Leandro Mendoza Artagaveitia

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

In line with his need for artistic expression within the world of circus, Leandro has always considered it important to generate spaces for dialogue, organize teams and thoughts for the sector. He has been the generator of projects dedicated to training, creation, production, and exhibition of circus. At the same time, he has investigated and searched for geometries that play in favor of the circus, developing devices made with natural materials, thought and technique, at the service of an honest story.

PROFESSIONAL CAREER

• 2022 SPEAKER International Contemporary Circus Market (MICC) – Canada.
Thematic Table: Digital Initiatives – Ibero-American Circus Cartography.

• 2022 SPEAKER Circada – Sevilla Circus Festival.
Thematic Table: Digitization in Circus – Ibero-American Cartography of Circus.

• 2020 PROMOTER and CO-CREATOR Ibero-American Circus Cartography.
In the context of the International Contemporary Circus Market – MICC, organized by TOHU – Canada, together with Julia Sanchez (Cedacirc – Mexico), created the Ibero-American Circus Cartography, a digital platform that seeks to map and make visible different circus projects in Ibero-America to stimulate the circulation of academic and artistic knowledge and promote its development.

• 2020 – 2021 PROVOCADOR Intersectoral Circus Worktables.
Three tables were held with important discussions on the problems of the sector (Fira Trapezi, Circored Congress and La Bau).

• 2018 – 2020 MEMBER of the State Council of the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM) of the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Spain.

• 2018 – 2020 MEMBER of the Circus Artistic Commission of the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM) of the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports.

• 2018 ADVISOR IN MOVEMENT ON STAGE AND CIRCUS.
“Una sonrisa al pie de la escalera” (“A smile at the bottom of the stairs”), Teatre Lliure. Adaptation of the book written by Henry Miller directed by Ramón Simó and produced by the Teatre Lliure (Barcelona).

• 2017 – 2022 ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Trapezi Circus Fair.
Founded in 1997 in Reus, it is the most important fair on the peninsula. Produced by Reus City Council and the Generalitat de Catalunya with the support of INAEM and the Provincial Council of Tarragona. – http://www.trapezi.cat/

• 2017 – 2018 – 2019 MEMBER OF THE JURY of the “Ciutat de Barcelona Circus Award”.
Barcelona City Council

• 2017 – 2019 – 2020 MEMBER OF THE JURY of the National Circus Award.
Ministry of Culture, Spain

• 2017 SPEAKER Platea Program 2017 – INAEM
State Program for the Circulation of Performing Arts Shows.
Conference Title: “The Audience in circus”

• 2015 PARTICIPANT “Circo è Circo”, Circus Festival – SESC, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Documentary about the contemporary circus where he participated as director and playwright – https://youtu.be/iB93B97GhC0

• 2014 SPEAKER SESC, Sao Paulo – Brazil
Conference Title:  “The circus technique”

• 2012 SPEAKER Circus Days organized by La Central del Circ (Barcelona) and La Granerie (Toulouse).
Conference Title: “Creation processes of circus shows”

• 2012 HEAD OF CIRCUS MOVEMENTS
“Baile de títeres” (“Puppet Dance”), a play with a cast of 19 artists and directed by Ramón Simó. Produced and exhibited by the National Theater of Catalonia, Christmas 2012/2013.
Choral and individual choreographies, manipulation of objects, acrobatic falls, fights, etc. https://youtu.be/29i6TuUyv8o

• 2011-2012 ARTISTIC DIRECTOR La Central del Circ, Fàbrica de Creació
Barcelona City Council and managed by the Associació de Profesionales de Circ de Catalunya – APCC. Participated in the preparation of the Master Plan. Responsible for selecting creative residency programs for circus artists, programming training courses in circus disciplines and creative laboratories, accompanying resident artists. – http://www.lacentraldelcirc.cat/

• 2009 PRODUCER AND ARTIST
“Cíclicus”, First show by the company with the same name, directed by Joan Busquets. It was represented for 4 years in all kinds of festivals, theaters, squares, schools, etc. – https://youtu.be/V45IuKT9l0I

• 2008 TECHNICAL DESIGN – CIRCUS FACILITIES: La Central del Circ.
Barcelona City Council and APCC. Elaboration of the technical design for the construction of the training center “La Central del Circ”, installed in the Forum of Barcelona. Design of a 600m2 space for collective training, 4 creation rooms and a staging room with all its equipment. Production of a dossier of circus equipment, detailing their needs, operation and installation manual for different kind of stages. Opened in 2011, today it is fully operative and is one of the reference facilities dedicated to creation.

• 2007-2011 MEMBER of the Board of Directors of the APCC – Association of Circus Professionals of Catalonia.
Period in which the General Circus Plan was implemented and promoted at the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

• 2004-2007 MEMBER of La Vela, Center of Residence for Circus companies, Vilanova i la Geltrú – Barcelona.
As a member of the Cortocirquito Company, he worked and lived in the residence center and promotes the Christmas Circus Show that became an annual event in the city.

• 2002 TEACHER Rogelio Rivel Circus School, Barcelona
Intensive course of manipulation of objects in relation to space.

• 2001-2011 CREATOR AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Curtcirckit Festival in Montgat – Catalonia.
He was the Artistic Director of the festival for 10 years shared with José Antonio Hernández (Joselito) and was its Technical Manager; in addition, he also defined the festival’s artistic guidelines – http://www.curtcirckit.cat/

• 2000-2004 TEACHER – MEMBER of the School Board – Rogelio Rivel Circus School, Barcelona.
Responsible for the Juggling and Handling of Objects Area.
Member of the School Board and of the Pedagogical Team. Participated in the execution of technical work and in the design of emergency plans for the good maintenance of the facilities.

• 1996 PROMOTER AND RESPONSIBLE for the Atenti Variete project, Buenos Aires.
Production of a cabaret-show performed once a month for a year with the confluence of artists from various disciplines that ended in a concert.
Throughout his career he has attended international and national circus fairs, meetings and festivals, where he has seen an interesting variety of scenic proposals and was able to articulate personal and institutional relationships with professionals in the sector that generated different artistic and cultural projects of importance. Among many, it’s worth mentioning: MICC – Canada, Montréal Complètement Cirque Festival – Canada, Santiago a Mil – Chile, Circa Festival – Auch/France, Loja Festival – Ecuador, Polo Circo Festival – Buenos Aires/Argentina, Rio de Janeiro’s International Circus Festival – Brazil, FIBA Buenos Aires/Argentina, Fira Trapezi – Reus/Spain, Leme Festival – Portugal, Circo’s – SESC/Brazil, La Bisbal d’Emporda – Catalonia/Spain, Circada – Seville/Spain, Fira Tàrrega – Catalonia /Spain, Etnosur – Andalucia/Spain, etc.

AWARDS

• Ciutat de Barcelona Circus Award 2016 for the Artistic Direction of “El Guadual”- http://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/premisciutatbcn/edicions/2016-2/circ/#

• Special Jury Award, Zirkolika Festival 2015 for the show “Pals” –http://lameva.barcelona.cat/grec/es/noticias/pals-premio-especial-del-jurado-en-la-ultima-edición- of-the-zirkolica-awards

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

• May 2022 Documentary “Trapezi, art, espectacle i vida!” (Trapezi, Art, Show and Life!)
Audio-visual Documentary commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Fira Trapezi de Reus. https://bit.ly/3caneCM

• January 2021 “Fuego Rojo” (Red Fire)
Co-directed with Martín Erazo and premiered in Santiago de Chile, it represented the first collaboration between the La Patogallina Collective and Cíclicus.

• August 2019: “Rustic”
Premiered in Sao Paulo – Brazil with the company Barnabô. A theater-circus show inspired by the story of Rosa Guimeraes with two artists on stage and various circus techniques.

• June 2019, “Rodada”
Show with three artists on stage, two circus performers and a musician. Presents an unprecedented set design in which the characters inhabit and relate to each other based on their differences.

• November 2017 “El Atrapa Tiempos” (The Time Catcher)
Show designed for the opening of Christmas lights in the City of Reus. It has three artists, live music and the collaboration of artists from the companies La Tal, Los Chapertons y Circo Los.

• September 2017 ” Pequeña historia de un gran paisaje” (Small history of a great landscape)
Premiered at the Mercè Arts de Carrer in Barcelona. Large-format show with 9 artists on stage and live music that presents a fun dramaturgy that mixes traditional and contemporary circus, reflecting on the change in forms and aesthetics that circus has experienced over the years in the western society.A production of Cíclicus Espectacles S.L. With the support of the Institut de Català Empreses Culturals, Generalitat de Catalunya.

• January 2017 “Globus”
Artistic direction and production commissioned to inaugurate the Capital of Catalan Culture Reus 2017, which included the participation of traditional associations (Castellers, Diables, Baile de Bastones, Coral, Bestiario de la ciudad) in fusion with contemporary circus with Ciclicus company. Large-format show that brought together a total of 180 people on stage. – Clip: https://youtu.be/Oc-Mi2OCWLk

• June – July 2016 “El Guadual”
Co-production between the Sánchez Aguilar Foundation of Guayaquil and the GREC Festival of Barcelona with the support of the Institut de Català Empreses Culturals, the Generalitat de Catalunya, and the INAEM. Composed of 10 circus artists and 2 live musicians. Premiered in Guayaquil in June and at the Mercat de les Flors – Festival Grec (Barcelona) in July.
He received the City of Barcelona Circus Award 2016 for the artistic direction of “El Guadual”.
Interview: https://youtu.be/SG1sQ-QWf4Y / Clip: https://youtu.be/u8SsqaaCmqc

• 2015 “Pals”
Premiered in July 2015 within the GREC Festival – Barcelona; co-production of the Grec Festival with the Polo Circo Festival of Buenos Aires and the help of the Institut Català Empreses Culturals and the INAEM. The show has been performed in various countries in Latin America and Europe. In the artistic content, we can highlight the creation of a group of autonomous, versatile and self-anchoring devices, mounted on stage and made of rural wood that created a unique landscape that would identify the company in the future.

• “Pals”  received the Special Jury Award at the 2015 Zirkolika Festival.
Clip: https://youtu.be/Dnmkml0Tx-o  / Interview: https://youtu.be/zhN_oicQSJ0

• 2014 “The Tartan”
Production of the Cia. Cíclicus, premiered at the Mostra Igualada – Shows for children and youth Market. https://youtu.be/bwD7tBeeYLw

• 2013 International Cabaret of La Mercè, Barcelona
With 11 artists from Japan, the United States, Germany, Canada, etc., the majority chosen at the Cirque de Demain World Festival in Paris, a world reference event.

• 2013 “Retails”
Co-produced by the Barcelona Grec Festival and presented at the Mercat de les Flors. It featured the participation of 9 artists from different companies: Nacho Flores, La Clandestina, Nacho Ricci, Capgirades and Psirc. This experience in the artistic direction of a circus show allowed him to investigate the figure of the circus director/playwright and began to glimpse his artistic stamp. – https://youtu.be/Wj7lg-huy-w

• 2002 “Tiempo de Circo” (Circus Time)
With the Cortocirquito Company of which he is the founder. Show that toured nationally and internationally for 4 years with more than 100 performances (Brazil, Italy, France, etc.). – https://youtu.be/S9s801Y0wls

CIRCUS ARTIST

He has participated in numerous shows as a circus performer, specializing in juggling, boleadoras, acrobatics and acrobatic bicycles. The following shows stand out:

Spain:

• “Cíclicus”, Cía. Cíclicus, 2009 – https://youtu.be/V45IuKT9l0I
• “La historia de un soldado”, Cía. El Obrador, 2007
• “Sonidos de Circo”, Orquestra Sinfónica del Vallès, 2007
• Concierto de Fin de Año TV3, 2006
• “Clan Babel”, Cía. Cortocirquito – Aticus Tilt, 2006
• “Tiempo de circo”, Cía. Cortocirquito, 2003-2007
• “Juegos con mazas”, solista, dirigido por Joan Armengol, 2000

Argentina

• “Pica Pica”, Bajada, 1996
• “El Patio”, Los Calandracas, 1995-1996
• “Venimos de muy lejos”, Catalina Sur, 1994
• “La Ley del Malabar”, solista, 1993

TRAINING

Main Teachers:

Joan Armengol i Moliner (“Terres d’escudella” – TVE 1, founder with Joan Fons of the Comediants Theater Company).
Neutral mask work, characters from the Commedia del’Arte, first works of emotional management on stage.

Joan Busquets Portero (“Ínfima La Puça” Company and great articulator of the sector)
Development of scenic work from composition.

Others

• 2006-2007
Security technician, grades I, II and III
With Thomas Louriox, specialist engineer in circus installations and constructions

• 2000-2003
Rogelio Rivel School, Barcelona
Acrobatic training with Vicente Espinoza (Cuban National Circus School).

• 1996-1998
José Machete. Recognized international artist, with whom he is trained in the technique of boleadoras from the Malambo folk dance.

• 1994-1996
Ortanei Circus School, Berazategui – Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina