Between street theatre and theatre stage - Duo ARAMELO

The Duo ARAMLEO performs at street festivals as well as in variety shows (c) Kolja Huneck

A huge parcel arrives, and with great anticipation, it's unpacked: the "Salto! XXL”, the eagerly awaited new trampoline. But then its assembly presents unexpected challenges. The telephone hotline only offers a rather unhelpful recorded message, but a "good fairy" comes to the rescue in her own unique way. This is the charming plot of the first full-length show, "Salto! XXL – (Un)limited Edition," created by German Ole Schöne and Luxembourger Mara Daro.

As the Duo ARAMELO, the two, who are also a couple offstage, have been working together on the trampoline for several years, performing on various variety stages and at street theater festivals. The two met during their preparatory year at the "Rogelio Rivel" circus school in Barcelona – he, the son of a family of performers, and she, a young adventurer who had been involved in a children's and youth circus and wanted to experience more of the circus life after graduating from high school. What started as a hobby quickly became a passion, and they successfully applied to the Codarts circus school in Rotterdam, specializing in trampoline. "I never actually knew you could do thatfor a living," Mara recalls. But she soon learned – and with considerable success. Today, they are both in high demand, performing in both street theater and variety shows.

Ole und Mara are a couple on and off stage.

“Outdoors and in a variety theater have always been hugely different,” says Ole. “On the street, people just walk by, and you have to convince them to stay.” They both enjoy the proximity to the audience, the direct contact, on the street. With their nearly 20-minute show “(Un)Folded,” they've been performing at various festivals throughout the summer since 2018. The show has constantly evolved over that time. “Because we interact so much with the audience, and the audience is always different, we continuously adapt the show,” explains Mara. Over time, they've become better at anticipating reactions, and experience gives them the freedom to react more and more spontaneously.

During the colder months, they earn their living with indoor show contracts with their act. It's not just the contact with the audience that's different there. In a variety theater or dinner shows, they're always part of a larger creation that isn't their own, realizing someone else's vision. Eventually, they both felt the urge to try something new: their own show for the theater stage. There's also a practical reason: Ole and Mara have a young daughter. Their winter contracts are usually longer than they'd wish in their current life situation.

Since their time at the circu school they are foucussing on the trampoline (c) Kolja Huneck

So they set about realizing their dream – and found support. In Luxembourg, there's a €25,000 start-up grant that any artist with a project can apply for. That was the foundation, followed by co-production funding from the Circusstad Festival Rotterdam. The Circonstruction program from Circusstad Festival went beyond the financial aspect. It supported the creative process in its initial phase, arranged tryouts, and introduced director Andreas Denk, who contributed primarily dramaturgical details and transitions, thus giving the creation its final polish.

But first and foremost, there had to be an idea. Ole and Mara knew that a socially relevant theme would increase their chances for funding. So they searched and found inspiration in their own everyday lives. Both were very annoyed by no longer speaking to real people on company hotlines, but rather to often unhelpful robotic voices. You order something online, look forward to it, and then it doesn't fulfill the advertising promises. Then you seek help and don't get it - just a waiting loop.

It's not a major, serious social issue, but an everyday experience that almost everyone can relate to. And yet, it contains a critique of consumer society, of the conditioning we are exposed to through advertising. The antithesis to this in the show is the character of Mara, a typical clown character who embodies complete open-mindedness, who shows how something (in this case, using the trampoline) can be done in entirely different ways than prescribed. "Mara is the playful spirit, the creative side I've lost," Ole explains.

Trailer of „Salto! XXL – (Un)limited Edition“

Ole and Mara deliberately wanted to make the show family-friendly, and they achieved this precisely through this contrast in roles. "The children really connect with Mara's character because she embodies all the fun and absurdity," says Ole. "The character is inspired by our daughter," adds Mara. After all, when dealing with children, it's about fostering their creativity and allowing them to maintain their boundless imagination.

So far, they've been able to present the show three times as a work-in-progress on different theater stages, primarily to adult audiences. At "Nuit du Cirque" in Novmeber, they will perform the show for the first time in Hannover, Germany in the tent of the city's youth circus, Zirkus Salto, for their target audience. They are therefore very excited to see the reactions.

The official premiere will then take place in Luxembourg in January 2026. After that, Ole and Mara hope to fill the winter season with guest performances of their own show instead of variety show engagements. They are already proud of what they have achieved, as Mara emphasizes: "It feels really cool to have a 60-minute piece that is entirely ours."

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Upcoming Show Dates:

Zirkus Salto, Hannover (https://zirkus-salto.de/)

15. November, 19:30

16. November, 15:30