Marco Cupellari and Josh & Cloé
The actor, director and dramaturge studied theatre studies at La Sapienza University in Rome, where he lived until 2005. After completing a bachelor's and master's degree at the Accademia Teatro Dimitri, he founded PerpetuoMobileTeatro in 2010, an ensemble that combines the tradition of mask theatre with experiments in contemporary physical theatre and has already staged five productions in Switzerland, Europe and the USA. He works as a freelancer between Switzerland and Italy and collaborates with independent companies (Teatro dei Venti, Collettivo Spettatori, Cie ZiBa...) and with permanent theatres such as the CTB Brescia under the direction of Cesare Lievi. He regularly leads workshops on improvisation, composition and mask play.
Cloé, born in Basel in 1994 with roots in Switzerland and Luxembourg. Josh, born in Basel in 1993 with Polish roots. They have been working as a performing arts duo since 2017. Their work is at the intersection of partner acrobatics, physical theatre and non-verbal storytelling. In 2022, they graduated from the professional circus school INAC in Portugal and have been touring Europe with their pieces ever since. Their new contemporary circus piece "Dual" deals with the increasing divisions in our society - from one extreme to the other - and combines acrobatics, magic, physical theatre and humor to create an intense and visually stunning experience. In addition to their duo projects, Josh & Cloé work with international groups such as Compagnie XY (Les voyages) and the collective ConTakt (Foley).
Project
“Em Bebbi sy Zirkus” is a contemporary theatrical research project that explores the combination of the Larvae of the Basel Carnival—an intangible cultural heritage recognized by UNESCO—with physical theatre and acrobatics. How does movement change when the field of vision is restricted? What forms emerge when acrobats step inside the bodies of traditional masks?
Together with director and mask-play specialist Marco Cupellari, we explore these questions, developing characters that exist between tradition and contemporary body art and creating a visual language that is both physical and poetic.
The focus lies on experimental forms of movement, the development of mask prototypes, and the search for a connecting thread that brings the different ideas together—between carnival, theatre, and acrobatics.