Gibbon

Chris Patfield completed a degree at the National Centre for Circus Arts (NCCA) specialising in slack rope and juggling and has an MA from Danshogskolan in Stockholm. He continues to teach the core-juggling programme at the NCCA and has toured with No Fit State, Stumble Dance Circus, and performed as an actor/circus artist and stage fighter in productions at the Royal Opera House and Glyndbourne.

José Triguero gained a first-class honours degree from the National Centre for Circus Arts (NCCA) in 2010 after winning the Deutsche Bank Pyramid Award for Circus. He is one of the core teachers at the NCCA. He has attended many workshops in choreography, contemporary clowning and devised theatre with the likes of Peeping Tom, Anton Lachky, Spymonkey and Thomas Prattki. In 2016, Triguero choreographed Millions of Years, a collaboration between the English National Opera and Gandini Juggling with a performance at The British Museum. He created and directed a full-length piece called Cul de Sac, funded by Arts Council England (ACE) and which premiered at Jackson’s Lane in 2017.

Both artists perform in productions by the Olivier Award-winning company Gandini Juggling.

Formed in 1992 by world-renowned jugglers Sean Gandini and Kati Ylä-Hokkala, Gandini Juggling continues to be at the vanguard of contemporary circus, reinventing and reinvigorating juggling for the 21st century.

Gandini Juggling celebrates juggling in all its facets, exploring not just what juggling is, but what juggling can be. Currently an ever-evolving ensemble made up of a virtuosic core group of jugglers, they regularly expand to include up to 20 performers for specially commissioned events and performances. Ferociously prolific, they are constantly creating new works, which range from radical art/juggling fusions to accessible theatrical performances, from choreographic studies to commercially commissioned routines.

Since their inception, the Gandinis have performed over 6,000 shows in 50 countries. They continue to perform at many of the most prestigious festivals and venues throughout the world. These venues range from contemporary art museums in France to opera houses in Germany, from theatres in Lebanon to tents in Argentina. Closer to home, the Gandinis can be seen performing at the UK’s major outdoor festivals and theatre houses including London’s Royal Opera House, English National Opera, The Royal National Theatre and Sadler’s Wells.

In creating their work, Gandini Juggling collaborated with a wide range of cultural leaders, initially teaming up with the pioneering and influential dance artist and choreographer Gill Clarke. The Gandinis continue to be influenced by a range of disciplines, which include, amongst others: composers, ballet choreographers, fashion designers, computer programmers, sound designers, set makers and mathematicians. They have spent several seasons working with orchestras, choreographing juggling patterns to a wide range of classical compositions and have had music specially composed for them by leading composers Tom Johnson, Nimrod Borenstein and Gabriel Prokofiev.

In addition to performing, Gandini Juggling is very much in demand at leading circus schools. Teaching workshops, creating performances and supporting the next generation of circus artists. Alongside this, Gandini publishes books and delivers virtual classes to support the wider understanding of the beautiful possibilities of juggling, for jugglers and non-jugglers alike. The Gandinis have an insatiable thirst for juggling pieces and a fiery desire to collaborate, communicate and provoke. They aim to reposition juggling as a versatile, engaging and malleable art form for our times.