Gandini Juggling Smashed
Freesheet
About Smashed
You are cordially invited to a tea party that you will never forget…
Smashed takes a witty look at forbidden fruit and the fraying relationship between seven men and two women. Traditional juggling meets contemporary circus alongside 100 apples and a troupe of masterful performers.
A series of nostalgic, cinematic scenes explore conflict, tense relationships, lost love, and afternoon tea. Set against a soundtrack featuring popular songs ranging from Tammy Wynette to Music Hall and Bach.
Inspired by the work of the great choreographer, Pina Bausch, director Sean Gandini and Kati Ylä-Hokkala have borrowed elements of her distinct choreography and combined them with the intricate patterns and cascades of solo and ensemble juggling. This funny, inventive, and characterful work will challenge your perception of juggling.
About Gandini Juggling
Formed in 1992 by world-renowned jugglers Sean Gandini and Kati Ylä- Hokkala, Gandini Juggling continues to be at the vanguard of contemporary circus, reinventing and reinvigorating juggling for the 21st Century.
Gandini Juggling celebrates juggling in all its facets, exploring not just what juggling is, but what juggling can be. Currently an ever-evolving ensemble made up of a virtuosic core group of jugglers, they regularly expand to include up to 20 performers for specially commissioned events and performances. Ferociously prolific, they are constantly creating new works, which range from radical art/juggling fusions to accessible theatrical performances, from choreographic studies to commercially commissioned routines.
Since their inception the Gandinis have performed over 6,000 shows in 50 countries. They continue to perform at many of the most prestigious festivals and venues throughout the world. These venues range from Contemporary art museums in France to Opera houses in Germany, from theatres in Lebanon to tents in Argentina. Closer to home the Gandinis can be seen performing at the UK’s major outdoor festivals and theatre houses including London’s Royal Opera House, English National Opera, The Royal National Theatre and Sadler’s Wells.
In creating their work Gandini Juggling collaborated with a wide range of cultural leaders, initially teaming up with the pioneering and influential dance artist and choreographer Gill Clarke. The Gandini’s continue to be influenced by a range of disciplines, which include amongst others, composers, ballet choreographers, fashion designers, computer programmers, sound designers, set makers and mathematicians. They have spent several seasons working with orchestras, choreographing juggling patterns to a wide range of classical compositions and have had music specially composed for them by leading composers Tom Johnson, Nimrod Borenstein and Gabriel Prokofiev.
In addition to performing, Gandini Juggling is very much in demand at leading circus schools. Teaching workshops, creating performances and supporting the next generation of circus artists. Alongside this, Gandini publishes books and delivers virtual classes to support the wider understanding of the beautiful possibilities of juggling, for jugglers and non-jugglers alike. The Gandini’s have an insatiable thirst for juggling pieces and a fiery desire to collaborate, communicate and provoke. They aim to reposition juggling as a versatile, engaging and malleable art form for our times.
Artistic Team & Credits
Director Sean Gandini
Lighting Designer Mark Jonathan
Assistant Director Kati Ylä-Hokkala
Dramaturgy John Paul Zaccarini
Cast Sean Gandini, Tedros Girmaye, Kim Huynh, Antek Klemm, Sakari Männistö, Iñaki Sastre, Malte Steimetz, Jose Triguero, Kati Ylä-Hokkala
Production Gandini Juggling
Smashed was originally commissioned as a short outdoor piece for the Watch This Space Festival at the National Theatre in 2010. Additional funding for this rework was received from the Arts Council England and La Brèche Centre for the Circus Arts to create the theatre version touring today.
Biographies
Sean Gandini
Sean Gandini is one of the pioneers of contemporary juggling. Working as a performer, choreographer and director he has, for over 25 years, pushed the boundaries of juggling as a discipline and as an art form.
Growing up in Havana, Cuba, Sean was fascinated by Magic and Mathematics, but shortly after he began juggling, prompting a life-long fascination with all aspects of the art form. Sean’s professional career began in the 1980s, regularly performing in London’s famous Covent Garden and touring with various theatre companies including the pioneering Ra-Ra Zoo. In 1991, with Kati Ylä-Hokkala, he cofounded Gandini Juggling and together they have been at the forefront of experiments into what juggling is and what juggling can be.
Sean is a prolific creator. Whether working with the technicality of ‘pure’ juggling, crafting spectacular street art shows, or exploring the ways juggling might blend with other art forms, Sean is guided by a natural curiosity and delight in the myriad possibilities of throwing objects into the air.
This has led to the creation to a diverse array of shows, including the playful Sweet Life; the fiendishly complex celebration of the London Olympics Twenty/Twenty; and their smash hit, the darkly humorous and theatrical homage to Pina Bausch Smashed.
Kati Ylä-Hokkala
Kati Ylä-Hokkala is one of her generation’s iconic jugglers. As a co-founder of Gandini Juggling she has built a reputation not only as a highly-skilled technical juggler but is also renowned as one of the leading innovators in dance-juggling.
Kati’s professional career began in the 1980s, performing with the influential Ra-Ra Zoo. In 1991, with Sean, she co-founded Gandini Juggling. Since then she has been instrumental in the company’s experiments into the possibilities of juggling, including working to create unique ‘two-person sharing’ juggling patterns.
A former rhythmic gymnast, Kati’s distinctive ability to combine movement with extremely complex coordination is second-to-none. In this she has crafted an intimate and extensive knowledge of the relationship between dance and juggling. Knowledge that has ensured that Gandini Juggling’s work is always of the highest technical standard. Kati’s own performances are always accompanied by a unique calm precision, a precision that comes from decades of throwing whilst standing on one leg. Kati has used this same calm precision to steer Gandini Juggling for the past 25 years.
Kati has performed in all of Gandini Juggling’s works since 1991, performing in over 2,500 shows throughout the world–
in art galleries and palaces, in town squares and in stadiums, in intimate theatres and on the stages of some of the world’s most iconic venues. In recent years Kati has co-directed many of the company’s pieces.
