It was the inter-European “Archaos” that at the end of the eighties brought radical renewal to the large circus rings with roaring motorcycles and wild anarchic skills. In the smaller tents the progress has been a little more hesitant. But now the French Que - Cir - Que - invited by Copenhagen City of Culture and who can (must) be experienced up to and including the 18th July -present an equally powerful revitalisation.

It is possible to see their presentation as pure “performance”, but the artists own description of what their genre is, cannot be misunderstood when one sees how consequently they work both within and behind traditional circus frameworks. In the overall direction of the performance the three performers function as a traditional clown trio with Emmanuelle Jacqueline as the domineering, and usually punishing, white clown. She is not in costume as such, because in Que-Cir-Que the outer presentation is reduced to a minimum - most radically so with shaven-headed Jean-Paul Lefeuvre who performs in what looks like a pair of tight underpants!

And if the mast in the middle of the ring seems untraditional, then it is compensated for by being multi-functional - as a hanging point for the lights, as a climbing frame, as a place to hang a wide elastic strap in which the artists also perform - and as a prop that represents the wall that from time to time the performers literarily run head first into. It extends and underlines the symbolism of the ring - and offers a wealth of associations.

Traditional clowns often see themselves artists. They undeniably do the same here - but rather the opposite of what we normally expect. They do not put their efforts into “Guinness Book of records” style exhibitionism. With their mimic skills they are closer to absurd theatre than to self-promoting show business hype. There are no “dangerous” moments - for example in Emmanuelle Jacquelines trapeze number where she takes off as a beautiful great bird and flies low over the circus ring in a brilliantly choreographed act. Nor are there grounds for panic as Hyacinthe (correct name - despite the male sex of the performer) Reisch tumbles around in the giant gyro wheel or other similar props - with perhaps the exception of the moment where he (in an exquisite break in the style) relies on the more traditional performance routine “The Cascade” and is thrown out of the wheel and seems to be about to land on the heads of the audience.

But with this item as an exception, all the routines that make up the entire length of the performance are entirely original - in the full sense of the word. I certainly don‘t remember having seen a similar working combination of people and props before, right down to the involvement with the mast.

Imagine attaching one end of a rope to the hub of a bicycle wheel, the other to the tent mast, and then allowing the wheel to go round the mast so that the rope winds round it, with the result that the radius gets steadily smaller. Then let a performer lie in the ring under the rope and avoid being hit!

Or the other half crazy routine which lets the two men work on the floor as a human “wheel” while they take turns smoking (occasionally at the same time) a cigar!

An hour and a quarter of perfect timing, in perfect rhythm and with perfect music - sometimes from the performers themselves, sometimes taped contributions from particular musical styles - Swedish folk songs, rock, modern jazz - with Lester Bowies version of the Great Pretender as the (aspired for?) musical symbol for this circus performances newly found roots. One is tempted to use a much abused phrase that they have “rediscovered traditions”. If nothing else they take us back to something that resembles Homo Ludens archetypal artist ritual.

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