As a director, choreographer and producer, she is at home in several worlds. Anett Simmen has staged both classic and contemporary circus shows and worked for variety shows and events. At home in Potsdam, she runs the company VoLA Stage Art, which she founded. I spoke to her in Krefeld shortly after the premiere of the Circus Probst Christmas circus there.
"Fairytales" is the title of two shows that you have just staged for Circus Probst and which can now be seen at the Gelsenkirchen and Krefeld Christmas circus. How would you describe the style of the shows?
Fairytale circus with musical elements and many acts of the classic traditional circus.
Circus and musicals seem to be a popular combination. The Paderborn Christmas Circus, for example, has been cultivating them since its first year. And Cirque du Soleil has also brought both art forms together on stage with Paramour. What does this connection mean to you?
Musical melodies are catchy tunes that many people know. Musicals tend to be classified as light art. Just like the traditional circus, the musical draws its audience through the element of entertainment. It's about beautiful moments, light moments, sometimes a bit of drama, of course, but it's not heavy material. The musical tackles a topic in a very simple, memorable way that evokes deep emotions.
In a production like this, you not only have to bring together art forms, but also artists. What is it like to work in a circus production with actors or singers who don't come from the circus?
Pretty interesting. There are very different approaches. Some people love it straight away and find it all really exciting and funny. Others are completely shocked by the way they rehearse in the circus. I had a similar experience at the beginning: How do I get a rehearsal situation going when there's sawing and hammering going on and something happening everywhere? It's a completely different way of rehearsing, a completely different situation than in the theater.
Now you've already mentioned your beginnings. How did you get into classical circus?
I had acrobatics training in my youth with a married couple of artists in Forst, near my home in Brandenburg, so I came into contact with it relatively early on. The first circus tour I took part in was in 1997. I had already realised then that I wanted to do circus, but a little differently. Then I studied choreography and did a thesis in the theatre with artists and dancers, and gradually moved from choreography to directing. I led and founded children's ensembles and put together all the experience I had gained over the years.
And then your path eventually led you to Circus Probst and the Christmas circus...
I came to Probst through the Leyseck family, who were already in the circus that I first went to in 1997. It was a small circus in Brandenburg, where I got my first taste of real circus life. I started directing programs there in 2006/2007. At some point the Leysecks said, "Hey, we've been working at Circus Probst in the Gelsenkirchen Christmas circus for many years, come with us." That's how I started directing and choreographing there.
The Christmas circus is an incredibly successful phenomenon, not just in Krefeld and Gelsenkirchen, but throughout Germany. How do you explain that circus and Christmas work so well together?
Romance. That's perhaps also an answer to the question of what connects circus and musicals. It has a certain romantic aspect. And I think this romance triggers us at Christmas. It's such a special image, I can't really put it into words, but it has a lot to do with coziness, harmony, emotion and happiness. The circus does all of that excellently.
Is that primarily the classic circus, or can other forms of circus do it too?
Other forms of circus can certainly do that too, although the classic circus is more prone for that. Contemporary circus is not just about entertaining the audience, it's about working on topics, playing with elements, and sometimes taking a philosophical approach. It can be entertaining, but it doesn't always have to be, and it doesn't always have that romantic aspect.
You have also worked on more experimental circus productions yourself. Can you tell us something about this artistic side of you?
Well, I studied at the Palucca School in Dresden. It is known for its modern dance and improvisation. So it is my aim to work in this depth. For many years I was torn: Can I even do this, classical circus, show theatre and musicals and contemporary productions at the same time? And now I think, of course you can do it. I don't have to set the boundary between them. The boundary is usually set by the people who work in the individual genres. They say that if you do one, you can't do the other. That is complete nonsense. They are simply two completely different approaches. In the circus tent I know that I only have a few days, it is leading up to a premiere, the show has to be finished and then it will be performed like that until the end. Maybe a little fine-tuning will be done here and there, but then the thing will run through. My view is always: how will the audience react to this? What reactions will this trigger in the audience?
With contemporary circus, I don't look at "would the audience like this?", but rather "how do I tell it?" And that can make it a bit long for some people. I can deal with a topic in depth and then maybe 5 out of 10 people won't like it or will be triggered in a different way, because it's not just about the nice feelings, it's also about pain, despair or intellectual or political contexts. There are an incredible number of approaches in contemporary circus arts.
How do your experiences in the classic circus influence your work in the contemporary circus?
I can definitely bring a lot from the traditional circus into the contemporary circus. You can start playing with it, be it with movements, be it with intentions, be it with moments. How does comedy work? How does entertainment work? It's about dramaturgy: I can feel that I would do this or that in the classic circus, but in the contemporary circus I can take my time and go into more depth - and still know that if I go too far, something different will come out than what I actually want to tell. That comes from experiences that I have had in the traditional circus.
You mean a feeling for how the audience would react?
Perhaps, although that would contradict my previous statement.
Isn't it always a mixture of both? Contemporary circus is also performed in front of an audience and relies on interaction.
But not only that. You can also make installations or all sorts of things that are certainly not entertaining, but incredibly interesting and intellectually very stimulating.
And the other way around, are there things from contemporary circus that you adopt in the classic circus?
Yes, of course. I adopt the approach of sometimes allowing these quiet moments and saying: stand it and you will see, it will not harm the classic circus.
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