THORSTEN GRÜTJEN

Thorsten Grütjen is a juggler with a clown's soul and a German with a Portuguese soul. His profession has been with him for over 25 years. Since his arrival in Portugal in 1992, his artistic career has branched out into various languages - physical theatre, clown, juggling, improvisation and object manipulation techniques.
He collaborated for a decade with Casa Chapitô, integrating, in parallel, other projects linked to circus arts and street animation. His passion for travelling took him to other European countries, participating in film productions, international street theatre festivals and juggling meetings, where he collected awards with his characters.
In 2006, he makes one of his dreams come true, putting his stage-mobile on the road, a project of cultural decentralization materialized by a classic Mercedes Benz van that, in 2016, is recovered and gains the name of Caracol Cultural - Arte que Deixa Rasto. In 2014, the show Cheio appears, where he is a solo performer and coauthor, along with choreographer Filipa Francisco, in a multidisciplinary performance that crosses the languages of New Circus, contemporary dance and clown, with the seal of the Portuguese Department of Culture.
In this year 2017, he creates his contemporary circus project O Grande Embrulho, while simultaneously integrating the cast of the show Rastilho, under the direction of choreographer Madalena Victorino. In 2019, together with the circus artists José Torres and Sergio Lobo and under the artistic direction of Giacomo Scalisi, they created the show CLOWNS.

In 2021 with the support of the Portuguese Ministry of Culture and in co-authorship with the choreographer Madalena Victorino involves the show T0+1. A multidisciplinary show about the right to housing, nomadism and more.