Reclaim

“The future is not what happens, but what we do”.

What is offered with RECLAIM is not a show, but a collective experience inspired by the Ko’ch ritual. The Tajik and Uzbek societies, which are very restrictive for women, have adapted the Ko’ch to a specific need, that of allowing them to support the oppressive and distressing yoke of the society where they are physically and psychologically confined. The evolution of the ritual is today the work of women, who, because of the oppression they suffer, need this outlet. Indeed, the function of baxshi in sedentary Central Asia has been feminized. Today, nearly three-quarters of shamans are women.

RECLAIM is an imaginary ritual freely inspired by the Ko’ch in Central Asia, where women try to build an egalitarian relationship with men with the aim of creating a fairer world for future generations. What we are proposing here is not a show, but a collective experience. This project is seen as a necessity, a form of secular prayer. It’s an extraordinary moment to be experienced as a return to the circus of its origins, characterised by savagery, circles, strangeness, sometimes monstrosity, hyper proximity and fear. A lyric singer, two cellists and five circus performers in acrobatic lifts are literally surrounded by the stands and the audience, in a disturbingly close proximity.

RECLAIM is an act of resistance that means being able to recover and reclaim what has been separated from us.

“The future is not what happens, but what we do”.

He received the award for ‘Best Circus Show’ at the 2023 Maeterlinck Critic’s Choice Awards.