The CIRCollectors

With ICARUS, The CIRCollectors, under the direction of Robin Witt, create a unique concert experience that combines concert and circus show. The project is based on Philip Glass' Icarus At The Edge Of Time and is divided into two parts: The first part is a concert for orchestra, while the second part presents a spectacular show with world-class performers to Glass' work.

ICARUS is a journey into loneliness and hopelessness” is based on the ancient legend of Icarus and adapts it into a modern and multimedia performance. The protagonist Icarus, portrayed as a member of the crew of a spaceship, spends his life in the infinity of space. He is characterized by a lack of perspective, as his only task is to move the spaceship forward without ever reaching its destination, a distant planet. The play explores the consequences of an unchecked realization of dreams in line with the “hustle mentality” while focusing on loneliness and the loss of human connection. The portrayal of Icarus is deliberately performed by women in order to show that the themes of giftedness, loneliness and lack of prospects are not limited to one gender.

The production with the artists Christiane Hapt, Fenja Barteldres, Anna Kachalova and Richard Jecsmen can be integrated into various contexts and expanded with different orchestral works.

Robin Witt comes from a reputable family of musicians. His childhood was characterized by classical piano lessons, a humanistic school education and a deep love of music. It was comparatively late in life that he discovered his true passion: performing arts - a rather late entry into this world at the age of twelve. But from that moment on, it took a central place in his professional life.

Numerous inspiring personalities and valuable influences accompanied him along the way. As a determined and unwavering autodidact, Robin Witt achieved international success, culminating in an invitation to the renowned show Le Plus Grand Cabaret du Monde in Paris.

Christiane Hapt is one of the leading jugglers in the field of object manipulation. In the course of artistically coming to terms with an extremely rare eye disease that almost cost her the complete sight of one eye, she developed new techniques that are used a lot in this show and give the concept an additional layer.

Fenja Barteldres is one of the most innovative cyr wheel artists. With her creative use of this prop, she won the silver medal at one of the circus world's most important awards for young talent, the Young Stage Award. For this show, she developed her already innovative technique even further to better reflect the content of the story.

Anna Kachalova is a multiple world champion in sports acrobatics. She was part of the most important circus companies - Cirque Du Soleil, Cirque Eloize, 7 Fingers, before she found her stage partner Richard Jecsmen, with whom she performs duo acrobatics in Icarus. This is embedded in her straps performance. Both are extremely powerful acts that most other artists don't (or can't) perform in direct succession.

Richard Jecsmen is a veteran of the circus world. His interpretation of statuesque partner acrobatics was the showstopper in the legendary Cirque Du Soleil production Quidam. Anna Kachalova is his current acrobatic partner.