In September 2022, In Your Space Circus (IYSC) and Derry~Londonderry witnessed the magic of Compagnie XY (XY) taking to our streets for the first time. As producers of the project, these performances (or interventions) were expected but were also entirely unexpected in that what we witnessed during these performances was like nothing we had ever seen before.

Initial Meeting

On first meeting Compagnie XY in June 2022, we were struck by how open they were and how genuinely interested they were in each person and place we visited with them. At our initial meeting, they spoke casually about how they would all dress in black and walk through the streets of Derry and lift members of the public up onto their shoulders, and into their arms. They were much more interested in interacting with adults and older members of the community than children because, in their words ‘how often as an adult are you held or lifted up?’ The very idea of these French acrobats taking to our toughened streets and approaching members of the public to touch them, or lift them up, was terrifying to us. As circus and street theatre producing artists, we are used to having our safe playing space and a designated space for the audience. When that line is blurred, particularly whilst performing risky skills like acrobatics, it becomes a frightening prospect. This did not seem to concern the members of Compagnie XY. 

XY & Derry

The four XY lead artists visited us ahead of their initial performance and immersed themselves in the city. We wandered the streets, showed them the City, and found ourselves on rooftops and in basements of buildings we had never seen before! Their curiosity was contagious and their approach with people enchanting. They wanted to see our city from every angle and viewpoint, and this was eye-opening for us. 

In September 2022, the four XY lead artists returned with an additional 16 artists forming a 20-strong cast of world-leading acrobats. Over the course of 5 days, these artists would take to the streets in small groups of 5 or 6 and interact silently with unknowing members of the public. They never spoke. They approached with a childlike openness to play and curiosity, paired with an intense and playful eye contact and touch, instilling trust and inherent safety. The artists interacted with anyone they came across and did not discriminate or judge. There was an unspoken, almost spiritual ‘knowing’ from them about who on the street needed their intervention and caring touch. They gently encouraged members of the public to walk up their strong backs, onto an acrobat’s shoulders, then to cross their arms over their chest and drop backwards, being caught below by waiting acrobats and other members of the public. They were then rocked and soothed before being placed back on their feet, and XY would disappear – not a word spoken. A number of these unknowing people were left in tears - tears of joy, sadness and disbelief at what they had just experienced. Tears of relief, and a release of trauma so heavily littered on the streets here you could almost trip over it. During one of these days, each XY group had a Derry based artist accompany them to add something with a local voice to the interactions. This included spoken word and visual arts.

The Gift

Ahead of taking to our streets, Compagnie XY asked us to gather those involved in the project, for what they called ‘The Gift’. This included artists, crew, executive producer, the Imperial War Museum team, producers and the event management team. Compagnie XY then took us on a journey; a journey each of us agreed we’d remember for the rest of our lives. They took us, blindfolded, through a public park; we placed complete trust in them to guide us around safely. This included being lifted and placed back on the ground. No planning meeting or zoom catch-up could have instilled the level of trust XY evoked during ‘The Gift’.

Les Voyages Derry~Londonderry

After 5 days of personal and intimate interactions, XY then presented ‘Les Voyages Derry~Londonderry’. A secret performance – unannounced on social media or in the press - but invite only with origami invitations being handed out to each person they interacted with on the street. We also invited the community groups and artists XY had met during their time here in the city. This performance was nothing short of stunning. It involved the audience arriving at a city park, with no staging or setup, and no indication of where to stand or look, then XY arriving and performing their breathtaking acrobatics through, between, above and below the audience! They then began lifting members of the public, performing trust exercises and lifts in front of a 400 strong audience. This performance ended with the entire audience standing with their arms around one another, encircling a 4-high acrobatic tower, singing along with the incognito local choir. 

Eventually XY left the performance area, leaving the audience, holding each other and singing together. An audience who had come from all parts of Derry-Londonderry. An audience who might ordinarily be wary of getting too close to a stranger, for fear of who they are, where they’re from or what religion they might be. This might seem dramatic, but in a country and City where post-conflict trauma and conditioning is prevalent, it’s just life. This same audience, no questions asked, were holding one another. This was an incredible feat and an emotional realisation for many. This was Compagnie XY’s introduction to Derry~Londonderry and a glimpse of what was to come with the commission of new work the following year. 

2023: The New Work

Throughout 2023, the four Compagnie XY lead artists who were responsible for creating and composing the new piece, visited Northern Ireland to work with the cast of local artists. This included 8 acrobats, 1 parkour artist, 1 spoken word artist and 2 musicians, as well as a choir of 50+.

The skill level that XY possess is beyond anything that exists here in NI where we suffer from a lack of investment in the arts and local artists. Working with XY was a lifelong dream of some of the artists involved; this project made that dream a reality and was an emotional experience for many of them. They trained intensively with XY in their unique process and methods, intermittently over a 4-month period. These highly-skilled local artists were pushed beyond their comfort zones and challenged to a place where their own skills and abilities grew.

The project was such a boost to these local artists, not only in the development of their skills, but it was also a moral boost to have a project of this scale in NI. It has influenced and impacted their performance skills and developed their teaching work, meaning there is a legacy from the project for other artists and young people training in contemporary circus and acrobatics. 

As an artist and producer of our work at In Your Space Circus, it was an incredible experience for me to observe XY’s creative process. The piece they developed ‘After the Rain’ was a site-specific creation in Derry’s Guildhall Square utilising the built landscape throughout. Using Derry’s City Walls was a challenging process due to the careful protection of the 400-year-old monument. Compagnie XY had determined their artistic vision and were unwavering in their commitment to it. To open the performance, they wanted local parkour artist George McGowan to jump off the Walls and land on a wooden board, supported by a team of acrobats. Gaining permission for this feat was an enormous challenge. We have a strong relationship with our local council and other city stakeholders; in order to accommodate XY’s vision we had to ask permission to do things we knew had never been done before. This project, and overcoming these challenges, has given us the confidence to make these requests and not compromise on our own artistic vision. 

Producing this work has given IYSC the confidence to pursue bigger projects going forward. We produce excellent work in Derry and Northern Ireland, on minimal budgets and our confidence was boosted by being able to deliver something of this scale, with appropriate resources. 

As a Derry-based organisation we felt proud and honoured to be able to deliver this project for the city – which simultaneously lifted and enhanced IYSC’s reputation as a producing company. A number of audience members commented to us that this felt like ‘the right moment’ for this production to take place in the city. We also felt proud that the ‘voice’ of the piece came from Derry based artists – and each of these artists were able to deliver their unique skills, with the proper resources and artistic freedom they are not typically used to. It was a new experience for them, to just ‘write what they feel’ and each has commented on now embedding this in their own practice.

After the Rain – Audience

The highly visual and non-verbal approach of Compagnie XY allows audiences of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to engage with the piece. Without needing to talk about the past in Northern Ireland, the messages were felt throughout the piece. XY used their bodies to showcase the storm and devastation, to then re-build together, using the audience to support one another to create something beautiful – this told the story of Northern Ireland, and Derry, in a way that only XY and circus could. In a way that didn’t invite verbal input or disagreement, but instead inspired and motivated conversation after the performance. As in 2022, the end of the performance saw an audience of 2000+ people standing with their hands on each other shoulders.

We were surprised at how emotional a response the audience gave to the performance and how emotional we felt, as the team working on the project, watching XY leave Derry. We are hopeful there will be further legacy to this piece; we have remained in communication with members of XY and are hopeful we can find ways to bring them back to Derry to engage with the artists they worked with, and with our Circus School participants to help us grow and deliver excellence on a bigger scale.

We are so incredibly grateful to have been involved in this project and to get the opportunity to work with such an amazing team. On behalf of IYSC, I would like to thank all the project collaborators including all the artists, Compagnie XY, Ulster University, the Imperial War Museum and Circusful. This project demonstrated the power of collaboration and what can be achieved when we come together for a shared goal. The project has opened new doors for us, both in terms of possibilities and new ways of thinking and working. We would particularly like to thank Cian Smyth (Executive Producer and creator of the project concept) for making this happen and Susie Baines for her incredibly supportive and flexible approach as a funder. We would finally like to thank the people of Derry-Londonderry for their resilience, for welcoming the project with open arms, and for giving their whole selves over to the process.