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Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State

Flip FabriQue to laud the young at heart in ‘Catch Me!’ Oct. 11 at Eisenhower

Contemporary circus troupe Flip FabriQue will celebrate friendship and fun with its gravity-defying production “Catch Me!” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, in Eisenhower Auditorium.

In the semi-autobiographical performance, a small group of former classmates reunite for a weekend to reacquaint themselves and take their friendship to new heights. The young acrobatic allies know how to hold a party and spend their time challenging each other to spellbinding cirque techniques, including trampoline wall, hula hoop and banquine numbers.

Purchase tickets, which are $28 for an adult, $15 for a University Park student, and $18 for a person 18 and younger. A grant from the University Park Student Fee Board makes Penn State student prices possible.

Flip FabriQue, which will be making its Penn State debut, was founded by six acrobats from the Quebec Circus School who couldn’t leave their friendship behind. After graduation, the performers parted ways to entertain audiences in various high-profile cirque troupes, including Cirque du Soleil, The 7 Fingers, Les Confins and Cirque Éloize. The troupe’s debut production of “Catch Me!” grew out of the acrobats’ reunion but also out of a desire to infuse a sense of humor back into the everyday.

“Adults seem to have forgotten how to play and have fun,” Flip FabriQue co-founder Bruno Gagnon said. “Adults are losing their childish heart. That young heart keeps us in good health and lively. It’s the circus in us.”

Watch a preview of the “Catch Me!” production.

“For Flip FabriQue, the stage is a playground where high-level acrobatics and parkour are the natural vocabulary,” wrote a reviewer for Scottish entertainment site ThreeWeeksEdinburgh.com. “This may be the only circus you’ll ever see that includes a Popsicle-eating contest and an act performed entirely in sleeping bags,” wrote a New York Times critic.

Artistic Viewpoints, an informal moderated discussion featuring a visiting artist or artists, is offered in Eisenhower one hour before the performance and is free for ticket holders. Artistic Viewpoints regularly fills to capacity, so seating is available on a first-arrival basis.

Find more information about the cirque troupe.