Cercles by Boris Charmatz

Forrest Place, Perth Festival

Thursday 26th February

Forrest Place hums with excitement as a diverse crowd gathers on a circular tarquette stage.

Dressed vibrantly in summer and athleisure wear, they’ve been engaged in a six-day ‘open air XXL dance workshop’ led by French choreographer Boris Charmatz, choreographic assistant Magali Caillet Gajan and a team of local and European dancers. This evening marks their first performance, drawing in curious pedestrians.

Up to 150 amateurs were invited to join the project presented by STRUT Dance with Perth Festival and Terrain in this year’s Perth Moves program.The first edition of Cercles was presented at Festival d’Avignon 2024 and was also showcased in Wuppertal the same year and at the Grand Palais in Paris in July 2025. This Australian Exclusive is presented in a workshop format, allowing dancers to progressively enhance their skills with increasing intensity.

Spectators are invited to join a small group and participate in a guided warm-up with one of the dozen lead dance artists. Groups playfully interact through eye contact and mirrored movements, highlighting the project’s theme of connection on a mass scale. Once spectators return to the sides of the stage, a series of dances are workshopped and performed.

The initial section features modern dance choreographer Isadora Duncan’s Étude Révolutionnaire, which includes a leap into the floor followed by a repeated sequence of sweeping arms that resemble those of a conductor. The subsequent dances are a delightful melting pot of steps and theatrical movements, choreographed by Charmatz and inspired by the lead dance artists. These movements loop and transform, performed in circular pathways across the stage.

Music by Hamburg-based techno brass band Meute energises the dancers’ ecstatic skips, struts, quirky arm gestures, and witty expressions. Their synchronised energy is so infectious that it has the power to ignite a desire to join amongst onlookers.

The performance’s upbeat energy is balanced by an emotive section where dancers transform into slow morphing sculptures that forge and collapse from embraces. Rolling to sit up, they scrunch their fingers to their eyes, painting a picture of isolation. The scene transitions back into an energetic whirlpool of side steps, stomps, and cheerful running. At times, they brace with hands on their neighbour’s shoulders, evoking a sense of togetherness and camaraderie.

Cercles showcases contemporary dance’s power to bring diverse community and the collective together. Despite the rigorous demands and balmy conditions, the dancers embrace the work with wide grins. Together, they invigorate Perth CBD’s Forrest Place with spirit, wit, and connection.