Presentation
With Presque Parfait [Almost Perfect], Nikolaus Holz uses humor to question the oldest story that ever existed, the story of the creation of the world.
In the beginning, there was nothing. Everything was simple, harmonious, obvious. And then the living beings came into the picture, and that’s when everything began to go wrong. Starting with an extremely clownish moment of outrage at a landfill at the end of the world, Nikolaus then looks back to the start of history: the original sin. This cast of burlesque Adams and Eves tries to follow the instructions from above, and the result is a joyful and hysterical performance. The garbage dump even goes so far as to turn into a dancing volcano, a piano hovers and begins an improbable ascent, and a bearded, celestial sage plays Chopin’s Nocturnes while suspended in the air!
Concept Nikolaus Holz
Staging Christian Lucas – assisted by Noa Soussan
With Julien Cramillet, Angèle Guilbaud, Martin Hesse, and Nikolaus
Sound design Guillaume Mika and Elisa Monteil
Light design Hervé Gary
Costumes Charlotte Coffinet
Technical coordinator Bertrand Dubois
Stage manager Yannos Chassignol
Sound technician Aude Pétiard
Construction Eric Benoit and Guillaume Bertrand
Production PRÉ-O-COUPÉ
Coproductions Théâtre Firmin Gémier-La Piscine national circus centre for the Ile de France / Le Plus Petit Cirque du Monde center for circus arts and emerging cultures in Bagneux / CIRCa national circus arts center in Auch Gers Midi-Pyrénées / the Carré Magique national circus center in Brittany / Archaos national circus center
This show has received support from the SPEDIDAM artistic rights agency. SPEDIDAM is a collection and distribution company that manages performers' rights in terms of recording, broadcasting, and reuse of recorded performances.
Thanks to AGECIF.
This show received support from the Aide Nationale à la Création Cirque program.
PRÉ-O-COUPÉ is officially recognized by the Ministry of Culture – DRAC cultural agency for the Ile de France, the Region Île de France, the Val de Marne Department, and the City of Fontenay-sous-Bois.
"With Nikolaus, everything is a question of order within disorder. Or sometimes the other way around."
– La Stradda
"A master of imbalances and falling objects, the clown-juggler Nikolaus glorifies the fragility of human will in the face of chaos."
– Mouvement
"The genius of the Pré O Coupé company is their formidable demonstration of what the circus requires in terms of balance and rigor despite its apparent complacent acceptance of utter nonsense."
– La Grande Parade
Nikolaus graduated from the CNAC national circus arts center with special honors from the jury in 1991. He began his career with Archaos and the Baroque circus and then founded the Pré-O-Coupé company with Ivika Meister in 1998 so he could embark on his own creations and productions.
Nikolaus embodies the majestic dancer and the virtuoso juggler. His work, which always features irresistible transgressions, earned him the Grand Prix at the CIRCa festival in Auch (1992), the Bronze Medal at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain (1993), the Raymond Devos Prize (1994), and the SACD writing prize in the circus arts category (2016).
This new show is a continuation of the company's previous creations that have analyzed the precariousness of the human condition from every angle.