BWW Preview: Marquise Productions Presents YOL, A New Kind Of Circus

A new kind of circus is heading to the area this weekend presented by Marquise Productions. The event, entitled YOL, meaning "road" or "way" in Turkish, combines a group of different performers together into a beautiful spectacle. At the helm of the production is founder Aaron Marquise, a circus performer himself.

Marquise grew up in Round Lake, New York before pursuing a degree in Musical Theatre at Marymount Manhattan in New York City. Yet, while still in college, Marquise found himself enjoying the world of theatre less than he imagined. He looked for a new art form to express himself and that's when he discovered the circus world.

"I wasn't enjoying NYC as much as I thought I would," Marquise explains. "I came to the circus through a friend and fell in love. I saw a circus as a kid and remember being amazed and saying I would love to do that but didn't realize that this art form was something you could learn and do. I viewed it as this magical world and was amazed."

Marquise then went on to study at the National Circus School in Montréal before graduating in June 2015 and going on to perform in Quebec, France, and Switzerland. He then came up with the idea to form Marquise Productions and focus on contemporary circus arts, something that many in the area have never been exposed to.

According to MarquiseProductions.com, YOL is "a story told through a mix between a new form of circus and theatre [and] explores what our beliefs say about us and the possibility of returning to a childlike wonder about the world around us." Marquise is hoping the production will change views of circus arts and open up the community to a beautiful, new art form.

"I'm hoping people can walk out of the show seeing something they weren't expecting. We are slowing changing the view of circus arts. There is no script, it's not an A-B-C kind of art; it's about movement and imagery, concrete ideas. The heart of it is about dealing with the act of dying and what that will be like for all of us. Especially a time when arts are being taken out of school, I want to change that and get arts more involved in school because someone is going to find this and fall in love like I did."

YOL will tour the capital region through July 2, opening on June 10 at the Gasholder in Troy, New York. For more information, visit MarquiseProductions.com.

"It's an art form that is not highly recognized and I want to change that. I don't want people to make assumptions about the circus; I want them to see it and then make assumptions. I want people to challenge themselves to see something that isn't so accessible here in Albany. You have to experience first before you can have an opinion."

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