An Afternoon At Piccadilly Circus Circus

This afternoon Regent Street was closed off to traffic and converted into a performance space for Piccadilly Circus Circus, part of the London 2012 Festival.

Piccadilly Circus Circus is also one of the Mayor of London’s SURPRISES events – big performances which are only revealed hours before they take place (the first I heard about today’s extravaganza was an article published on the Londonist at 6am today!). Across twelve stages between Conduit St and Waterloo Place trapeze artists, jugglers, gymnasts, dancers and beat-boxers wowed audiences with their spectacular feats. Some of my favourites included:

man and wife team Cie La Coupole from France, comprising a very high-wire and trapeze act combined
the French troupe Cirkvost, who occupied the circular rig on Waterloo Place and treated the watching crowd to mid-air catches and aerial dance
Transe Express, a team of three cross-dressing opera divas in spectacular costumes singing glass-shattering arias, with an attendant group of toy soldiers
Collectif AOC and their mad Chinese pole-balancing act – they showed an incredible level of athleticism, particularly the clown!

I only managed to catch a fraction of what was going on today – you would have had to have been in five places at once to see everything, but what I did see was absolutely stunning. I’d be interested to hear whether you caught different acts, and what your impressions were. You’ll find a larger album of photographs from today’s Piccadilly Circus Circus here on Google Plus.