When angels danced

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After the joyous ride held in the last three months, starting with a contemporary ballet And Then A thousand Years of Peace to music and contemporary dance, bringing two nations closer, it was time for Bonjour India 2013 to say goodbye to India.

While travelling to 15 Indian cities it showcased about 150 events, involving over 300 artists. As its last endeavour in this second edition of this festival of France in India, which covered all aspects of artistic creation, Bonjour India showcased Flying Angles — an enchanting aerial show where angels took over cityscapes in a huge burst of fluffy flakes at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on March 31.
“The idea was born in Rio de Janiro, and the first show was held in Marseilles in 2001. We wanted to create something bigger and bring circus art out of its traditional place inside a tent. So we thought of Angels who will be on earth, a bit mischievous, who played with feathers,” says Stephane Girard, co-artistic director of Flying Angels.
Flying Angels, Place des anges in France, directed by Stéphane Girard and the late Pierrot Bidon, brings together aerial acrobatics with artists dressed as angels playing with their weightlessness, dropping feathers, suspended from a spider-dome-like structure through steel ziplines. Trapeze artists, jugglers and dancers with unique musical scores complete the show. According to an ancient legend, every 500 years angels descend upon the earth to indulge our worldly pleasures. The French troupe “Les studios de cirque” brings this legend to life.
Since the creation of this show, the Angels crisscrossed the world from Europe to Argentina, a stopover in Russia and Australia with a few hundred kilos of feathers in their luggage and finally to India. The show is designed for a public space, transforming the open sky into a circus tent. It was also presented in London for the opening of the Olympic Games 2012. “We were happy! We weren’t in the stadium. This show is made for the public in a public space,” says Ms Girard.
During the end of 1990s, the late Pierrot Bidon was in Brazil, where the situation was like in India with only traditional circus and no form of contemporary circus. Pierrot worked in Brazil for a year. In 1997, he created a programme called “university for two months” uniting 200 artists and technicians from Brazil. At the end of these two months he created Circo da Madrugada. In Brazilian, it means “daybreak” — when people go to bed after celebrating all night. In French, it means “daybreak” — where people go to work. Pierrot decided to mix the technique of ropes and the energy of Brazil. “He wanted to work on ropes suspended in air. He imagined a legend, which could be Brazilian... that every 500 years, Angels came to the earth to party. This is how Pierrot came up with Flying Angels,” says Ms Girard.
Sharing her experience of showcasing Flying Angels for the first time in India, Ms Girard says, “We are very happy because we know how difficult it is to put up a show like this in India. It was good to do a show in public space. We have heard that in India festivities in public spaces are mostly religious. So we were happy to bring together such a large number of people for an ‘artistic’ show.”
A creation like Flying Angels where artists perform in public space is quite new in India. Now Ms Girard is planning to come back to India with something with an India touch. “We want to come back to India and work on something with an Indian inspiration. With flowers, for example! Art in public space is still nascent in India. And the Indian audience reacts well to this and wants more. We would love to be back and share our experience and create something new.”
Talking about his experience in the three months of the festival of France, concluding with this spectacular aerial acrobat, François Richier, ambassador of France to India, said, “Organised in partnership with the ministry for youth affairs and sports, Flying Angels was a splendid occasion to reach out to the youth and a festive culmination of Bonjour India. The whole richness of Indo-French relations is expressed during this great moment of joy and emotions. Our French and Indian artists have worked together for three months and many of them have shared with me their plans to pursue this fruitful cooperation.”