to the Embassy of Italy in Hanoi, Gretel is a captivating solo performance by acrobat and trainer Clara Storti.
Combining circus arts with impressive visual storytelling, Storti introduces a variety of techniques, including aerial rope swinging, object manipulation, and balancing acts.
Inspired by the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, Storti and her colleagues at the Quattrox4 Company created Gretel, a one-person circus.
Clara Storti performs in the circus act Gretel. Photo: Alessandro Villa/The Hanoi Times
Storti said she wanted to create an artistic experience that was both sophisticated and surreal. She evokes a fairy-tale, dreamlike atmosphere, yet also reflects chaotic reality, thereby highlighting human perseverance, daring, and aspiration.
"At the core of this project is the desire to explore the world of fairy tales. However, my main focus is not their moral purpose or psychoanalytic background, but rather their narrative structure and the small acts of magic or poetry that we can trace throughout the story," she said.
In this piece, Storti looks for precise aesthetics that are simultaneously delicate and surreal. She wants to evoke childish, dreamlike atmospheres and give them substance to break with realism and explore existential feelings - perseverance, hope, and recklessness. Fairy tales allow her to do so in an extraordinary context rich with odd and misplaced objects.
"The fairy tale space allows me to create an extraordinary setting with strange objects arranged in unusual places. Gretel is mindless and rigorous, chaotic yet careful to make everything adhere to her bizarre logic. On a dramaturgical level, I am most struck by the feeling of being forced to leave, the idea of getting lost along an unknown and dangerous path, and the heroic attempts to overcome traumas and difficulties in daily life," said Clara Storti.
The show is suitable for audiences of all ages. Free tickets are available at the Central Circus, 67-69 Tran Nhan Tong, Hanoi.
