Scorching days, balmy nights… it won’t be long til it’s summer in Perth… the season for the beach and the season for festivals. Perth International Arts Festival artistic director Wendy Martin has given us a peek of what summer will bring, just as we’re starting to feel that hint of summer on the air, revealing four of the works on the 2018 program.

First up is French circus ensemble Compagnie XY, with Il n’est pas encore minuit … (It’s Not Yet Midnight …). Performing in Australia for the first time, 22 acrobats push the limits of physical ability and bring poetry to the body in motion with their daring stunts; flipping and diving through the air and creating five-storey human towers of power. It begins with the chaos of an all-in brawl that gradually emerges into a study in cooperation and trust, injected with humour and the sounds of a 1920s jazz club.

Direct from a sell-out season at London’s National Theatre, Inua Ellams’ Barber Shop Chronicles sees 12 high-energy performers josh and joust their way through secret men’s business as Chelsea plays Barcelona in a soccer final on the TV in six different barber shops across London and Africa. Newsroom, local hot spot, confessional and football stadium, Barber Shop Chronicles holds a mirror to life with razor-sharp insight, upbeat music and humour.

David Bowie, Erik Satie and Patti Smith provide the soundtrack for the Perth debut by British choreographer and dance icon Michael Clark. The Olivier Award-nominated to a simple, rock ‘n’ roll … song is a fearlesss and otherworldly dance work in three acts. Moving from melancholy to joyous rebellion, the show starts with a cool reflection on Satie, before pulsating with the punk rock of Smith, with a Bowie tribute as the finale.

Reviving lost musical treasures, Catalan musician Jordi Savall is acclaimed for breathing new life into little-known musical gems from the Middle Ages to the Baroque era. Turning each concert into a a vibrant celebration that is as much visual spectacle as sonic experience, Savall will perform Folias Antiguas & Criollas: From the Ancient World to the New World with two leading ensembles, Hespèrion XXI and Tembembe Ensamble Continuo.

“I am thrilled to be able to share these delicious early samples from the banquet of delights that will make the 2018 Perth Festival an utterly unforgettable experience,” says Martin. “These four astounding productions come to us after dazzling audiences around the world. They certainly offer something for everyone and reflect the breadth of the Festival program to be announced in full on 9 November.”

Top: Barber Shop Chronicles. Photo: Marc Brenner.

Find out more at the PIAF website.