Defining El Nucleo is elusive as we constantly escape categories, clichés and readymade answers.

The Artist' Statement

Movement

El Nucleo is a living, moving entity, in perpetual construction, mirroring the human being. We are two, primarily, and together we develop the company’s work: purifying gesture and refining the semantics of movement.

Energy

Our energy is our own, the precarious energy of the moment, the result of our common journey, from a neighborhood in Bogota, where nobody supposed we would become professional circus artists. This energy is maintained by our resistance to social fatalism, which we have always countered with our only weapons: our bodies and our vital energy.

Language

We developed our artistic language through our bodies and their skills, and we were part of the first contemporary circus company in Colombia, before going on to join the circus school in Chalons en Champagne, the famous CNAC. And it is still through the body that we express our vision of the world in our shows.

The luck we have had throughout our journey we owe to so many incredible encounters and friendships, which have become fundamental to how we work. The motivation of all our shows and outreach programs is encouraging encounters between people. This is what we value: as Colombians living in France, as circus artists, and as an acrobatic duo.

The Team

Our job gives us power and responsibility. We are responsible for our company’s members, its image, and for nourishing hope in the form of a continuous connection with Colombia. We left Colombia ten years ago: all our work speaks of this uprooting, as well as our joy in setting down new roots in Normandy. We are passionate about gathering, unifying, and transmitting to others.

Peggy Donck

Chair of the Board

Philippe Naulot

Secretary of the Board

Edward Aleman

Acrobalance flyer

Sophie Colleu

Associate director

Zoé Dada

Production Manager

Mathilde Leclercq

Tours Producer

Christine de Cintré

Chief Operating Officer

Timeline

The circus company El Nucleo was founded in 2011 by the acrobatic duo Wilmer Marquez and Edward Aleman, as joint Artistic Directors, and Fanny Fauvel, as Executive Director.

Together, the trio created and produced the company’s four first shows

  • Quien soy? (Who am I?) and Sans Arrêt (Nonstop) in 2013
  • Inquiétude (Restless) in 2015
  • SOMOS (We are) in 2017

The company’s articitc project is based on several Wilmer’ and Edward’s own characteristics

• The connection to Colombia, their homeland, which shows through their sources of inspiration as much as their desire to create direct artistic partnerships with the country

• Their self-taught multidisciplinary journey before joining the Centre National des Arts du Cirque (CNAC) de Châlons en Champagne, a prestigious circus high school in France.

• Their experience as Colombians living in Europe, which inspires themes such as meeting new people, loneliness, homelessness, finding your place in the world… and which are found in their various artistic projects

• Their will to transmit and share, which can take place at any stage of their activities’ development: production, touring, community

• The search for a language and sensitive acrobatic composition The unique nature of their background and experience have attracted a lot of supports.

  • In 2013 the company was chosen for two regional projects “Linving here” (led by Pays de Chaumont) and “Ardèche Terre d’Artistes”
  • From 2013 to 2015, the company has also been in residence at Le Nouveau Relax, Scène Conventionnée de Chaumont (52)
  • In 2014, the company was invited to become associate company at Centre Dramatique National de Rouen Normandie, directed by David Bobbée
  • Since 2019 the company has been receiving support for all its activities from la Région Normandie (the Normandy Region) of France

Three new works are in development and production between 2019 and 2021

• Nawak (Random), directed by Wilmer Marquez, premiere summer 2019

• Eternels Idiots (Eternal Idiots) directed by Edward Aleman, premiere November 2019

• Barrières (Barriers - working title) directed by Wilmer Marquez, premiere March 2021 as part of Spring.

This is a turning point in the life of the company as each of the two Artistic Directors evolves as both an artist and as a project leader.

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