Artist Jakob Jacobsson is joining this residency with his creation, INSOMNIA, which is one of the 2024 circusnext finalist projects. During this residency, Jakob is joined by rope artist Viivi Roiha, as artistic advisor.

About the performance

Insomnia is inspired by the liminal spaces in which time flows at uneven paces, and the subjectivity of time when we find ourselves in them. It is a performance that utilises the physical languages of vertical rope and light design in order to suspend the audience in the sensation that time is not exactly what it seems.

The lights and the rope create sensations and imagery of suspense and fragmentation, and bring into question the length of a moment, and whether we can hold onto time.

About the artist

Jakob Jacobsson stumbled upon circus while working in a jazz bar adjacent to a small theatre in his Swedish hometown. Captivated by the immediate connection to the audience offered by the inherent physicality of circus, and its multi-disciplinarity, he set out to pursue it on his own.

He moved through France, England and The Netherlands, studied at Codarts Circus Arts, and participated in the pilot program of ICCAR, to explore the possibilities of aerial rope.

He’s joined in this creation by Finnish light designer Teo Lanerva, whose experience in bespoke light design within contemporary dance and circus is the skillset needed to create a performance in the borderland between the two art forms.

PART OF CIRCUSNEXT – an EU-funded network that identifies and supports original and innovative creators of contemporary circus. Circusnext is co-financed by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, with support from Institut Français and Ville de Paris.