Circus Maximus Finalists Announced

The lights are low, the audience eager with anticipation and the finalists are selected as Britain's first ever circus competition to find the best acts in the land reaches its climatic final stages. Representing a wide range of circus skills and reflecting the wealth and range of talent that the UK has to offer, the five acts range from hula hoop to trapeze and contortion to static hoop, hand to hand and cloud swing. One final... five performances... one winner.

Chosen by a combination of audience vote and judge selection over a series of four heats that have taken place during the last few weeks, the finalists comprise the dizzying skills of Sylvia Pavone whose spins and twists with hula hoops create a series of sparkling images, Ben Brown who bends, pulls and squeezes into muscular contortions on aerial hoop, the swinging, hanging and leaping talents of Fran and Lucie on Cloud Swing, Tom Ball whose strength and poise on static trapeze steal the audience's collective breath away and Louis and Beren who seem to defy the very laws of physics with their hand to hand balancing prowess.

Created by Underbelly Productions, the production arm of Underbelly Limited and Circus Space, the
National Centre for Circus Arts, the contest is a platform for the very best of UK circus talent. In so doing, it provides audiences with an exciting, entertaining and unique night out and awards one exceptional act with a cash prize of £5,000 and the chance to develop a new show with Underbelly Productions and Circus Space.

The finals of Circus Maximus are staged as a full-blown circus show directed by RSC head of movement Struan Leslie over the week of 28 May. They will take place in front of a live audience and a panel of judges at Underbelly's famous purple cow tent in London as part of Udderbelly Festival at Southbank with the
winner, chosen by the audience and the judges, announced after the final show on Saturday 1 June.
Underbelly Productions have been behind a number of high profile circus shows in recent years including Cantina and Tom Tom Crew, and this year will be presenting work by Circa, Pirates Of The Carabina and a new production entitled LIMBO which is currently premiering at the Adelaide Fringe Festival prior to a five month season in London.

Udderbelly Festival is part of Southbank Centre's Festival of Neighbourhood with MasterCard this
summer from 4 May to 8 September. The festival will celebrate neighbourhood in all its meanings and explore what it is to have and be a neighbour. Communities who live close by and partners from across the UK and abroad will participate in creating the festival - from nearby Elephant and Castle in South London to young people from Pelhourino in Salvador, Brazil - with a diverse programme of events including poetry, discussion, visual arts, performance and art installations across Southbank Centre's 21-acre site.

Photo Credit:www.londoneer.org