Anyone who experienced Fuerza Bruta's exhilarating genre-defying shows at The Roundhouse won't forget their jaw-dropping spectacle.
Before the word immersive became ubiquitous, the experimental physical theatre company moved audiences around the space as performers crawled above their heads in a giant pool, or burst through a confetti-packed box on a travelator.
Part club night, part circus meets dance theatre, these cult shows drew young audiences to the Chalk Farm venue before touring globally to Asia, Europe and the US.
The Argentinian company makes a welcome return to The Roundhouse next month with their new show AVEN.
DJs from Latin American party collective BRESH, and Argentinian food and drinks will be part of an experience which aims to inspire collective joy and awe.
Like the previous shows, AVEN is helmed by the company's artistic director Diqui James and promises a 'celebration of adventure and paradise in a place without floor, without boundaries.'
Fuerza Bruta translates as 'brute force' but perhaps unstoppable force is more apt, as audiences are swept up by the skilful, dazzling performance.
Diqui says the new show has been five years in the making: "We abandoned any note of darkness, we got rid of every trace of intellectual or aggressive strife, and we decided to create the happiest show we have ever done.
"For five years we poured all of our joy and passion into AVEN, and we return to the Roundhouse to let it overflow. Once more, we want to make those columns dance. We missed it. Although, in truth, we never actually left the Roundhouse, we are always returning."
He recalls how the company then called De La Guarda ran for 11 months at The Roundhouse, and might have stayed longer had the venue not closed for a major refurb.
"This was the old Roundhouse, and we fell in love with it."
When it was time for the Roundhouse to reopen in 2006, there was only one company to do it
"It was amazing’ says James: "We closed the Roundhouse with De La Guarda, and then several years later we reopened it with Fuerza Bruta."
Fuerza Bruta is clearly theatre, and yet hard to define: "It’s primitive theatre with very modern tools," says James. "You will see something technically very modern, but the feeling of it is very primitive. We don't use words, we don't tell a story. We go to your body: to the feelings, to the senses. We want to go faster than your brain."
He says of the new show: "We play with the emotions with beauty, with happiness, with euphoria with, all the time trying not to come back to the places where we know that we were comfortable. It has this carnival feeling that everybody can share a celebration and to break these boundaries between ages and cultures."
He also believes London crowds are among the best: "People in London are very confident about theatre. What we do is different, so sometimes you go to a city and people need somebody else to say “this is good’ to them. But in London if they like it, they like it, if they want to shout, they shout, if they want to clap they have the confidence – the connection is immediately there."
AVEN features music by Gaby Kerpel, but BRESH DJ's, renowned for their epic club nights, will perform extended sets after Friday and Saturday late shows at 9pm.
There will also be Argentinian food and drink on the Roundhouse Terrace including classic Argentinian cocktails, Empanadas sourced from La Patagonia, Argentinian restaurant in Camden, and steak burgers from local restaurant, Asador.
Fuerza Bruta AVEN runs 9 July until 1 September at Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road. https://www.roundhouse.org.uk
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