Francis & Nathalie At the Tigerpalast By Dick Cuyler

 

April 20: I returned to the Tigerpalast in Frankfurt, W. Germany, to see Francis Brunn perform live for the first time in my life. In late April when I arrived, Brunn was making a comeback after three knee operations and a hip replacement. He tells me over the house phone that until last December, he hadn't performed for 2-1/2 years. He feels a little shaky, but is pleased that this engagement will last four months.

 

That afternoon, I watch another rehearsal and the clock turns back nine years. He is still a panther on stage. Nathalie Enterline assists him as always, and will do her own routine as well. He still rehearses two hours every day whether he has a performance that evening or not. His balances are sure and solid; his grace and quickness like that of a flamenco dancer.

 

Dressed in black, his warmup and rehearsal is a marvel of stretching, limbering, ball spinning and practice with his famous head bounces and body rolls. At 66­years-old, he gives 100 percent in this rehearsal, which should give all of us younger folks a dose of humility. I am in the presence of a master.

Graciously, he agrees to meet with me after the show.

 

That evening, the moves are all there and the degrees of difficulty are still immense. But he is not as sure as he was in rehearsal. Still, his composure and professionalism win over the audience. Not satisfied with his finish, he does it again, unafraid to repeat in order to get it right. Finally, he prevails.

 

Afterwards, in the restaurant down­stairs, he says he feels terrible -- "the worst performance I have given in 50 years." We assure him he is as good as ever, for to witness this man's performance is to learn about juggling anew.

 

June 13: Francis is now performing to live guitar music, a dream he has had for 20 years. El Rubio, the flamenco guitarist, feeds Francis a vital, fresh energy with his brilliant playing. There is a new assurance to the routine.

 

During the intermission, I talk with manager Johnny Klinke and ask him how he goes about "filling the bills." I mention that the evening seems like it will be fairly brief. He says he would rather hire four or five superb acts rather than eight or nine merely good ones; he wants to give the audience quality over quantity. Actually, the evening turns out to be just the right length because the emcee, Herman Van Olzen, is very engaging and the live jazz band belts out its tunes with panache.

 

Three antipodists, The Castors, open the evening on a high plane. They begin juggling large cylinders with their feet, and then pass them in an intricate weave pattern. After that, two shower four basketballs each, while the third feeds. Finally, one acrobat flips the other two alternately in all kinds of spins, and executes hair raising balances with superb control.

work charts new territory with unusual drops and crawls along with very sensuous dance movement. The Tigerpalast is a splendid venue for this kind of act because it occurs close to the audience. One cannot help but be sucked into the excitement.

 

The Tigerpalast took a breather during August, but started up with a new show in September. From what I have seen in my three viewings, all indications point to a long and fruitful life for variety in Frankfurt under the direction of Johnny Klinke and Karl-Heinz Ziethen.