Travesía: Horizons de cirque and Escales artistiques catalanes et basques

Travesía – Pyrénées de cirque is a cross-border project between France and Spain, which aims to promote the employment of circus artists in the cross-border area by transforming the methods of support and adapting them to meet the new challenges caused by the coronavirus crisis for the sector.
This project, coordinated by La Grainerie (Toulouse), brings together eight training, creation and performance distribution structures between 2020 and 2022, to experiment with new support practices based on inter-professional dialogue, artistic research, the articulation between creation and distribution and the solidarity between operators, emerging and recognized artists.

Travesía intends to combine two directions of work:
• a response to the urgent needs of artists in terms of resources for creation and distribution
• the involvement of the whole profession in a dynamic of mutual learning through experimentation, to make our models of action evolve towards more cooperation and solidarity.  

In view of the current status of this project, it is interesting to present two of the actions that are taking place during these first months of the year more precisely:
• the Horizons de Cirque study
• the Escales artistiques catalane et basque

Horizons de cirque @ Christelle Jung

The Horizons de Cirque study aims to mobilize the circus community in the Pyrenean regions, in order to take stock of more than twelve years of cross-border cooperation for the circus and to build on it to construct the future of the cross-border circus, taking into account the new challenges.
This study is divided into two phases during professional seminars, to which the entire profession is invited (artists, programmers, project managers, broadcasters, production managers, staff of structures, etc.). These professionals are invited to contribute by sharing their experiences, knowledge of the past and recommendations for the years to come, in order to build the future of cross-border circus.
• the first phase of the study, Regards croisés sur le passé, took place on January 27 and 28 2022
• the second phase of the study, Quel écosystème culturel imaginons-nous pour demain? will take shape during a final seminar in Bilbao on May 18 and 19 2022.

The Escales artistiques catalane et basque propose several days of discovery of the circus and gastronomic culture of these territories.
A proposal for several days of discovery of the circus and gastronomic culture of Catalonia, the Catalan stage of the project took place at La Grainerie, from 26 to 29 January 2022, with the programming of five shows and creation stages:
• Ciudades interiores / Ajpu circo
• Runa / 104° compania
• Picaderø / Haa Collective
• Breach / Som Noise
• Homenaje / En Diciembre

The Basque stage will also take place at La Grainerie, on 30 April 2022, with the programming of four shows and creation stages:
• La punta de mi nariz / Kolektivo Konika
• Artxipielago / La trapecionista
• On est là tout va bien / Rouge Elea
• Mikra / =ki (berdinki)

These emerging artists are accompanied in the framework of Travesía or the CircusNext + project.

Travesía is an eight-partner team:
La Grainerie, Balma (Occitanie) > Project leader
Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès (Occitania)
Ax Animation, Ax-les-Thermes (Occitania)
Occitanie en scène (Occitania)
Communauté d’Agglomération Pays Basque, Bayonne (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)
City of Bilbao (Basque Country)
Transversal, Olot (Catalonia)
APCC – La Central del Circ, Barcelona (Catalonia)

and six associate partners:
ESAC-TO, Toulouse (Occitania)
Fira Tàrrega (Catalonia)
Roca Umbert, Granollers (Catalonia)
La Verrerie d’Alès, national Occitanie circus centre
Ateneu Popular 9 Barris, Barcelona (Catalonia)
Feria Internacional de Teatro y Danza de Huesca (Aragon)
http://www.demaramarblog.wordpress.com/

For more information
The page on the Occitanie en scène website: Travesía

Occitanie en scène
Christelle Jung, adviser
+33 (0)7 69 98 62 90
c.jung[@]occitanie-en-scene.fr

Travesía – Pyrénées Circus is co-funded by the European Union for 65% (ERDF), within the framework of Interreg V-A Spain-France-Andorra Programme (POCTEFA 2014-2020), as well as by Drac Occitanie, Occitanie / Pyrénées-Médierranée Region, the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Departmental Council of Haute-Garonne, Toulouse Métropole, the City of Toulouse, the City of Ax-les-Thermes, the City of Balma and the City of Barcelona.