Theatre The twists and turns of an acrobatic troupe
From the rough-and-turn-ale grunge of Circus Oz to Felliniesque spectacle of Cique du Soleil, alternative circus is so part of the main-stream nowadays that seeing a ringmaster surrounded by sawdust and sequins would seem radical. Now entering the « new circus » arena in trampoline-assisted leaps and bounds is the young French troupe Collectif AOC.

In its debut show, La Syncope du 7 , the company of sev offers similar atmospherie thrills to Cirque du Soleil but on a much more intimidate scale and with less corporate chilliness. Interacting like dancers, the performers combine acrobatics, juggling, tumbling and choreographed interludes that make for an entertaining if occasionally sluggish 75 minutes.

The mood is often one of urban menace with scaffolding, lit by strip lighting, acting as a platform and climbing frame behind a trampoline and trapeze, and score that mixed Eastern rhythms with techno beats, industrial moans and groans and wasteland wind storm all mixed live by an onstage DJ-cum-percussionist.

Dressed in clothes ranging from black leather to camp feathery jackets that make one of the trapeze artists look like an inverted angel, the performers suggest a series of shifting allegiances and power games among themselves as individual acts build into collective feats of acrobatic prowess. Two men have a face-off on the trampoline, trying to best each other, as they scale Perspex walls almost as if in slow-motion like a scene out of The matrix. A juggler rolls languidly across the floor making his clubs circle him before finding them stolen by others in a thrilling display of somersaulting switch and snatch on the trampoline.

In ensemble dance interludes, including break-tintieing and salsa, a performer can suddenly indulge in out-of-kilter flourishes. Even the DJ, wary of his circus colleagues, finally gets a defiant, stomp-like drum solo on the scaffolding and walls.

The production turns into an effective expression of circus as a combination of look-at me individuality and team-work but I was left wondering why I didn?t quite live up to its giddy title (« la Syncope » means a fainting fit). Perhaps it's because the setting comes across as a moodily theatrical veneer with little drama coming out of it. At one point acts of tumbling and human towers are accompanied by a trampolining man in the lotus position being attacked by some invisible force. Why? The cynic in me thought it was simply to make some time-honoured circus skills seem different.

That said , beguiling moments to emerge, including the cast almost hanging in the air with their trampolining routines, and there is always the basic sweaty-palms thrill of watching a man on the trapeze swinging alarmingly into the rafters.

So do try to catch the company's final performance tonight. Just don't arrive expecting to experience the dreamlike delirium to which the company aspires.