Last Cast
Jury: Duo Requiem
Laura Lucia Llorado Martinez and her partner Christian David Triviño show daring, power-sapping and highly demanding artistry on the swing rope straps. Last year the duo won the "Gold Award" at the International Circus Festival "Circuba". They are also the highly acclaimed winners of the 1st "Artistika of the Sea" in 2016. With their expressive, sentimental and melancholic performance they also won the big "Masters" Circus Festival in Socci, Russia.
Jury: Kris Kremo
The gentleman among the circus artists. Kris Kremo received the award for his life's work at the "Artistika" in 2019. Kristian Gaston Kremo comes from a famous Swiss dynasty of artists. Already in his early years Kris was introduced to juggling by his father Bela. After an engagement at the famous Lido in Paris, he moved to Las Vegas in 1977, where he thrilled the audience for 12 years. Later he travelled all over the world, but always remained loyal to Switzerland, as he was a guest on five Circus Knie tours. He was the first juggler to perform a quadruple pirouette in a juggling trick and thus was entered into the Guinness Book of Records.
Jury: Duo MainTenanT
(hand on hand dance adagio) The winners of "Artistika 2019" Nicolas and Ludivine are unique in their discipline and have set new standards in acrobatics with their performance. This act combines everything that modern circus art has to offer. It fuses ballet with the most difficult acrobatic elements, it is so beautifully performed that the world lies at the duo's feet. Ludivine is a two-time world champion in acrobatics and Nicolas successfully studied dance in Montreal. The result is the winner's podium at the "Cirque de Demain" in Paris, the largest circus festival in the world.
Cast: Lea Hinz
Born in Göttingen, Germany, Lea Hinz was as a child already enthusiastic about movement and music. The six-time German champion in rhythmic gymnastics came to the circus arts after her successful sports career. In the beginning she was fascinated by the contortion, body manipulation and tip dancing. But it could not keep her grounded for long, because this young artist wanted to reach up high. So, she had a special air ring built. This helped her, after years of training, to become one of the most sought-after air acts in the world. Just in Las Vegas alone, in the show "Absinthe" she showed her art over 1500 times. She played almost everywhere in the world and participated in many festivals, among others at the "Cirque de Demain". We are proud to present one of the most important German acts on the "MS Eoropa 2".
Cast: Iryna Verezubova
The Ukrainian Iryna Verezubova has already enchanted the whole world with her unique props. It is impressive the way that she takes on the challenge to perform the most difficult handstands on her six dumbbell-shaped rolls. This performance is already an unimaginable masterpiece on solid ground. The fact that she now also has to compensate for small wavy ocean movements, increases the level of difficulty many times over. The equilibrist will cast a spell over everyone which she has been doing this since she was 6 years old. She has already been celebrated with this act at the world's largest circus festival in "Monte Carlo".
Cast: Kalashnyk Brothers
The brothers Andrey and Bogdan from the Ukraine are exceptional artists. In their performance it seems as if the laws of gravity are suspended. Everything floats when the hand-on-hand acrobats perform on the stage in breathtaking symbiosis. Their amazing, unique performance is based on trust, power and concentration. Their choreography is impressive: unique pyramids and dynamic elements paired with unimaginable power enough to impress everyone. Here too, their big challenge will be to outwit the light swells of the ocean.
Cast: Duo Adventures
The "Duo Adventures" consisting of Mikahail Sozonov from Volgograd, Russia and Levgeniia Fetkulova from Kiev, Ukraine, will enchant everyone with their unique Adagio Ball act. This sensual game of ballet, a ball and heavy handstand elements will touch the hearts of everyone. With graceful ease, they combine the elements of equilibration, juggling and contortion in their own little ring where the balls are just waiting to become part of their game. Poetic images round off this work of art completely, which makes this act unforgettable.
Cast: Duo Alansia
Finally, after two unfruitful invitations, it has worked out! The "Duo Alansia" with their star godfather number are finally on board the "MS Europa 2". The Ukrainian couple Oleksii and Anastasiia Mishchenko belong, like all other participants of the competition, to the absolute best of the best. They show a courageous and spectacular performance, yet also shows much sensuality and grace. In the air, the trust they put into each other is essential for survival! Even more surprising is the fact that many of the holding figures do not show off the strongly built Oleksii, but the graceful Anastasiia. Up through the final trick, a rapid tempo spiral, the audience will be holding its breath completely spellbound.
Cast: Igor Boutorine
Igor Boutorine is not only one of the few male artists in the world who masters the artistic genre of hula-hoop – but he has also succeeded in opening up new dimensions with his crazy tempoed, technically brilliant choreography and casually dynamic yet elegant presentation. The Siberian-born artist, who comes from a circus family, began his hula-hoop training at the age of four and has created, over many years of intensive work, a breathtaking Tempo Hula-Hoop performance. He started his career on one of Germany's traditional variety stages, the Wintergarten Berlin. Since the age of sixteen he has catapulted himself into the limelight of show business. Nothing less than the glorious houses Friedrichstadtpalast, Prinzregententheater as well as many others for this artist. Almost hypnotizing, he captivates the audience with his swinging circling movements. Playfully the charming artist rocks the stage turning the audience's heads.
Presentors: Nina Burri
Nina Burri is one of the world's best contortionists (formerly known as the Snake Woman) and is the export hit of Swiss entertainment. After a successful ballet education and career with engagements at the world's best theatres such as the Moulin Rouge in Paris and the company of Maurice Béjart in Lausanne, this exceptional dancer from Berne decided to create her own acrobatic solo act. She went to China for six intense months to study the arts of contortion and handstand acrobatics. Nina gained international fame in 2011 with final places in the TV shows "Die grössten Schweizer Talente" and "La France a un Incroyable Talent". In 2014, the artist was awarded the US Greencard for her exceptional skills. She also reached the finals in America's Got Talent. This qualifies her as an absolute expert thusly she will be the English-speaking guide throughout the program for our international guests. This is the 4th time she has done so at Karim Habli's side making the MS Europa 2 is almost her second home.
Presentors: Karim Habli
Initiator and producer of Artistika is Karim Habli. He himself an actor, is the presenter as well as the director of Arstikia. He feels at home on stage and is at heart a Swiss. Karim is fascinated by the world of vaudeville: "Nowhere else do the arts unite so excellently as under a ring-shaped roof. Born 1971 in Friesland, Germany with Tunisian descent, Karim Habli is at his core a true “Monnemer”. The trained actor, who currently lives with his family in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland, had his first appearance at the Mannheim National Theatre already as a child can now look back on a long and great career. For him, his greatest achievement is to be able to put himself into the service of these great artists; offering them this unique platform. It is Hablis' personal mission to present to people what a great art form artistry is and should be a recognized art form such as the theatre, ballet and opera. This is the reason why the "Artistika" is the only circus acrobatics festival in the world that is held in a municipal theatre. Something which was unthinkable until now and required a lot of fighting as well as persuasion. Thankfully Habli has many well known artists like Oscar winner Pepe Danquart, Grimme Prize winner Michael Kässler, the Swiss music legend "Yello", the unfortunately much too early deceased Roger Cicero and many other artists from all genres who support this endeavor.