Bal(les)- Compagnie Zalatai is a new show created by Ukrainian juggler Alexander Koblikov and his French wife, acrobat Charlotte de la Brétèque. The show is half an hour long and was presented to an audience of 700 jugglers at the European Jugglers Convention in Ovar, Portugal in August, 2024.
The festival goers had been treated to the best and the wildest performers over 8 days in August. Most performances had one thing in common- it was apparent after only a minute or so whether the show was going to be worthwhile or not. Though a couple of shows were tedious, the vast majority of the shows on the open stage or in the big top were dynamic, skilled, funny or astonishing overall.
One truly fabulous show was Bal(les). Alexander and Charlotte shared the joyful burden of juggling and acrobatics, each doing his or her share of both. But then each flew off on their own tangent of expertise. Charlotte rolls balls down her feet and back and Alexander places them back where they belong or on a new trajectory.
She also climbs her 20 rope apparatus high over head and ties herself up in knots and patterns, only to plummet to earth inches away from the stage floor.
Alexander showcases his flexible leg splits and foot juggling. He catches the balls and throws them with the top of each foot from hand to foot or foot to foot flawlessly. He also does head stalls to foot catches and back. Everything symmetrically and flawlessly executed. He rarely repeats a trick.
From foot juggling he proceeds to his forté, multiplex juggling. He juggles 9 balls by doing a simple cascade but in a three ball stack with each throw. He must throw them very high to succeed and it looks terrific.
He finishes with his signature 10 ball multiplex: a five ball cascade pattern with two ball stacks for each throw and catch.
Charlotte gazes and cheers and they celebrate with a romantic little gag by holding the ropes in a Valentine heart figure.
Later at the final bow at the end, they bring their two little kids on stage to bow with them, in case you think their teamwork was merely an act.
They make good use of every moment of their 30 minutes. There is no padding, slow-build up, or repetition. Most people would rather see a shorter entertaining show than a longer “artistic” or “experimental” one no matter how “original” it is. Yes, we want to present new and original material, but it cannot be at the expense of the entertainment value. Bravo to Alexander and Charlotte for bringing that idea to life.
See also our interview with Alexander from 2015.
Raphael Harris
Raphael Harris was the proprietor of the Jerusalem Circus School for Children for over ten years. He has performed "Sir Juggley's One Man Circus" over a thousand times. He appeared in the Guiness Book of World Records twice and the Record Setters Book of World Records three times. He lives in New York.