Don Baltha
Cie L’Art Nak
50 mins / From 8 years old / Festival
- Long form, Public space
- Text
- Heart of the festival, Outside the Walls
Performance(s)
- Saturday 09 May 2026 / 16:30
Free – As part of the 3e edition of Independence Week
That performance has already taken place
- Bondy
- Tuesday 12 May 2026 / 17:30
- Reception Area: Place du 11 Novembre
Free
That performance has already taken place
- Maison de Quartier et de la Citoyenneté Daniel Balavoine, Bondy
- Wednesday 13 May 2026 / 17:00
- Reception Area: Maison de quartier D. Balavoine
Free
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- Bondy
- Sunday 17 May 2026 / 15:30
- Reception Area: Esplanade Claude Fuzier
Free
That performance has already taken place
At the age of three, he was dressed for the first time as Balthazar, “the black magician king”… He would have preferred to be the cow, but his rebellious skin and hair had assigned him the role of Balthazar. As if in a loop, every year, as the only black child in his Catholic school in Ecuador, he had to embody this character again in the living crib organized at Christmas. Over time, this condition became a powerful force that motivated him to confront inequality and celebrate diversity.
Don Baltha is a surreal Afro circus solo combining juggling, dance and acrobatics in a provocatively humorous autobiographical narrative that questions, transforms and transcends the absurdity of all forms of dehumanization and stigmatization.
The Art Nak Company
The l’Art Nak company was created in 2022 by two circus artists and jugglers, Christian Padilla and Étienne Chauzy. Through their circus practices, each seeks to weave links with other practices such as the visual arts, music and electromechanics. These approaches enable them to create narratives that bear a multidisciplinary signature capable of carrying a powerful message. With a rich mix of languages, art and culture, L’Art Nak shares the desire to bring live performance into an immersive experience that celebrates diversity, a value we uphold through our own experiences.
The Art Nak team currently consists of 9 people, including artistic, technical and administrative staff.
Don Baltha is the company’s first show.
[Distribution]
- Concept, Set Design, Performer :
- Christian Padilla
- Collaboration on the dramaturgy :
- Guillermo Valladares
- Christian Padilla
- A Choreographic Perspective :
- Volodia Lambert
- Outside views :
- Christian Padilla
- Leandro Mendoza
- Joël Marti
- Yacine Ortiz
- Juggling Perspectives :
- Cristobal Bascur
- Music Composition & Sound Design :
- Carlos Munoz
- Françoise Lepoix
- Set Design & Apparatus Design :
- Clotilde Ramondou
- General Management, Technical Operations & Equipment :
- Dima Emelianenko
- Clémence Roudil / Nicolas Fonseca
- Costumes :
- Ariane Curmi
- Sofia Eremina
- Concept Art & Comics :
[Production]
Coproduction : Circusnext
Residency support: L’Espace Périphérique, Paris-La Villette | El Invernadero Circo, Madrid | FOCON/Esacto Lido, Toulouse | Le Plongeoir, Pôle National Cirque, Le Mans | Coopérative de Rue de Cirque -2r2C, Paris 12ème
Home in residence: L’Académie Fratellini, Saint-Denis | La Générale, Paris 15e | L’Espace Périphérique, Paris-La Villette | Espace Renaudie, ville d’Aubervilliers | La Maison des Jonglages, Scène Conventionnée, Bondy