European Heritage Days open with an acrobatic performance
The fifth edition of European Heritage Days opened with a reception at the French Embassy, featuring a Chinese pole performance by Cirque Entre Nous. France’s Ambassador to Türkiye, Isabelle Dumont, said the event was attracting growing interest and gaining support from more partners and institutions each year.
France’s Ambassador to Türkiye, Isabelle Dumont, hosted the opening reception at the French Embassy in Ankara. Ambassadors, representatives of foreign missions and figures from the arts and culture community attended the event. Cirque Entre Nous delighted the audience with a Chinese pole performance combining acrobatics, music, dance and drama to depict the everyday interactions of four friends.
Speaking at the reception, Dumont said 11 embassies were taking part in this year’s European Heritage Days. She welcomed the growing number of partners supporting the event.
Passing heritage on to future generations
Describing the Chinese pole performance in the embassy gardens as an opportunity to experience art in a unique heritage setting, Dumont highlighted its role in passing on cultural traditions. “It gives people an opportunity to discover an art form and help pass this intangible heritage on to future generations,” she said.
Now in its fifth edition, European Heritage Days continued to expand each year, said Gilles Roulland, Cultural Counsellor at the French Embassy. Pascale Boeglin Rodier, Director of the French Cultural Centre in Ankara, said participants had booked all 3,000 available places within an hour, adding that the organisers welcomed the strong interest.
Breaking down the wall between performers and audience
Explaining the concept behind the show, Matias Plaul of Cirque Entre Nous said the French contemporary circus company specialised in Chinese pole, a circus discipline. The performance, he said, centred on four friends getting together, doing familiar things and enjoying one another’s company.“Our show is about friends getting together. Four friends meeting up, doing the things they usually do together and having fun,” he said.
Humour played an important role in the performance, Plaul explained, adding that the company aimed to connect directly with the audience. “We try to break down the wall between the stage and the audience. We do that through acrobatics,” he said.
The show carried no specific message, Plaul explained. Instead, it centred on the relationships between its four characters. “No, that’s really what it’s about. It’s simply about coming together,” he said.
The characters knew one another, understood what each would do and joked around together, creating a dynamic that resembled a family, Plaul added. “They’re almost like a family. When they get together, they know one another. They know what they’re going to do,” he said.
Every performance is unique
Although the show might appear to be the same each time, every performance created a unique experience, Plaul said. “From our perspective, it may seem like the same show every day, but it really isn’t. Every performance is unique,” he said.
Describing the show’s central aim, he added, “We just want to laugh, make people laugh and create that sense of the right thing happening at the right moment.”
