Creation 2018 Giants spectacular

Big skate in the ice

Le Scaphandrier échange un regard avec une Lilliputienne perchée sur son épaule
Leeuwarden, the Netherlands

From 17 to 19 August 2018 in Leeuwarden in the Netherlands. The city of Leeuwarden has been named European Capital of Culture 2018. On this occasion, the company was invited to present a new creation from the Saga of the Giants. Royal de Luxe drew on the tales and legends of Friesland to tell a new story to the Dutch public. - 425,000 spectators.

Millions of years ago there was the great battle between the water and the land. Nowadays we can locate this as having taken place in the province of Friesland.

The surges of the sea sped like herds of buffaloes, crashing against an army of men with shovels and pickaxes. The dams they erected split open many times, and were immediately fortified with beams patched with tallow and rags, they shattered, were rebuilt, they were torn down, rebuilt, they were repeatedly destroyed and were repeatedly refortified. Nobody will ever know for how long this legendary battle raged.

A governor responsible for the maintenance of the dykes was quickly appointed. To monitor the high tides’ attempts at invasion, watchmen were positioned on the manmade hill, like sailors on the masts of ships.

And this is when the great idea of a Trojan horse was born - a horse buried below sea level. Thanks to the gods of the time, they found a giant diver capable of spending eternity buried underground, ready to leap up, lifting mountains and throwing mud stacks to protect the dikes.

Back in the time of the watchmen, we could not hide the appearance, during a snowstorm, of the leaning tower, floating like a cork on the raging sea. Where did this craft, without bow or sail, which came to Leeuwarden, come from? Anyway, the inhabitants placed it on the central hill. And so it became a historical lighthouse, linked to the city.

By a combination of the most unexpected circumstances, while the city was organising the festivities for its nomination as European Capital of Culture, we learnt about the exceptional discovery of the oldest ice skates in the history of mankind, estimated to be more than 20,000 years old, found, by chance, during work on an oil platform in the North Pole.

A six-by-three-meter cube of ice was cut out, keeping the skates perfectly intact, skates consisting of the femur of a mammoth as a blade, with the rest of the shoe made from animal hide. And yet the most disconcerting phenomenon, which has astonished the whole scientific community, lies in the monumental size of the shoes. A foot capable of fitting this shoe implies the existence of giants more than twelve meters tall...

Of course, everything would have simply remained a myth if this giant diver had not, many centuries ago, had a little giant daughter. One night, in August 2018, she stepped out of Leeuwarden Central Station, having decided, quite simply, to come and find him.

What happens next is not yet written down on the parchments….

Testimonials

« I fell in love with your beautiful giants and will never forget this amazing experience. Thank you so much and I hope to see you again someday! »

Sandra - Groningen, The Netherlands - August 23, 2018

« Thank you very much for an enchanting weekend in my hometown Leeuwarden. The giants where so lovely, i've given them a place in my heart.....I fell in love with them  »

Carry - Leeuwarden, Netherlands - August 23, 2018

« I bow to you gracefully, mr Courcout and all who made this fairytale come to life! I felt happy, filled with joy and astonishment, being there in my honetown. Thank you! »

Susan - Leeuwarden, The Netherlands - August 22, 2018

« What a great weekend. A small town was this weekend big. Monday I felt sad because I missed everything. Thanks royal the luxe. Please come back. »

van der Bij - Leeuwarden, the Netherlands - August 22, 2018

« Quel choc encore ce week end. Fier d'entendre dire "Oh, vous êtes Français " Les hollandais étaient stupéfiés de ce spectacle. Ils en avaient plein la bouche. Une femme habitant Leeuwarden m'a confié que, avec le passage de Royal de Luxe, sa ville avait changé ... en ajoutant après "Et pour toujours"
que dire après ça ... j'en avais les larmes aux yeux.
Merci encore monsieur Courcoult. »

FABRICE - Douai, France - August 22, 2018

« Thank you Royal de Luxe for bringing us the light, hope and love of this beautiful creatures. You made Leeuwarden shine with joy! »

Olga - Leeuwarden, Nederland - August 21, 2018

« It was an amazing weekend in Leeuwarden. Thank you for all the magic moments. And I really loved the music, it still sounds through my head. »

Jaap - Stiens, Nederland - August 21, 2018

« Merci pour cette expérience fantastique qui a inspiré nos enfants  »

Jørgen - Sneek, les Pays-Bas - August 21, 2018

« Thank you for touching my heart and my soul. It was so special to me...
I will never forget this weekend in Leeuwarden! »

Christian - Hamburg, Germany - August 20, 2018

« I can only say that the giants touched my heart. It was so beautifull. It is as if they ar alive. Merci beaucoup »

Nynke - Noardburgum, Netherlands - August 20, 2018

« It was breathtaking! Hope one day you all come back to Leeuwarden! Thank you for this beautiful experience! »

Jacqueline - LEEUWARDEN, Nederland - August 20, 2018

« Really overwhelmed by the Giants in the Cultural Capital of Europe: Leeuwarden.
This makes me eager to see all the other Giants. Please come again!
Thank you so much for these wonderful days. »

E. - Leeuwarden, The Netherlands - August 19, 2018

« The story of Leeuwarden is so beautiful! Very impressive! My applause goes out to those who ensure that the Giants come to life! I think I'm going to miss the Giants after today. Beautiful memories! »

Isabel - Leeuwarden, The Netherlands - August 19, 2018

« Yesterday i was in Leeuwarden.
It was amazing
You really give the people a amazing creative magic show.
It is as if the puppets are a real person.
The tendernes, the passion.
The hard work.
Thank you for showing your work to the world. »

Irma - Haarlem, Nederland - August 19, 2018

« The Giants Leeuwarden - No wine or drug could ever match the feeling that it educed. I am forever captivated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Les Giants Leeuwarden - Aucun vin ou drogue ne pourra jamais égaler le sentiment qu'il suscite. Je suis à jamais captivé. »

Kelly-Marie - leeuwarden, Nederland - August 18, 2018

« Thank you very much for giving me such a wonderful day in Leeuwarden, It was very very impressive to see the Giant Girl and Diver. Beside the enormous spectacle I admire so much the idea and initiative of the founder and maker; he must have a very creative mind, passion and perseverance to do this, a great person himself.Your website can be better, it is very hard to find the stories behind all of it and I miss an agenda of the next cities the Giants will visit.
Thank you again so much for this feeling! »

Marjolein - Haarlem, TheNetherlands - August 18, 2018

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Press

« Colossal, beautiful and extremely impressive: Street theatre company Royal de Luxe and their iconic Giants will come to Leeuwarden, all the way from France. Creatures so high, they tower over office buildings! Believe us when we say this will truly be memorable.  »

Leeuwarden Fryslän 2018 - 01/08/2018

« Comme il le fait toujours, avec passion, Jean-Luc Courcoult, le chef de cette bande tellement talentueuse, s’est renseigné sur les contes et légendes de la Frise, sur les us et coutumes de la région, pour rêver et imaginer une histoire en phase avec la région.  »

Le Figaro - 17/08/2018

« En ce mois d'août 2018, les géants sont aux Pays-Bas. Royal de Luxe a souvent présenté ses créations là-bas. Et cela a commencé il y a déjà plus de trente ans avec Desgarones et Roman-photo en 1987 et 1989 à Amsterdam, le fabuleux La Véritable Histoire de France, en 1991 à Utrecht, et encore d'autres. Mais des spectacles à échelle humaine, même avec le livre monumental.  »

LeFigaro.fr - 17/08/2018

« Cette fois, ce sont les géants qui font le voyage. Leeuwarden a été nommé Capitale européenne de culture 2018, et pour l'occasion, elle rêvait d'un événement fédérateur. Comme il le fait toujours, avec passion, Jean-Luc Courcoult, le chef de cette bande tellement talentueuse, s'est renseigné sur les contes et légendes de la Frise, sur les us et coutumes de la région, pour rêver et imaginer une histoire en phase avec le territoire. (…)On n'a que des souvenirs émerveillés avec Royal de Luxe. À Leeuwarden, il y aura aussi Xolo, le chien mexicain. Il aidera ses amis à retrouver les plus anciens patins à glace de l'humanité... On ne voudrait pour rien au monde rater l'événement! Comme tous les spectacles de Royal de Luxe, Grand patin dans la glace, s'adresse à toutes les générations et éblouit chacun. Des spectacles gratuits, inoubliables.  »

LeFigaro.fr - 17/08/2018

« Un bloc de glace avec un patin géant figé à l’intérieur, a fait son apparition jeudi matin dans les rues de Leeuwarden aux Pays-Bas, capitale culturelle européenne 2018. L’exceptionnelle découverte aurait eu lieu « durant les travaux d’une plateforme pétrolière dans le pôle nord ! » Ces patins étaient constitués d’un fémur de mammouth pour la glisse…alors que les Hollandais étaient en droit de se demander ce qui leur arrivait, les Nantais, eux, savaient. Cet épisode insolite leur a rappelé l’apparition d’un chien mexicain géant à la cathédrale de Nantes en 2011. Pendant trois jours de spectacle aux Pays-Bas, de vendredi à jeudi, la compagnie Royal de Luxe et ses géants ont retourné la ville.  »

Presse Océan - 20/08/2018

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