Leo Bassi (Spain)
What is the role of an inflatable duck in the global economic crisis? This will be explained in a comic manner and with a lot of true scenic skill by the world renowned circus street artist – Leo Bassi. This artist of international prominence, will be leading the big street parade which will mark the start of the Festival, on Thursday, 5th of September, at 20h. After the opening, he will be performing a few of his typical scenic acts on the Freedom Square. A day later, he will stage a world famous show ”Utopia”.
The multilayered personality of this versatile artist can already be seen in his citizenship status: born in the U.S. , of Italian and British origin, he also owns a French passport. He is currently a citizen of Spain, the country he ”shakes” the most with his brusque scenic satire. The Bassi family has been keeping alive the circus traditon since 1840. It began with a distant ancestor, who fought shoulder to shoulder with Garibaldi, and later on founded one of the first modern circuses in Tuscany. His mother’s grandfather, an Englishman Jimmy Wheeler, was a star of the London Palladium and the pioneer of British TV comedy. His father, Leo Bassi Senior, shared the scene with the most famous American artists – Groucho Marx, Louis Armstrong and Ed Sullivan.
Leo Bassi’s first performance in the circus was when he was seven years old, during an Australian tour of his parents – in the circus version of the show Aladdin and the Magic Lamp. The following 10 years, he traveled the world, perfecting his juggler skills and performing as a part of a family trio, alongside his father and aunt. Subsequently, he launched a soloist career, performing alone in the ”smallest circus in the world” and developing as an actor, clown and cultural animator, performing on Off Broadway and beyond. Among his numerous theatre shows, ”Revelation” had the biggest impact, which stirred up the ultra-religious circles in his new fatherland – Spain.
His most ambitious show ”Utopia” was created in 2009; directly influenced by the collapse of the New York stock market and the announcement of the destruction of various Utopian regimes. He was himself a witness of many that perished: the ones inspired by the Enlightenment, national communism and socialist revolutions, to the experiments in post-hippie and other alternative communes. After a long life philosophical journey he concluded that life without a utopia is impossible, although the conservative anti-Utopian forces are always in power. With his show ”Utopia” he provokes the moderate left, lacking enthusiasm and a true direction, the so-called bureaucrats of revolution and conformists of alternative culture, who don’t suggest anything besides the maintenance of their own authority. ”Utopia” boldly builds a bridge between the circus and contemporary political reality, with humour as a powerful weapon – often making the audience laugh to tears.
Bassi’s shows combine various modes of scenic art: traditional circus skills, comic theatre and engaged performance. With the role of an all-knowing ”court jester”, he conveys a powerful message filled with the truth of social reality. This is his way of entertaining and warning, sometimes even shocking the audience.
These are some of the foreign media clips after his numerous performances throughout Europe:
”The grandson of the famous comedian and anchorman of BBC has pulled the theatre curtain of controversy and sparked off the debate on artistic freedom.” (The Guardian, Great Britain)
”Modern, provocative and irresistible. He has broken the routine, delivered some hard slaps to obscure esoterics and earned wide recognition from hundreds of spectators.” (Journal de Noticias, Portugal)
Provocative, confusing, uncomfortable, genius: nobody will remain indifferent.” (La Rebubblica, Italia)
”Don Quixote of the 21st century, a lion who makes the Spain worried about its future roar with laughter, while the other Spain, still having a nightmarish nostalgia for Frank’s authoritarianism – gnash their teeth. He chooses the challenging path, like Michael Moore, he can’t stand the neoconservatives which Spain brims with.” (Marianne, France)
