Balagans

The Balagans company first emerged in 2002 as a collaboration between Guillermo Aranzana, Rodrigo Lacasa (Orainbi) and Miguel Garcia Carabias (Terron collective) to create street performances. After a short period working together, the three founders went their separate ways.

In 2010, Guillermo Aranzana graduated from the Stockholm University of Dance and Circus (DOCH) alongside Manel Roses, Nilas Kronlid and Oscar Karlsson, reviving the company’s name and establishing it in Barcelona. This period was marked by a Korean-style balancing act created by the four members. Their choreographic creativity and high technical standard caught the attention of the Cirque de Demain festival in Paris (Gold Medal), the Young Stage festival in Basel (Golden Star) and the Monte Carlo Circus Festival (the Friends of the Circus Award and the Nice-Matin Award from the local newspaper).Following a highly successful career working for major companies such as Circus Roncalli, Flick-Flac and Cirque du Soleil, the members now have different professional ambitions. 

This is where Lotta Paavilainen (Lotta&Stina) joins the company and, together with Guillermo Aranzana, maintains its structure whilst juggling various projects both together and with other artists working all over the world.

It was in the glossary of Dominique Mauclair’s book *History of the Circus: An Extraordinary Journey Around the World* that I first came across the word ‘balagans’; the definition given is that it is the Russian term for travelling theatres.