A woman and her lorry

“Carmela is a madcap dancer, a charming acrobat, and the star of the last circus on earth.” This is how Carmen La Tanik describes herself on her website. She has been living on wheels for over 20 years. She tours, travels and performs her shows from her purple 7.5-tonne camper van, complete with its truck-mounted stage – a wild mix of visual theatre and autobiographical comedy. A qualified cultural educator and circus artist, she lives and breathes her profession – with her van.

The lorry? An old Mercedes LK/LN2 814, which serves as both a living space and a stage for Carmen. That’s because it has a lightweight stage at the rear. And when stationary, this not only acts as an extended centre of gravity but also supports a moving load – and that’s right up Marquart Germany’s street! So she has swapped her lorry’s shock absorbers for Marquart ones. We asked Carmen about her chassis optimisation.

At just under 15 square metres, the former mattress cleaning van is quite comfortable. Before that, I only had just under 6 square metres in a smaller post van. At the housewarming party nine years ago, there were 22 people! I’ve got space here to stretch out and dance on the floor, and everything I need, from the L-shaped sofa to the dry toilet. The view from the window is different every day, if I want it to be. Electricity comes from the sun, and I always know exactly how much water I’m using (10 litres a day). Between gigs, I’m almost always out in the great outdoors, going for walks or a swim, and still getting to sleep in my own bed afterwards.

On my trips out in the sticks, I often drive along tracks full of potholes and bumps. The lorry would often bounce so high that I had to stop so it could ‘settle down’ again. You come to a bump like that, and once you’ve gone over it, the bouncing really kicks in.

When I finally built a stage onto the lorry in 2022, other absurd situations cropped up. I had two performers, each weighing 80kg, who were spinning 30 porcelain plates on thin sticks and had to keep running round and round the sticks to nudge the plates (which weren’t allowed to fall off). The lorry was rocking sooo much! I then happened to see a ‘before and after’ video by Marquart and knew straight away: I need that!

The conversion itself was a very pleasant experience, because everyone was so friendly and I was able to stay in the lorry whilst it was being done. I think I was working on my tax return at the time. You can really tell that the staff enjoy their work and appreciate dealing with motorhomes, lorries and unusual customers.

 

My platform is a lightweight platform attached to the lorry with its own floor supports (unfortunately not Marquart quality). When there’s a lot of movement, it wobbles a bit, but thanks to the new shock absorbers, you hardly notice it inside the lorry.

Since fitting the new shock absorbers, I’ve become a bit more disorganised, because not everything has to be so perfectly tidy and secured anymore. The ride is much smoother and more stable – and, above all, there’s no more bouncing up and down.

Thanks, Carmen

In her contemporary travelling circus, Carmen combines hula hoops with object manipulation, acrobatics, balancing acts and storytelling, drawing on countless experiences as a woman travelling alone. She takes the audience with her into her circus on wheels, which celebrates artistry, absurdity and authenticity. For example, on 14 August in Ahlen near Hamm (Westphalia), on 16 August in Haselünne near Meppen, or on 19 September at the Hansefest in Gardelegen, between Braunschweig and Magdeburg. And from 22 to 30 September, Carmen will be on tour in Bavaria.

A woman and her lorry are now on the road with Marquart shock absorbers. A lorry that now sways less, whether moving or stationary. The team at Marquart Germany wishes Carmen La Tanik continued success with her shows and safe travels at all times.