Be Echo of Mine

Each body produces a unique movement language; the performers explore how their movement echoes in one another.

Be Echo of Mine was a contemporary circus work created through improvisation. It drew inspiration from the ancient Greek myth of Narcissus and Echo, from the broader theme of narcissism, and from Johan Huizinga’s ideas of poetry in Homo Ludens.

The improvisation-based working method centred on the performers’ bodies and on the idea that each body produces a unique movement language. The performers explored how their own movement resonates in another performer’s body, and how another’s movement, in turn, inspires their own. The moment formed on stage generates a shared world, governed by the internal logic of the piece and unique in every performance.

The work is grounded in the idea of mirror neurons, which reflect the human inclination to echo what we perceive, and in our capacity to choose differently. It also questioned the boundaries of circus: if a performer trained as a circus artist presents no circus tricks on stage, is the work still contemporary circus?

The piece was my artistic thesis at Turku Arts Academy. The written thesis, Circus Artist in the World of Poetry, expands on this working method.