Wednesday August 19th 2026
Afrique en Cirque's contortionist
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Blessing the Fringe with the beauty, youth and artistry of African culture, Afrique en Cirque has returned to the festival for its fourth year.
Bringing a show full of life and celebration, the circus and dance performance inspired by life in Guinea is once again selling out, filling the Music Hall at Assembly Rooms.
Dance, physical theatre and circus combine with traditional music to create a performance that delivers plenty of shock and awe, while also offering audiences an appreciation of Guinea’s rich culture.
Created by the show’s frontman Yamoussa Bangoura, his strong leadership guides the performance through a series of scenes depicting life in a Guinean fishing town.
Surrounded by a team of world-class acrobats, Bangoura has created an hour of exhilarating entertainment, with gravity-defying moves, human pyramids and spectacular feats of balance set against Afro-Jazz, percussion and Kora music.
The result is an hour-long performance that is stacked full of joy and amazement. With the acrobatics being the stars, the daring feats are perfectly intertwined within a celebration of community, movement and African culture.
Using the music, acrobatics and dance to create a story, the show has many scenes which the performers transfer into seamlessly. The vibrant and energetic performance never loses momentum with each new segment and scene being more daring than the next.
One stand-out performer amongst the cast is a contortionist, showing off extreme flexibility and balance that isn’t common among the majority of the world’s circus performers. Entering the stage folding himself in half, he left the audience in both awe and shock adding a whole new dynamic to the performance.
The music was complimented with an incredible backdrop, transforming the stage into an African town filled with colourful details and musical instruments. This, alongside the live percussion and Kora music, helped create an immersive atmosphere that made the audience feel transported into the world of the performers.
Afrique en Cirque at this year's Fringe
Despite the jaw-dropping acrobatics and high-energy celebration of culture, the show does lack momentum in some areas, particularly during longer musical segments that occasionally feel as though they drone on.
While the traditional music adds a special touch to the circus performance and helps create a strong sense of place, some of these slower sections take away from the show’s shock value and leave the audience waiting for the next big acrobatic feat.
However, when the performers are at full pace, Afrique en Cirque is an impressive display of physical ability and cultural celebration. The combination of daring acrobatics, energetic dance and live music creates plenty of memorable moments and makes the production well worth seeing.
The addition of a live bass player adds another layer to the performance, providing sound effects for the more humorous moments and adding a new dynamic through the live music.
The combination of breathtaking physical feats and infectious music makes Afrique en Cirque a standout celebration of culture at this year’s Fringe. Creating a show that has everything you want from physical theatre, the addition of music adds a special touch that allows an insight into the vibrant culture of Guinea.
Afrique en Cirque is a 5 /5 performance, a must-see at this year’s Fringe.
The show is running until the 30th, performed everyday at 12:20pm at Music Hall at Assembly Rooms.
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