| Creators | Emilie Weisse/TENT |
| Ages | 0 to 1 years old |
| Duration | 30 min |
| Part of | De Betovering |
Circus theater for the little ones.
Be Kind is a circus theater experience for toddlers, 6 to 18 months, with their parents or their adult companions. In an intimate setting, they experience acrobatics and juggling amidst an interactive pop-up set. In several short scenes, little ones' abstract thinking, emotions and imagination are stimulated.
More than just showing juggling and acrobatics, Emilie Weisse wants to explore how we can use the visual body language of circus to reach such a young audience. How to interest, surprise and engage them in their interaction. To do this, she works with the Baby & Child Research Centre in Nijmegen, who provide her with scientifically based advice on baby development. The show is about interaction and communication through circus and gives both child and adult a full theatrical experience. Be Kind is Emilie Weisse's directorial debut at TENT house for contemporary circus, in co-production with 2turvenhoog Festival.
This performance has an age indication with a starting and an ending age of 6 to 18 months. We ask that you respect the age indication and make it apply to every child in your company.
Emilie Weisse was born in Paris in 1978 and studied at Rosella Hightower's ballet academy in Cannes. She danced in various companies including works by Balanchine, Brumachon and Preljocaj. It was her partner, the Dutch juggler Menno van Dyke, who introduced her to the circus world. Together they developed the act Juggling Tango in which juggling and dance merge. For this internationally acclaimed act they received in 2018 the Oscar Carré trophy, the Dutch oeuvre award for circus art.
Since 2020, Emilie has been a creator at TENT house for contemporary circus in Amsterdam where she develops her ideas further in various making trajectories. "Although as a dancer and circus artist we sometimes speak a different language, my years of experience in circus allowed me to make a very natural connection." In September 2022 Emilie will premiere her directorial debut Be Kind.
| Direction | Emilie Weisse |
| Artists | Joris de Jong, Jorga Lok |
| Decor & Book | Rianne van Duin |
| Lightning Design | Wouter Moscou |
| Costume | Heidi de Raad |
| Advisor | Sabine Hunnius (Baby & Child Research Center, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen) |
| Producer tent | huis voor hedendaags circus |
| Coproducer | 2turvenhoog Festival |
| Foundation | Emilie Weisse Circustheater |
| Supported by | Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst • Fonds Podiumkunsten • Mingler Scholarship 2022 • Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds |
| Special thanks to | Pluck Venema |
Festival De Betovering
This performance is part of Festival De Betovering. See the full programme on the website of De Betovering.
Korzo Zaal