Brighton born circus performer returns to his roots for Big Top Spectacular as part of Brighton Festival

Brighton-born juggler Luke Hallgarten is performing as part of internationally renowned circus company NoFit State as part of the Festival with their dazzling new production LEXICON - a daring, seductive and contemporary take on the circus experience.

Juggler Luke Hallgarten graduated from the National Centre for Circus arts (NCCA) in 2015 with a first class honours degree and went on to study at Le Lido Centre des Arts du Cirque du Toulouse. Alongside the creation and tour of Lexicon, Luke is conducting a research project on creative language within circus, is touring with his own company London Beaches and touring his own solo piece just.what.

NoFit State Circus have been performing for over thirty years and today are the UK’s leading large-scale contemporary circus company. Created for a big top tent, Lexicon is a performance with a nod to the history and heritage of British Circus, crafted for a seated audience in the round and combining cutting edge technology with traditional circus skills.

Audiences are invited to take their seat in their tent on Hove Lawns for jaw-droppingly physical storytelling and a live score to lift the soul. Drawing inspiration from history, heritage and traditions, this show digs into the underground of memory and celebrates the past, present and future of this much-loved artform.

Luc Morris, Lexicon Communications and Marketing Officer says: ‘This year is the 250th anniversary of circus, which was created by a man called Philip Astley. We have wanted to pay homage to the man but also to 250 years of tradition and begin shaping the next 250 years of circus in the UK. There are many strands of inspiration behind LEXICON but the main one is about the heritage, and a group of people who have found each other in the circus and begin misbehaving.’

‘We love going to Brighton. We love this early period in the season, being by the sea and hopefully this year again, the sun. It’s a great place to kick off the touring season and the Brighton audience is a great one to perform to. There is also an air of nostalgia in Brighton with the pier, the arcades, the lawns which is particularly fitting to LEXICON, so we’re very excited to be presenting our new show there’.

LEXICON is running on Thu 3 -  Mon 14 May at various times. Head to the LEXICON event page to find out more about ticket availability and times.