MAD COLLECTIVE
MAD collective was created in 2012 when Elice Abonce Muhonen gathered six circus artists from Finlande to create a one shot show in the festival “Tant qu’il y aura des mouettes” organized by Galapiat Cirque. The main artists of the collective are all women, circus artists and finnish and all left Finland at some point for their artist career. Based on this comun ground came the question about the identity, the hindsight that allowed the geographic distance, the dreams and the fantasy of a country that we left.
Since then, the collective has grown and developed a lot of projects around the show. Another show called the Mega Mad, an exclusive and increased performance with extra finnish guests, the film Mad in Finland, a circus documentary premiered in 2021.
© Sébastien Armengol © KlaraG
A circus show about Finnish folklore, melancholia, madness, and highlights from the history books. Because of such passionate responses, the show has been touring now for over 10 years, touching audiences all over Europe. The seven powerful women performers transform the circus tent into a crazy and seductive act of new circus, chopping with axes through the expectations of femininity and gender norms.
All the artists of Mad in Finland have a common bond in that they have each left their motherland for the love of circus. With a gentle irony they show their country as they remember and dream of it. This distorted and warm-hearted satire of identity is portrayed through top level skills from foot juggling and clowning to wire dancing and aerial acrobatics. Circus, comedy, and live music tell a story of an imaginary and reinvented Finland where Finnish sadness has something magical about it and where the harsh climate encourages strong characters.
Cast
Elice Abonce Muhonen (hair suspension, drums) Heini Koskinen (aerial silk, violin) Jenni Kallo (clown, drums) Milla Lahtinen (swinging trapeze) Mirja Jauhiainen (trapeze, cello, bass) Nelli Kujansivu (foot juggling, drums) Sanja Kosonen (wire dancing, guitar) Teija Sotikoff (vocals, keytar, flute)
Technical manager : Gautier Gravelle
Stage manager : Gautier Gravelle ou Luc Mainaud ou Bernard Molinier Light : Gautier Gravelle ou Nicolas Gastard
Sound : Franck Beaumard ou Mathias Lejosne
Tour manager : Anne Heuveline – L’Avant Courrier
CONCEPT/CASTING ORIGINAL :
Elice Abonce Muhonen, Heini Koskinen, Lotta Paavilainen, Mirja Jauhiainen, Sanna Kopra, Stina Kopra, Sanja Kosonen
THANKS:
Remy Sciuto (Artistic advisor on music, Siri Hamari (Outside eye), Romain de Lagarde (Lights), Lucie Plessis (Illustration), Sebastien Armengol, Klara G, Paola Jorquera (Photographer), and Sauna, Joulupukki, Carina, Saxenberg, Claire Peysson
Partners & co-producers
Support: La Cascade, Maison des arts du Clown et du Cirque, Bourg Saint Andéol (07); Arts Council of Finland; La Comédie de Caen, Centre Dramatique National de Normandie (14); La Brèche, Pôle National des Arts du Cirque, Cherbourg Octeville (50)
Basic Facts
April 2012
Under Big Top or proscenium stage version
75 min – from 5 years and older
YOUR CONTACT :
Anne Heuveline
anne[@]avantcourrier.fr
+33 6 68 20 14 57