PS21 Nouveau Cirque Gala

Please join us on Friday, July 21 for PS21’s 2023 Nouveau Cirque Gala, with dinner under the big tent and a performance by the acclaimed Cirk La Putyka from the Czech Republic. The politically astute, inventive, rebellious circus troupe will present Runners, a visually stunning metaphor for the frantic pace of modern life, where four performers run, cavort, collide, writhe, somersault, ride bikes, and perform Cyr-wheel acrobatics on a giant treadmill with breathtaking skill and athleticism. Before the show, enjoy cocktails and dinner prepared by Josephine Proul, chef-owner of Local 111 and twice acclaimed as Columbia County’s Best Chef. All proceeds from the Gala will support the production of performances, initiatives to draw the community together, and maintaining our breathtaking grounds and stunning theater.

Praised by The Guardian as “a moving exploration of time . . . through dance, music, acrobatics and dialogue” and an instant hit at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Runners is a stunning circus/dance masterpiece making its North American debut at PS21. The award- winning Cirk La Putyka presents a spellbinding show filled to the brim with enchanting dance, impressive acrobatics, and original live music, all set on a giant moving treadmill.

Contemporary circus overturns genre boundaries and blends acrobatic physicality and athleticism with elements of theater, music, dance, new media, and the visual arts. Artistically-driven, politically astute, inventive, and rebellious, contemporary circus has reinvented itself as a new multidisciplinary genre. It is an art form for our times: provisional, improvisatory, and with the potential for forging a sense of common purpose and embodying community.