Circa
Opus

Fourteen acrobats and a chamber ensemble celebrate the music of Dmitri Shostakovich in Opus, a work of power, virtuosity, and poetry performed by Australia’s Circa and France’s Debussy String Quartet. The Russian composer’s quartets are, by turns, intimate, passionate, lyrical, ironic, and moving testimonies by one of the twentieth century’s greatest artists. In Opus, three of his quartets and an adagio form the musical and dramatic spine for a fusion of extreme acrobatics, lyrical movement, and group choreography. More than just a source of musical accompaniment, the Debussy ensemble performs from memory and is woven into the action. A critic for the British newspaper The Guardian describes Opus as “extraordinarily moving.” A reviewer for Canada’s La Presse calls it “a masterpiece of circus art.” The performance delves into the complex relationships between the individual and the group, between the march of history and the dictates of the heart, and between the tragic and the comic. Since 2006, Brisbane’s Circa has blended bodies, light, sound, and skills to achieve its bold vision for contemporary circus. The company has toured to six continents and performed in more than thirty countries. Based in Lyon, the Debussy quartet garners international praise for its many recordings and live performances. The ensemble, winner of the Evian International String Quartet Competition, was created in 1990.