French balancing act awes Ayala Crowd

CEBU, Philippines - As part of a series of French cultural activities here in our city brought by Alliance Française de Cebu, three French acrobats treated on-lookers with stunts and a few laughs during a board circus held at the Ayala Activity Center.

French company Chabatz d’Entrar has this new production called MOBILES, which involves the use of wooden planks (specifically called Kapla boards) as props, from where male artists Damien Caufepé, Olivier Léger and Cyrille Tillé performed their gravity-defying balancing acts.

This so-called modern circus, a cross between Object Theater and comedy, showcased the handling of props through impromptu assembly, teeterboard antics, juggling acts — all based on the theory of balance and counterweights. Like children playing among planks of boards, the three men used simple counterweighs and notches through finely balanced constructions before their wooden assembly rocks over.

Chabatz D’Entrar is a company created in 1997 in a rural area somewhere in France, and offered shows and workshops to the locals, who were interested in such an art. After exploring different fields in street art including ambulatory shows, fire and pyrotechnics, it launched this circus presentation which ultimately came to be known as a “board show.” The group is currently on tour in the Philippines, while their next stop will be Malaysia.