The Festival
Creating human connection and solidarity through improvised music, rhythm and play
CIRCULAR FESTIVAL Basel is a solidarity festival of circular music, rhythm and body music, that opens a space to deepen in musical study and for the meeting, to reflect on how our actions through music and rhythm can be a tool for social and cultural transformation based on sustainable principles.
Rhythm, Circle & Body Music
We offer training, workshops, open circles and concerts to explore rhythm, musical improvisation and collective singing through the body and the circular form. Musicians, educators, performers and general public interested are welcome!
Solidarity
As we believe that music is a tool for change and cooperation, we include and promote a donations campaigns to raise money for social projects related to body and circular music.
Connection, Contact and Community
The activities take place in a circle, promoting values such as cooperation, unity, diversity, listening, presence, authenticity, dialogue, trust and affection.
Circle Music is definetely about listening and community building.
Date & location
If we are composers of the sounds of our communities,
what music are we creating?
Circular 2024
Special topic "FRAUEN IM KREIS" (Women in Circle)
The second edition of Circular called
FRAUEN IM KREIS seeks to encourage and support the musical work of women who are also mothers and whose actions have a positive impact on the community where they work and live. Collective singing, ancestral singing, music from a corporal perception and self-regulation when using the body as an instrument, musical games as pedagogical tools and improvisation through non-verbal languages are some of the topics that participants will be able to explore.
The facilitators are Luna Monti (Argentina), Maria Luana (Brazil), Anita Gritsch (Austria) and Aixa Figini (Argentina/Portugal).
Moreover, the festival has created a crowdfunding campaign to support the project "GIRASOLES", a documentary about circular music and endometriosis, a disease that is still unknown and affects 1 in 10 people with an uterus.
MARIA LUANA (Uruguay/Brazil)
Maria Luana is an interdisciplinary singer, composer, voice coach and sound therapist. She was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, and raised between Costa Rica and Brazil. Since 2014 she has been researching different improvisation languages, vocal and body music and ancestral songs from Latin America. She also investigates the power of sound for healing and transformation. She offers seminars, workshops, immersions and retreats with the intention of remembering the wisdom and creative potential that inhabits our body and voice.
Contact: https://www.instagram.com/marialuana___/
ANITA GRITSCH
(Austria)
Anita Gritsch is a trainer and artist fully dedicated to Body Music/Body Percussion. She has been studying how to play music with the body for over 12 years and has had hundreds of opportunities to develop her skills as a trainer in this field. She offers seminars and workshops at the intersection of music, movement and language for youth and adults. She has taught at conferences, festivals, prisons, schools, universities and team events in countries around the world, with a special focus on South America. Her artistic projects include performances, plays for young audiences, compositions, collaborations with other artists and music videos. Currently, the body music group Groove Crew is at the centre of her performing activities. She has already been able to record and be on stage with the famous Brazilian Body Music band Barbatuques.
Contact: http://www.anitagritsch.com
LUNA MONTI (Argentina)
LUNA MONTI is a renowned singer and art educator from Argentina. Creator of the “Luna Monti Studio” located in Buenos Aires, dedicated to the research of voice and body music, revaluing singing in community. As a singer, Luna chose the folkloric music of her country and Latin America as her expressive language. She began her studies at the Popular Music School of Bs As. In 2000, Luna independently released her first solo album, titled “Dentro el Silencio.” In 2002 she formed a duo with Juan Quintero. Together they recorded 8 albums released independently, successful and with local critics, establishing themselves as references of Argentine popular music. She has collaborated with several internationally renowned artists such as: Mercedes Sosa, León Gieco, Ricardo Mollo, Lito Vitale, Coetus, among others. She traveled the world with musical, theatrical and pedagogical projects. Throughout her artistic career she has received several awards, including one Gardel Award. Luna is a Vocal Coach trained in theater, body percussion, dance, guitar and she is also astrologer and yoga instructor. Currently, she alternates her artistic activity (performing solo with her guitar and voice) with musical teaching (conducting female vocal ensembles and giving workshops and retreats).
Contact: estudiolunamonti@gmail.com / IG FB: @lunamonti.oficial
AIXA FIGINI
(Argentina/Portugal)
Aixa Figini, an Argentine musician, singer, and active cultural producer based in Lisbon, has established herself as a versatile vocalist exploring genres such as tango, Argentine folklore, Latin American music, and vocal improvisation. Passionate about music improvisation, she studied the Rhythm with Signs system created by Argentine percussionist Santiago Vazquez in Buenos Aires, and is a certified music trainer by Musicians without Borders, specialising in utilising music for community building and social cohesion. In 2022, Aixa released her debut solo album 'TRAMA,' presenting original compositions, collaborations, and reinterpretations of classics from Latin American folklore, infused with rhythms and sounds such as zamba, Venezuelan cuatro, and Portuguese guitar. Aixa leads her own Latin American music trio, directs the female vocal improvisation ensemble CIRCULAR, the Improvised Choir, and performs with the Portuguese quintet LUMBRE. Additionally, she regularly teaches vocal improvisation workshops in Portugal and other countries across Europe, sharing her love for music and empowering others through collective musical expression.
Contact:
www.circularvoices.com
aixafigini@gmail.com
CIRCULAR DONATION CAMPAIGN
for GIRASOLES (Documentary)
"There are flowers that seek the light by following the path of the sun to recharge their energy. On cloudy days, they face each other to recharge. In the absence of their main source of energy, they have to support each other. Girasoles (sunflowers) are women with endometriosis. They live their pain in silence and greyness, like days without sunshine, and they look for each other to support themselves, to be heard and to find some light to lighten the pain".
GIRASOLES… searching for the light
A documentary about endometriosis and healing through body & circle music.
By ULA Productions.
More about endometriosis: www.endo-help.ch
The Program
WORKSHOP & TRAINING
There will be many workshops on different topics and techniques intended for musicians, educators, performers and general public interested in circle and body music.
OPEN CIRCLE
The festival will start with an open-air Circle Music Flow on Friday night. On Saturday night, a
"concert"
will take place with international and local musicians. The festival will end with a
"collective improvised flow", involving all of the festival artists, and having as well a space for a
"dialogue", to foster the reflection on the potential of circle music in our communities.
DONATION CAMPAING
As we believe that music is a tool for change and cooperation, we include and promote a donation campaign to raise money for a social aid circle/body music project. In this editions we collaborate with "GIRASOLES”, a documentary about circular music and endometriosis.
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
Prices
We want everyone to be able to participate, that's why we include flexible prices.
The Open Circles and the Concert are PWYC (pay what you can) so you don't have to worry about money.
Full pass
230.- CHF
Early Bird 180.- CHF
For all days
Perfect for musicians,
educators and general public
(from 14 years old)
Student Full pass
180.- CHF
Early Bird 140.- CHF
For all days
Perfect for musicians, artists,
educators, and general public
(from 14 years old)
*If you can't pay the value of the ticket and/or you would like to volunteer, please contact us.
OUR SEED
CIRCULAR is a seed that emigrates from Latin America and arrives in Switzerland after the pandemic with the need to bring people together through a circular and corporal way of making music to jointly build a more humane and friendly community. The festival seeks to be sustainable in all its fields.
THE VEREIN
ULA Productions Verein is an association founded by Laura Sánchez in Basel, Switzerland, whose purpose is to create a space for encounter, contact and human connection through art and culture in order to contribute to the growth of a sustainable community.
The association also aims to the promotion and support of the study of circular and body music; inclusion and solidarity offering services, activities and projects at a accessible price and running fundraising campaigns to support projects in vulnerable and underserved areas, especially in Latin America and Africa, and raising awareness of nature through the use of sustainable resources such as recyclable and ecological materials, collaborative pedagogy, Non-violent Communication (NVC), ecofeminism and ecophotography.
Why in Basel? To train in this art of circle and body music, people in Basel have to travel to other cities, being not very accessible. Since 2022, ULA Productions Verein produces a Circle Music (Sonrondo Project, with Kathrin Sirtl) once a month as well as different workshops inviting teachers and leaders of body music to come to Basel to share his teachings so that more people can benefit of it.
The Board
President: Laura Micaela Sánchez Martínez
Secretary: Lucía Mariela Sánchez Martínez
Treasurer: Sara Troncoso
Circular Team
Paola León
Production Assistant (Spain)
Musician, music therapist, pshycologist and musical educator, she facilitates workshops and courses of body percussion and voice, area that she could learn and develop from the hand of great teachers in different countries, highlighting Fernando Barba, Keith Terry, Mauricio Sprovieri, Charles Razl and “Música do Círculo”, among others. Her musical journey denotes a great influence from Brazil and other South American countries, where she lived for several years traveling in search of discovering new rhythms and musical cultures.
Laura Sánchez
Founder and general production (Basel)
Photographer, filmmaker, dancer, illuminator, performer and producer. She studied music, dance and performing arts in Argentina and Música do Círculo Leading Training (2022). She was performing at the Ensemble Vocal Feminino Luna Monti (Argentina 2015/2020) and created performances, and installations of her authorship. She is co-founder of circlemusic project SONRONDO (Basel 2021) and president of ULA Productions Verein.
Margaux Bélanger
Production Assistant (France)
Producer, management of innovative musical events and festivals, and documentarian with video and podcast. She holds a Master's degree in Public Policy, specializing in culture, from Sciences Po Paris. Co-founder of the Micropolis collective, dedicated to promoting the Rhythm with Signs language (created by Santiago Vazquez). Percussionist and singer in groups with "Rhythm with Signs" and improvisation.
First edition of Circular Festival
For the first edition we had the project "Música do Círculo" (MdC) as guest of honour, Laria Finochiario (Braril) and Ramaje (Switzerland). The festival had a full programme of workshops, a whole day of "MdC Training" to continue the MdC training, as well as performances and circles open to everyone! In addition, the crowdfunding campaign was to help the socio-educational project of body music with children in Brazil: "Batucadeiros Project".
MdC Workshop and training
Música do Círculo appears within the body music community of São Paulo, fertile ground watered by the work of Fernando Barba, Stênio Mendes and Barbatuques group. Since 2015 they have carried out retreats, improvised flows, trainings and workshops promoting music and human connection, through vocal improvisation, body percussion and circlesongs using a flow of games that inspire play and creativity, to help develop people’s musicality while building a sense of community.
During the festival, Musica do Circulo provided a training for MdC leaders to practice and learn more about their pedagogy of an improvised flower, vocal improvisation and circlesong, rhythmic games with body percussion and musical games with the musica do circulo cards.
The founders are:
Pedro Consorte, Ronaldo Crispim and Zuza Gonçalves
Asalato & Voice
Lari is a singer, songwriter, actress and music educator from São Paulo, Brazil. Her most recent work was as the singer in the OVO show by Cirque du Soleil touring more than 10 countries. She is a pioneer in Asalato and Voice research in Brazil, integrating this percussion African instrument to the repertoire of Brazilian popular culture. She also integrates the body music scene in São Paulo, is part of Música do Círculo performance group and has launched an original album called "Carta ao XXI".
During the workshop the Asalato technique was explored with different Brazilian rhythms and circle song.
Contact: www.asalatoevoz.com.br
Performers (Circular Concert)
The trio from the Zurich area has dedicated itself with heart and soul to body music: voice, clapping, stomping, snapping... their own bodies offer a wide range of instruments. RAMAJE interweaves a cappella and body percussion to create groovy, fresh arrangements and is inspired by different styles from all over the world.
During the debate concert, Ramaje gave a performance with body music and shared their experience on the use of the MdC in their circles in Zürich.
The founders are:
Raphael Baumann, MattiasWyss, Jean-Daniel Girod
Circular Donation Campaign
By Ricardo Amorim and Patty Amorim
(Recanto das Emas, Brasília/DF, Brazil)
Since 2001, Batucadeiros Project has been addressing the needs of underserved and vulnerable populations in Recanto das Emas, a town in the periphery of Brasilia. Through the development of a methodology that promotes inclusion through socio-cultural access to music using the human body as a source for expression and musical development, Batucadeiros Project offers a solution for quality musical engagement where the difficulty of acquiring musical instruments, especially in disadvantaged segments of the population, is evident. By eliminating the cost of expensive tools and materials, they have created musical learning with a wide power range. The exploration of multiple genres, musical rhythms, improvisation and aural acuity are at the center of the pedagogical goals.
The Circular Donation Campaign raised 500.- CHF, which was used for the canteen and the purchase of materials.
CONTACT
We are happy to hear from you.
Send us a message using the next contact form.
We'll get back to you as soon as possible.
kHAUS AG, Kasernenhof 8,
4058 Basel (Switzerland)
