V A C I O
"V A C I O" (The Void) is a captivating show that seamlessly combines world-class acrobatics, dance, live music, storytelling, and live projected visuals.
It delves into the theme of human connection and disconnection in the modern world, using the concept of the "void" as a representation of the isolation and emptiness brought about by technology. The show also explores the transformative power of the sublime, and how the void can be a space through which universal source flow, a means to rediscover our connection to ourselves, others, and the natural world.
V A C I O begins in a dreamlike ambiance, with stunning visuals and live music that evoke the essence of creation itself. Through storytelling, the audience is immersed in a shared collective experience that taps into ancestral memory and ignites the power of imagination and metaphor.
It takes us on a profound journey, following the protagonist's struggle with isolation and their quest for meaning in a technology-dominated world that often disconnects us from our deeper sense of connection.
In the final act of V A C I O the stage transforms into a shamanic realm, using real earth, dynamic movement, smoke, sound, and light. This symbolic rite serves to reawaken the audience's senses and reestablish their bond with the natural world, grounding them in a profound connection.
With Oskar Mauricio's mesmerising performance on aerial straps and the innovative counterweight style by Bitschi Gernot, a sense of struggle emerges, igniting a call to action that prompts the audience to reflect on their own place in the world.
V A C I O is a thought-provoking and visually stunning contemporary circus show that explores the complexities of human connection and disconnection. It challenges the audience to question their relationship with technology and invites them to seek deeper meaning and connection in their lives.
Oskar Mauricio : show concept/direction/aerialist
Max Mittermeier: Visual design / live visuals
Lih Qun Wong : original music and text/ live music, storyteller
Bitschi Gernot: Counterweight / Rigger
Elena Ruiz: Light designer/tech
Anna-Katharina Andrees : Outside eye/production
Lucila Prestach: Outside eye/production
Show length : 50 mins
Language: English/Subtitles available
VACIO TRAILER
Photography Credits: 3rd Eye Photography, Martin Mostert, Jan E Siebert
Cia Omkara
Cia Omkara is a Berlin based performing arts company of artists who’s disciplines include contemporary circus (aerial arts, aerial counterweight), dance, live music, visual arts, light design, storytelling and artistic research in the Chekov technique. Since 2016 they have been in constant creation and collaboration with various artists, using the performing arts as an open space fo artistic exploration, healing and questioning societal norms. They are interested in creating work that disrupts artistic genres, but instead creates space to access common narrative and shared reflection and collaborative memory.
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Oskar began his studies in art in Bogota, Colombia where he was born. He trained to be an aerialist in the National Circus School Circo Para Todos in Colombia, with parallel training in African contemporary dance. This brought Oskar out of Bogota to perform all over the world in different variety theatres, creative projects, cruise ships, etc. Together with Soledad Gomez, he formed Kiebre Duo in Argentina, creating the aerial straps act SOL_O_S. This work had a big impact in the circus world because of its style and unusual exploration of movement. With this unique piece, Kiebre Duo participated in renowned festivals in
Europe and South and North America, winning the Silver Medal at Cirque Du Demain in Paris 2015, and Gold medal and public prize at the Young Stage Circus Festival in Basel (Switzerland) 2015. At the Artistika Festival in Visp, Switzerland (2017) Kiebre Duo received thesecond place and the public prize in Montreal for Coup de Coeur in La TOHU and in Germany for the show Urbanatix etc…
These creations and collaborations became a large part of Oskar's inspiration to found Cia Omkara with the multidisciplinary show VACIO, with which he has won first place in the FIRCO festival in Madrid 2021, and has been invited to participate in the CIRCOS festival in Sao Paulo Brazil in 2023.
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Lih Qun is a composer, electronic producer and musician. She explores the full percussive and lyrical range of the cello, drawing on sound effect worlds created through electronic production and vocal textures, her sets travel through complex aural-hallucinatory worlds of intricately shifting landscapes. A composer for theatre, contemporary dance and circus, she uses cinematic orchestration, opera, dystopian electronic beats, story telling and soundscape to create narratives.
A classically trained musician for over 30 years, and a composer and producer for the last 10, Lih Qun works with a large palette that shifts effortlessly between cinematic modern classical, sonic environment and electronica. She has an implicit understanding of how to mix genres and unusual instrumentations to create a dynamic yet very human and touching soundtrack. Collaborating with esteemed artists including Agnes Obel, Raz O’hara, and Die Wilde Jagd, Lih has contributed her talents to stages all over the world and has collaborated with their recording albums.
Driven by a profound exploration of femininity, diasporia, and the importance of storytelling and forgotten wilderness in our times today, Lih’s music and spoken word gives space for memory and connection. Her performances create immersive and hallucinatory aural spaces where audiences can transcend their reality and engage in transformative journeys.
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Computational designer and visual artist working and living in Berlin.
With a background in graphic design, Maximilian started exploring more synaesthetic audiovisual realms when he joined the multimedia & interactive media collective Elektropastete in 2009.
Since then, he has been fascinated with transforming spaces through sound, light, and image and has worked and performed in projects ranging from interactive art installations to concert visuals to underground DJ gigs.
Always interested in using technology to create new tools of visual expression, he currently works on turning the stage for Vacio into a visual instrument that is played live and becomes an actor in the dialogue between performer and musicians.
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After more than 20 years of artistic gymnastics in Austria, Bitschi started his career as a circus performer. He used his artistic and creative talent on stages of renowned Viennese opera houses and shows with Phoenix Creative worldwide.
Bitschi is the co-founder of the contemporary circus company in_tensegrity. As a specialist in aerial counterweighting he has been the “human motor” for many high-skilled aerial acts.
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Anna-Katharina has an artistic background and works with tools from the Michael Chekhov technique which focus on artistic development and “thinking of the whole.”
For show preparation she is responsible for coordination, communication and organization, as well as artistic coaching to give the artists space to concentrate
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Circus artist specialised in Chinese pole among other aerial disciplines and performer.
With a background in Fine Arts, she completed her Masters of Art in Public Space 2017 at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles. She is currently investigating the role of the spectator in spaces of interaction with new technologies, building spaces of provocation for the direct action. Lu is currently part of the program of independent studies of MACBA (Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona).
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With a background in lighting technic and design, Elena has been working over the last years at various spaces in the field of theater, circus, music and clubbing.
Fascinated by the ephemeral and the expressive power of light as a means to touch the emotional plane, her curiosity has led her to experiment in her interaction with the digital and its physical malleability through technology and construction of DIY artefacts with open software tools.
She has been involved in the light aspect of diverse performative art projects, among which is the universe created by Cia Omkara - Vacío.
Contact us.
For more information, technical dossiers and booking requests please contact:
cia.omkara@gmail.com