A ball hangs suspended in the air. Ask any student of physics to explain and there will be a torrent of logical, rational arguments to account for the ball's unwillingness to fall to the floor. Scientist-turned clown Nikolaus-Maria Holz has one simple explanation, which he imparted by phone from his home in France: 'It is magic. There is a point in my show when one of the balls I'm juggling with has no weight. There's no gravity. I can't control it. It's not me, it's the ball.' Holz was studying science at university but yearned for something more physical than metaphysical. He did not quite run away to join the circus but did the next best thing: enrolled in the very prestigious Chalons-sur-Marne Circus School in France.
'On the whole I am a happy clown, but for me being a clown is also a very personal thing,' he said. 'I broke my back, so all my difficulties have made me a stronger character. So in my work you can see a transference of my soul.' Holz performs his very real magic in Hong Kong this week as part of the International Children's Arts Festival 1997. The show, entitled Looking for Susi, involves the search for an eponymous white rat.
There really is a white rat named Susi. It took Holz two months to train her. Nikolaus the clown finds he cannot juggle or play the harmonica without his missing friend and the show revolves around his search for Susi through dancing, miming and juggling, with the help of Leon the accordionist. Nikolaus is not a typical red-nose-and-stripes clown. 'I wear a long coat, hat and black trousers so I almost look like a silhouette,' he says.
Looking for Susi, now in its fourth year, has toured Japan, Africa, Canada and Europe. This is Holz' first time in Hong Kong.
Holz hopes Looking for Susi will give people something to think about while amusing them.
Looking for Susi ; August 15-18; Sha Tin, Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan and North District town halls respectively. For reservations, call: 2734-9009