WHEN you say circus, what usually comes to mind is big tops, clowning, jugglers and top hat sporting ringmasters.

But when you say circus to the duo of Cohdi Harrell and Laura Stokes from the Ricochet Project, what emerges is a series of powerful, audacious and philosophical pieces using movement to explore the human condition.

One such piece from the New Mexico based pair is Smoke and Mirrors, a stripped back aerial show of acrobatics and contortion.

Exploring dark concepts of isolation, oppression, yearning and hope, Harrell says the performance is simultaneously physically and emotionally draining, and energising.

“Although there are threads of joy and hope it is pretty lonely,” says Harrell. 

“At the shows in London there were a few days where I had got p***** off about something right before the show.

“I was pretty grumpy, but those were the best shows by far.

“It triggered a place of realness within the character that I was able to indulge in that feeling and that is kind of intense to realise.

“I do not want to have to be grumpy to have to perform the show well but it is interesting being able to tap that place of loneliness and of disconnection.” 

He goes on, “There is something about it we are pretty addicted to, and there is a life-force that exists. 

“Not just doing this show, but performing something which is your creation and having it received well, I cannot really think of many things much better than that.”

He is a primarily self taught trapeze artist and dancer, while Stokes is a former child gymnast and teenage ballerina turned movement researcher, and their wordless performance has been acclaimed across the world.

Harrell says “I do not think there is necessarily a limit” on how much one can say and portray just through movement alone – saying for the duo it is about creating something which is both abstract and universal. 

The duo’s aerial dance has left audiences teary eyed across America. 

“Most people are moved by the show,” says Harrell. “I do not want to sound arrogant but most people have gotten something out of watching this show.

“On some level it feels like a miracle to me and Laura every time we do it that has been received so well. We have been really lucky, this show in particular has hit people’s hearts in a really strong way.

“I do not know for sure why, but this one has worked.”

But since bringing the show to the UK last year, Harrell noted the difference between the transatlantic audiences as to how they received the show.

“The Edinburgh Festival was our first time with a British audience,” he says. “People are a lot more reserved here.

“In the United States we are used to people who want to talk to us for hours after a show, with a big line people sobbing.

“That feels great but it really interesting to come to a new place and see the cultural differences in how people received it.”

Smoke and Mirrors was initially created five years ago, but after a small tour the production was shelved for two years while Harrell and Stokes “took a break for each other”.

Harrell says the piece is now having a renaissance as people across the world are discovering their work for the first time.

8pm, tickets £15. Call 01273 709709.