Cordes

Being on Earth is no easy feat: we often find ourselves with more questions than answers. How to be? How to be here? As Czech playwright Vaclav Havel wrote, “Human identity is not a simple, comfortable place of residence, but a constant interrogation.” The endless pursuit of happiness, which seems as elusive as catching a fleeting glimpse on a carousel, doesn’t help matters. Relentless in his pursuit, Alexis Rouvre presents one of the most striking metaphors for this fragility that contemporary circus has offered.

Trapped in his enigmatic world, the character he creates spends his time tying knots. He doesn’t untangle questions; he creates them. Or perhaps the solution is the knot itself? As a different kind of demigod, a hermit with silent prayers, the artist immerses himself in a world of familiar elements—ropes, balls, a weary armchair—playing with them in a unique way.

Just as objects form and deform, the stage becomes a mental space in constant flux, mirroring the human journey unfolding before our eyes. In a luminous twilight, the man seems to defy the passage of time. His manipulations appear as acts of resistance or surrender, struggle or gentleness. Suddenly, he weaves a circus ring, accompanied by the almost tender rhythm of a minimalist piano, like a sweet memory. In the next moment, the ropes tighten, twist, and wrap around the man’s body. The soundtrack screams. He, too, breaks his silence.

Alexis makes and unmakes, weaves and unravels with the world—his world. The character he presents is him—or almost. The man reveals his mysterious vocabulary, where letters are threads and words are knots. Over time, the juggler has allowed himself to be captivated by the object itself. Tirelessly, he has explored the possibilities of these ropes, which can be gentle (when they support and protect) or harsh (when they strike or are used to hang).

Far from clichés, the performance doesn’t seek to showcase technical prowess. “Ropes” delves into seemingly opposite yet complementary notions, such as the blend of a powerful body and highly delicate manipulations. Strength and fragility combine into a single humanity, movement becomes both powerful and light, acrobatic and animalistic. With “Ropes,” it is through presence and personality, rather than sheer virtuosity, that this distinct, stretched, knotted, and unraveled world takes shape. A world always on a tightrope, where the tightrope walkers we are should recognize ourselves…