Gandini Juggling

Gandini Juggling are a London-based contemporary circus company. Originally called Gandini Juggling Project, the company was founded in 1992 by Sean Gandini and Kati Ylä-Hokkala. Their initial works focused on fusing juggling with principles from postmodern dance, and were created in close collaboration with choreographer Gill Clarke. Gandini Juggling were early-adopters of siteswap notation, guided by their collaborations with Mike Day, who performed in their first two works.

In later years Gandini Juggling have explored juggling's relationship to art forms other than postmodern dance, and to date they have created over 30 stage and outdoor performances ranging from "radical art/juggling fusions to accessible theatrical performances, from choreographic studies to commercially commissioned routines."

Sean Gandini and Kati Ylä-Hokkala met whilst Gandini was performing one of his street shows in London's Covent Garden. Ylä-Hokkala, a former Finnish national champion in rhythmic gymnastics was "looking for a way to use her skills outside of the rigidly competitive system" of her sport. Prior to forming Gandini Juggling, both Gandini and Ylä-Hokkala worked for British-based new circus company Ra-Ra Zoo.

From 1991-1999 Gandini Juggling worked closely with British choreographer Gill Clarke (1954-2011). During this time they made a number of performances that merged principles of postmodern dance with juggling. Critic Mary Brennan noted of the company's first show nEither Either botH and... that it was "tuned into the deepest values of postmodern dance even as it sets out to celebrate some of our oldest entertainment skills" and that, the "... group suddenly confront us with the whole dancey essence of what it is to-have objects/bodies moving in space, forming relationships with that space, with other bodies."

Regular performers in this period included Mike Day (co-founder of siteswap notation), Lindsey Butcher (founder of aerial dance company Gravity & Levity), Alix Wilding (co-founder of Feeding the Fish), and Ben Richter.

During this period Gandini Juggling also regularly presented their experiments in dance juggling at Juggling Conventions, such as the European Juggling Convention.

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