Gandini Juggling: Heka

The Place, London
January 30, 2025

As if being able to juggle and dance weren’t enough, Sean Gandini and his company have added magic to the mix.

Heka (the show is named after the Egyptian goddess of Magic) opens with a (literal) show of hands followed by  much sleight of hand. There are echoes of Moiseyev in linked arms that resemble rods and pistons and of les ballets C de la B in their heyday.

Juggling has a mathematical basis as well as a rhythmic one and the company take advantage of their internationalism by reciting numbers and relevant phrases in Mandarin, Finnish, French and one of the Ethiopian languages, as well as English.

Gandini Juggling’s Heka
Photo Kalle Nio

The juggling as ever is slick and efficient. White rings are flipped seemingly effortlessly to reveal a flash of colour and red balls transmogrify into white. Gandini never shies away from appearing to strip away the mystery and poke a little fun at tradition so, yes we have disappearing handkerchiefs that reappear in the most unexpected places with the pretence that it is wires and mirrors, not to mention distraction.

Yu-hsien Wu (吳禹賢) entertains with acrobatics whilst juggling and, Moiseyev is again referenced as clever costumes  by Georgina Spencer tie pairs of performers together whilst they appear to possess a third, shared pair of legs. All whilst juggling, it goes without saying. Sock suspenders are much in evidence too.

There is an eclectic choice of sound to accompany the artistry, including a haunting vocal piece accompanied by the all too rarely heard theremin. Some of it is almost an augmented click track, emphasising the rhythmic demands of juggling. I did find some of Guy Hoare’s lighting a little too dark at times, though, going beyond the atmospheric and edging into obfuscation.

Heka by Gandini Juggling continues on tour.