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Trio up to tricks
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The recent performance by juggler-acrobat trio Les Acrostiches, organised by Alliance Francaise, was witty and entertaining.
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FRANCE'S LES Acrostiches are a juggler-acrobat trio with a hilarious routine of accidentally-on-purpose messed up stunts and tricks.
The trio, comprising Jean-Philippe Cochey-Cahuzac, Philippe Copin and Michel Navarro, performed to a packed Music Academy over the weekend, courtesy the Alliance Francaise of Madras. Laughter was the keyword at the show as the three perfectly-balanced acrobats did everything — juggling, clowning, singing, acrobatics and even some dancing.
The idea was pretending that everything went wrong except the actual business. Accordingly, an aerial balancing sequence came to a close before one of them could perform his pièce de résistance — balancing on his hands on the pedals of an upturned unicycle — and he spent the rest of the show trying to return to this stunt, managing it only at the end when the others were taking their bows. They built several varieties of human pyramids, fell over each other, juggled and knotted themselves together in all kinds of ways — pretending, of course, to get entangled in one another's hands and legs in the process and looking extremely surprised when they got it right. The music added to their act, and the mock ballet to `Chariots of Fire' was incredibly funny, ending with the three "strong, expressive dancers", dressed in bright pink tights — which had to be hitched up every few minutes — and matching skullcaps, on the floor in a heap. The mistake-on-purpose gaffes just went to show that Les Acrostiches are accomplished exponents of their art. They kept up a constant stream of chatter, jokes, songs and hummed tunes in heavily-accented English and broke into French at times. The trio started their tour of India in Mumbai, went on to Pune, arrived in Chennai, and will perform in Hyderabad and Delhi, before heading back to France.
They've been together since 1994 and have performed in 27 countries. They mock their art, while paying tribute to it; they're graceful but seem to be clumsy; but most of all they're witty, hilarious and incredibly entertaining. Les Acrostiches are absolutely captivating.
SHALINI UMACHANDRAN
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