Gandini Juggling, Heka Review 4*
Tight choreographies knit together magic and juggling in Gandini Juggling’s latest show, Heka, part of the MimeLondon festival
Sean Gandini, co-founder of Gandini Juggling with his wife Kati Ylä-Hokkala, has an insatiably curious mind and an ever expanding range of interests. As a result, since its foundation in 1992 Gandini Juggling has moved way beyond the confines of merely keeping objects in the air, to encompass mathematics, philosophy, ballet, contemporary dance and now magic.
Its latest show, Heka, performing to sell out houses at The Place as part of MimeLondon, knits all that, together with Gandini’s trademark mischievous, surrealistic sense of humour, into a tightly choreographed, captivating hour that only slacks a little towards the final 15 minutes or so.
Named after the Egyptian goddess of magic, Heka pays homage to the 19th century French father of modern day prestidigitation, Robert-Houdin, for whom magic had to be “efficacious and entertaining”.
Gandini Juggling’s Heka © Camilla Greenwell
A woman, Yu-Hsien Wu, sits at long table. Seemingly of their own accord, the sleeves of her jacket roll up. Then her two hands become four, six… in a seamless dance of pure illusion. Magicians Yann Frisch and Kalle Nio did a great job as consultants for Heka.
She’s joined at the table by five members of the multinational cast and there follows a mind-boggling sequence of red balls that appear and disappear at will, creating the illusion of being swallowed and regurgitated.
Table removed, The Magus, Sean Gandini himself, makes his entrance. His bright red suit points up the red folds of the troupe’s unisex black jackets and skirts ( stylish costumes by Georgina Spencer). His short effervescent spiel is equal parts informative, outlandish and very funny. Do we really believe his Spanish juggler was raised by wolves?
From then on intricate juggling takes pride of place, always with more than a nod towards illusion. Balls and rings take to the air in individual or joint efforts. A particular favourite of mine was the sequence of three pairs, each sharing a pair of striped tights, juggling rings in unison while capering with the striped legs, marshalled in schoolmarmish voice by Kati Ylä-Hokkala.
In other sequences, they juggle while repeating ditties in a variety of languages; and more complicated still, while counting in a non-sequential way. At intervals Gandini takes a break form his MC-ing duties to join in the juggling.
Heka‘s vivacious flurry of ideas and illusion seemed to fizzle out a little towards the end; but not so as to make yoiu feel in any way short-changed. On the contrary, Heka showed that Gandini Juggling is still going strong, still innovating and entertaining as it enters its fourth decade. I can’t wait to see what it’ll come up with next.
© Teresa Guerreiro
(Banner image credit: Gandini Juggling’s Heka. Photo: Kalle Nio)
(Gandini Juggling’s Heka is at The Place 30 Jan to 1 Feb 2025. More info and tickets here)