The Starlight circus has been scouring the French-speaking cities for 35 years, with the watchword: to surprise, again and again. This year, the circus founded in 1987 by Jocelyne and Heinrich Gasser invites spectators to discover “Limbes”, a creation by their son Christopher.
In this dreamlike show mixing theater and traditional circus performances, there are no lions, elephants or other horses. The founders decided to do without animals to devote themselves to contemporary circus 20 years ago. “We are very avant-garde, that’s the Starlight spirit”, enthuses Jocelyne Gasser at the microphone of Keystone-ATS.
“Further, higher, stronger”
Even though Heinrich, the husband, is part of the five-generation Gasser dynasty, the couple aren’t afraid to break tradition and step out of their comfort zone. “Heinrich left the family circus to create Starlight in 1987, when our second child was just three days old,” says Jocelyne. Eager to pass on their passion and train the next generation, the Gassers then created the Jura Circus School in Porrentruy in 1997.
Jocelyne remembers the past 35 years as full of sharing, but also of challenges. “You have to be able to sell your ideas and satisfy an evolving public, adapt to a new generation of artists who are less used to living in caravans. We must constantly question ourselves in order to always go further, always more high, always louder,” she explains.
The circus as a way of life
For this “private”, who arrived in the world of the circus without being born there, itinerancy has become a way of life. “Every day you have a different view from the door of your caravan, sometimes it’s a lake, sometimes mountains. We live in a small island of well-being with cultural exchanges without religion and without politics”, says – she.
And as long as we manage to make ends meet, the financial question hardly seems relevant. “It’s always been like that,” says Jocelyne. “We don’t live from the circus, we live for the circus, it’s a passion”.
After the premiere of “Limbes” on March 18, at his home in Porrentruy, the Starlight circus is currently performing at Geneva. It will then set up its tent in several towns in Neuchâtel, Fribourg, Vaud and Valais by the end of June.