Sean Gandini - putting Juggling back on the cultural agenda

By Sophia Longhi

In its first week at the Udderbelly Festival, Gandini Juggling's Smashed experienced full audiences, standing ovations and rapturous applause, leaving theatre-goers exhilarated by the visual feast they had just witnessed. Juggling has come a long way from being the party trick of court jesters and has pushed its way into the theatre sphere, challenging our perceptions of what juggling is and what it can achieve. Could it be true that juggling has finally found its way into the hearts of theatre fans and can stand alone as an art form that we can truly appreciate and admire?

Judging by the story behind Smashed, it would certainly seem that it was never a case of juggling being ready for theatre, but instead, theatre being ready for juggling. Originally commissioned as a short outdoor piece for The Watch This Space Festival at the National Theatre in 2010, it has taken four years to reach this point and, with funding finally granted by the Arts Council and La Breche Centre, Smashed is now able to access theatre audiences on a touring scale.

Since forming Gandini Juggling in 1992, Sean Gandini and Kati Yoa-Hokkala have worked to reinvent and reinvigorate the widespread image of juggling, which is, as Sean explains, not exactly high on the cultural agenda. 'Everyone likes music, but not everyone likes juggling.' But if Sean is right, perhaps it is because we just don't know juggling very well.

When I heard about Smashed, I was curious about how Sean and his company would fill an hour juggling apples, as my only experience of juggling was of street performers throwing batons and knives in the air, maybe with some fire-eating thrown in for good measure. Although an impressive skill to behold and undoubtedly entertaining and exciting to watch, I wondered if the art was somewhat limited to what it can express.

Sean touches on the point that juggling is regarded as a low art form, in comparison to ballet or opera for example, which are seen as high art forms. In order for juggling to be appreciated on a different level, does it have to mix within forms of high art? 'I think juggling has enough vocabulary on its own as an artform,' Sean tells me, and contrary to my initial musings, he has used it successfully to explore and express themes, emotions and issues, with impactful and memorable results.In last year's run of Clowns and Queens, Gandini Juggling considered the perverse beauty within circus and, with some controversial scenes, Clowns and Queens succeeded in pushing boundaries and stereotypes, resulting in groundbreaking theatre. Similarly, Smashed explores the themes of the male and female, delving into and exposing human relationships, with a perfectly matched soundtrack ranging from the bluest country to plucky 1940s waltz.

Inspired by the work of the great choreographer Pina Bausch, the show plays with images and nostalgic filmic scenes, some strong and devastating and some bordering on the insane, but always delivered with a humour and a quick wit that makes any scene delightful to watch. The choreography is seamless and the nine performers sync in crisp unison, captivating the audience, who cannot help but gasp and whoop in astonishment.

Directing and starring in the show, Sean pays tribute to his talented company of 25 jugglers, who he describes as a big family, for their unique connection and ability to work together on stage, after all some have worked together for over ten years. What drives him to continuously strive to reinvent juggling and come up with new ideas and inspiration? 'For me, juggling is a physical addiction,' Sean describes, 'like any performer, like a ballet dancer, it is a discipline'.

His passion shines through on stage, as well as the calibre of his company, of which some are trained in contemporary dance and ballet. Whether considered high art or low art, Smashed seems to blur the lines between the two and breaks down any preconceptions of contemporary juggling, achieving in showing us something new and exciting. The masterful character play and storytelling demonstrates that juggling does have a vocabulary of its own and it speaks all languages.Intelligent, funny, wild and impressive, Smashed has more than earned its place on a theatre stage and, with plans to split the company in order to perform more shows across the globe, hopefully more theatre-goers will see what happens when nine skilled jugglers decide to have a tea party with 80 red, juicy apples.

Smash is at the Udderbelly Festival until May 18th 2014. Book tickets online at www.underbelly.co.uk

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