PARADISUM By Recirquel To Make North American Premiere In Vancouver

DanceHouse and The Cultch will present the North American premiere of Recirquel’s Paradisum, directed and choreographed by Artistic Director Bence Vági, at the Vancouver Playhouse.

The production will combine circus, contemporary dance, and physical theatre in a work that examines connection and regeneration in a world altered by collapse. The staging will mark Recirquel’s latest international appearance since its debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Artistic and Executive Director Jim Smith said the presentation offers audiences an opportunity to engage with perspectives emerging from artists working within complex cultural and political contexts. The work features six performers and an original soundscape by composer Edina Szirtes, incorporating strings, electronica, and percussion. Scenic elements such as draped fabric, ladders, rings, and hoops shift throughout the performance, creating a series of shifting environments for aerial choreography and ensemble movement.

Vági’s staging unfolds through sequences that evoke purification, awakening, ritual, and encounters with the natural world. Critical response abroad has highlighted the production’s physicality and visual design, placing it within Recirquel’s broader body of work that merges circus technique with European theatrical traditions. The Cultch leadership noted the companies’ continued collaboration in presenting contemporary performance at the Vancouver Playhouse.

Founded in Budapest in 2012, Recirquel has developed an international touring presence through works that merge dance, theatre, and circus vocabularies. After its Vancouver premiere, Paradisum will tour to Québec City, Montréal, and Toronto.