On a recent visit to The Hague in Holland we had the chance to see the amazing CIRQUE DU SOLEIL for the first time.

Circus has gone through many changes in the past few decades with the demise of the large travelling shows. Time was when circus was a traditional family affair where acts were handed down through generations, but that’s all long gone.

We have been trying to review/interview Tape Face in the UK for the past four or five years but I only managed to catch up with him on his recent tour of Holland and Belgium . . . The guy comes on wearing an ordinary jacket, jeans and striped t-shirt. Slung around his neck is a leather shoulder bag. But what makes you remember, what makes him stand out is that he has greased spikey hair, a lot of heavy black eye make-up and, rather conspicuously, a strip of black gaffer tape across his mouth. Hence the name – Tape Face.

I have been a fan of the Nederlands Dans Theater since I first saw them at Sadlers Wells many years ago, so it was a rare privilege and treat to be invited to the premiere of their main company’s (NDT1) new work, a triple-bill collectively called SAISONNIER, in The Hague at the end of September.