Having fulfilled a lifetime ambition to see Cirque du Soleil earlier this year, I may have gone along expecting a little too much from Collectif AOC's La Syncope du 7.

But then the preview in the Brighton Festival brochure did claim them to be the rightful heirs to the "new circus" throne and promised a "gravity-defying assault on the senses".

That this ensemble of seven are hugely talented is not in question. During the show, they displayed some incredible circus skills and dare-devilry.

The trapeze work was breath-taking and the precision and timing required for some of the acrobatic acts were quite astonishing.

The use of a trampoline for a Matrix-style sequence involving performers walking effortlessly up a vertical Perspex wall was original and brilliantly executed but the stunt didn't develop and was over-used by the end of the show.

That was the main problem. It felt as though the show relied on four of five excellent sequences which would have been an "assault on the senses" if the show was half an hour long. But 75 minutes dragged with some cringe-worthy clowning, bland dance routines and lots of time filling.

Characterisation was weak, humour lacking and the costumes tacky. If Collectif AOC are the future of circus, I think I'll stay stuck in the past.

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