tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872536078904382712024-03-12T23:31:27.777-07:00LucyLovesCircusLucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.comBlogger171125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-16287302590698598632023-09-03T14:09:00.008-07:002024-01-07T06:00:02.568-08:00Chapter 219: Zippos Nomads<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwxqddi88XRSgYHKRt6PHo8VSZBZOjO7zI61Y0aUKQXOubpdAzs0n0nLzlwmkO1mv3c2NhKGOYRPTRbFuYmnGisVBXqDy4h_XYYV-shTVPlzdyaf48I7iSvYFVmegWBkN8hVaGVZQ9a1YY8wVmgkapGkjU7PhsQIbPM-6PSL_JfwD5E5lyUq3893cwjc/s2048/IMG_2237%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwxqddi88XRSgYHKRt6PHo8VSZBZOjO7zI61Y0aUKQXOubpdAzs0n0nLzlwmkO1mv3c2NhKGOYRPTRbFuYmnGisVBXqDy4h_XYYV-shTVPlzdyaf48I7iSvYFVmegWBkN8hVaGVZQ9a1YY8wVmgkapGkjU7PhsQIbPM-6PSL_JfwD5E5lyUq3893cwjc/w562-h422/IMG_2237%20(1).jpeg" width="562" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /> As if by magic a circus appeared...</span><p></p><p><o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Like the shopkeeper who would materialize each time in the fancy dress shop
and conjure up a new adventure for Mr Benn, one of my favourite cartoons from
childhood (and yes, there is an episode where he runs away to the circus and
becomes a clown) there is a wondrous magic about a circus tent appearing in the everyday space of Wandsworth Common. <o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">A wee bit surreal too. On Sunday evening I had just arrived back in London
from a very special family break in an oast house in Kent, sad to hop it
(ba-boom!). I just wanted to crash after the train ride back but I had an Amazon deadline of that day to drop off a return at our local collection point,. As I trudged down Althorpe Road, ahead I saw a curious sight. A cluster
of caravans on the Common. Well, spoiler alert, you already know it is Zippos,
but at that moment I didn't. Was it the travellers back for Bank Holiday? They
had swept in a few years back and lasted 24 hours before being moved on. As I
got closer I saw trailers too. A film set maybe? Our Common is so blimming
photogenic afterall (as you'll notice on my Instagram account). Then I saw
some men in high vis jackets with drills pegging our a large circular space,
and on the edge of the Common a poster - the circus was coming to town!<o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Timing is everything. I smiled and groaned at the serendipity of it all. Of
course, Lucy Loves Circus. But as a secondary school teacher, the last week of
the summer holiday is when things get serious for me. I have lessons to
prepare, admin to sort, not to mention checking that my own three children are
sorted - the school labels I bought at the start of the holiday are now nowhere
to be seen. That sort of thing. And then there is the school running club...
all inclusive of all year groups, the sixth formers signed those of us over 17
(!) for the official Big Half marathon, the day before school goes back, and
the morning after a friend's milestone birthday. This then was a week for
getting my head down and being sensible. Instead I found myself juggling all
that with running off to the nearest tattoo parlour for my daughter to get her
ears pierced, ahead of a trip with friends to see Zippos circus on opening
night...<o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">And yet, timing *is* everything. When overwhelmed by to do lists, doing
something for the sheer love of it pushes away the fear of dropping all the
balls. And I've learned a new trick this summer on a course. Work out which
balls are plastic and which are glass, and just focus on keeping the latter in
the air, the others can drop. Discernment takes a bit of practice...<o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">When the tent was up, the first thing I noticed was the LED display above
the ticket box office, showing clips from the show and delivering messages to
reel in the punters.<b><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Hello Wandsworth!</span></b> the first one read. Well, hello Zippos!<o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">To celebrate the occasion, I donned my gold circus heels, one with a female
trapeze artist and the other a male, and little circus tent motifs on the back.
Mindful of the approaching half marathon though, I walked barefoot from home
across the Common and just slipped them on before entering the tent. Looking
ridiculous, trying to contort my feet into a position to show both them of and
the circus ring with my daughter propping them up, got a laugh from the ushers
even if the photo failed. Instagram has a lot to answer for! Bringing them was
worth it though as we were also joined by Isabella, who I know from this circus
journey, sharing a love of aerial. We met when she made my first pair of aerial
gaiters, then tightwire boots (ahead of Harry Styles, thank you! see her website <a href="https://www.isabellamars.com/" target="_blank">www.isabellamars.com</a>) and the
female artiste on my pair always reminds me of her. <o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a sense, the travellers were back in town. Zippos' show this year is
called "Nomads", the souvenir guide opens with Tolkien’s quote
"<b>Not all those who wander are lost</b>", and it is a celebration of
diversity of nationalities and the tradition of entertainers throughout history
who have travelled from town to town to amuse and entertain. That chimes with
me, both as a teacher of modern foreign languages, as a sailor who spent two years living on a boat, sailing islands and oceans
without a night on land, and not to mention being a wondering blogger… But Lucy,
get on, with it, what was it <i>like</i>…?!<o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Well, there was a traditional circus ring, at the back, there was a curtain,
behind which a black background studded with little lights glittered like the
stars that were about to make an entrance... And...well, let me just spell it out:</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p><o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">N</span>erve-wrecking. </b>I have to confess I swore a little, out of earshot of
the kids (probably) at tense moments. Acts like Ludvik Novoltny from the Czech
Republic layering cylinder after blank after ball after box and balancing atop
on the rola rola (the name on the programme – why did I think it was called the
rola bola?) in a precarious equilibristic act. Then, in a metal sphere, floodlit
blue, with petrolhead fumes and drama that reminded me of Mad Max in Thunderdome,
there was first one motorbike, then a second, then a third, with perfect timing
in a ballet of speed and wheels courtesy of Globe riders from Argentina, Brazil
and Paraguay, that was the showstopper of the first half. That segued into the adrenaline kick start of another
spherical ring of potential death, the wheel of steel. Alternatively known as
the wheel of death (maybe a bit macabre for a family show), this involved Victor
and Bismark from Colombia executing acrobatic stunts on two large rotating
wheels at either end of a metal arm that rotates around a central axis, both inside,
and, more dangerously, outside. I have seen the act before when the blindfold
comes out. It still kills me, if not them… Then there were <i>The Mighty
Mongolian Warriors</i> doing acrobalance and skipping acts. That sounds friendly
enough until you factor in that at one point the rope was a performer, or that they
skipped while doing a three high! Note: A "three-high" is a human pyramid
with three tiers of people, with one person (the base) on the bottom, another
(the middle) standing on the shoulders of the base, and a third person (the top
or flyer) standing on the shoulders of the middle, an act that requires
incredible strength, balance, and trust among the performers as did their
flying and tumbling from one to the other of each others shoulders.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">O</span>stentatious</b>. In the sense that circus is designed to impress or attract
notice. That is the nature of the show, and traditional circus astonishes and
captivates the audience with bright and spangled costumes, like those of Ukrainian
dancers Sofia Dobrovolska and Diana Muminova, with which the magpies on the
Common would have a field day. As they would with the costume of Khulan, from
Mongolia, whose grace of movement and hula hoop artistry was mesmerising. It
also refers to daring feats and theatrical performances. Take <i>The Timbuktu
Troupe, </i>flipping brilliant<i> </i>Kenyan acrobats in leopard print costumes,
diving through hoops and limboing under fire with an agility and tempo that lifts
the soul. Or Toni Novotony with practiced dexterity cracking whips and whipping
out flaming knives to throw at his partner, who is attached to a spinning wheel,
the fire adding another layer of risk and visual impact. Part of me would also
like to see the tables turn (rather than spin!) so that his partner could have her
turn throwing the knives at the board… And finally, ostentatious in skill but
the antithesis in terms of understated theatrics, was Moroccan-born Ibrahim, on
vertical pole. A study in holding poses, and slowing movement right down at
impossible angles, making the well-nigh impossible (as one who’s tried!)
looking effortlessly easy.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p><o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">M </span></b>is for musical. So important at driving the circus narrative. Epic
music signalling its time to hold your breath, but also underscoring the comedy.
One of my favourite moments was seeing clown Whimmy Walker coming on with his
trumpet playing the most beautiful soliloquoy. It was a familiar tune,
something I couldn’t quite place, the same vibe as Miles Davis playing “My
Funny Valentine”.Later I contacted Zippos to find out what it was. “The Story
of Love” came the reply. Of course it would be. That’s the story of circus for
me, and the clown at the heart of it. Which leads on to…<o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">A</span></b>musing. That’s an understatement. But there’s no F for funny in NOMADS, and
here I want to bring in the clowns. I’ve mentioned Whimmy’s musicality, but his
is also a fool who is constantly playing with the audience, when he isn’t
juggling an insane amount of tennis rackets, or luggage (back to the Nomads
theme!). Or Paulo Dos Santos, his foil, both in stature and character, who torpedos
aforementioned soulful trumpet soliloquy with riotous drum-banging, deftly
executes both tumbling and the most beautiful aerial acrobatics that kicks of
the show, and with his trademark Brazilian joie de vivre always gets the
audience engaging and cheering. <o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">D</span></b>aring. This I reserve for “our very own Jackie Louise”. London is so
international “our very own” made me smile. But at the same time, the pride
with which it was delivered was genuinely touching, and it is good to be able
to cheer on the UK when deserved.
Jackie Louise performed such graceful manoeuvres on the aerial loops… oh jeez,
and the neck hang, it’s all coming back … then later stepped into the globe,
bikes flying round her, without the hint of a flinch. I also enjoyed when she stood
atop the globe, as though she owned the world. Brava! <o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">S</span></b>howstopper. The final act was Alexander Lichner, from Spain. Hang
on, I thought, with my Spanish teacher hat on. What sort of Spanish name is
that? Shouldn’t it be Alejandro at the very least? Then I reflected my kids
have Dutch surnames, Swiss passports, live in London and English is their
mother tongue. And its circus. Nomads. Who is really from where? It was not
surprising to read that Lichner won Gold recently at the French Circus Festival
of Massy. His entrance descent was a ridiculous feat of balance, then scaling
the rope back up could have been an act in itself. The trapeze sequences were beautiful
to watch, the toe hang must have been painful enough but the single heel hang high
in the gods was almost too excruciating to watch, still, I couldn’t tear my
eyes away.<o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Afterwards we took fun pictures of the children sticking their heads through
circus-themed face in hole boards, and generally dragged our heels, the last to leave. The children were so animated and
delighted, it was a joy to watch their reactions throughout the show and to
share this experience with family, bringing them together with their friends
and me with mine, well, I felt immensely privileged and grateful. <o:p></o:p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">On the way home we admired the blue super moon in the sky. I hadn’t known it
was a thing until Isabella explained it to me. It was beautiful. Like a
universal blessing on the night. The only thing it didn’t have were three motorbikes
whizzing around inside…<o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The thing is magic, whether in a sudden circus appearance or a shared family
experience, comes unexpectedly. Whether juggling work, family, and personal
passions or simply trying to make it through the day, circus is my talisman, a
reminder to appreciate the moments of joy and wonder that life brings.
Sometimes, the most magical moments are the ones we least expect. So if you
have the chance to attend a circus, take it. Zippos has two more shows tomorrow
(Monday 4<sup>th</sup> September) on Wandsworth Common, before moving on. The
experience is unforgettable, and the memories will stay with you long after the
tent comes down.<o:p></o:p></p><p>See:<a href="https://zippos.co.uk/" target="_blank"> https://zippos.co.uk/</a> and on Social Media (TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) for updates. </p><p><br /></p>LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-37726543442818820102023-08-30T04:50:00.006-07:002023-08-30T23:19:12.797-07:00Chapter 218: Traces of Rebecca Youseffi in Transmission at Jacksons Lane<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2n66Nq9YPiG_j3_H0QDih_4_2tTCujg0L9YryiC0fn05Z0RazDKNFYwRlpR4QtIWAU5T9vOwv8VGz5nXGjk-i0IvULkU2eafZsp8hkOBdaNCDGFETSysa9B21NMPaGzioa1oEiwXMPp6BVWm6JK9gqtMQyubTHRIZJ3oEnpaJEIqWi_m5c-CfnNxngvc/s744/rebecca%20youseffi%20cover.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="744" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2n66Nq9YPiG_j3_H0QDih_4_2tTCujg0L9YryiC0fn05Z0RazDKNFYwRlpR4QtIWAU5T9vOwv8VGz5nXGjk-i0IvULkU2eafZsp8hkOBdaNCDGFETSysa9B21NMPaGzioa1oEiwXMPp6BVWm6JK9gqtMQyubTHRIZJ3oEnpaJEIqWi_m5c-CfnNxngvc/w451-h303/rebecca%20youseffi%20cover.PNG" width="451" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">How does Rebecca Youseffi define herself? "Just a painter" in one interview. An artist who took up aerial in her 20s as a hobby, and then found herself drawn in (sounds familiar), seeing its potential to bring her circus practice into her art. Now, after five years of research and a Masters, her piece "Traces" is the result. I was intrigued. I was short on time. It's a 12 minute performance, I was told. Sold. I used the journey up to Jacksons Lane on the Northern Line to meditate. There is a new app Balance, giving a year's free trial, and I find the only way right now to increase time is to suspend it. One feature I like, a "single", is an immersive wave experience. Listening to the sea, as each wave draws in the phone vibrates gently in your hand, it's very clever. It transports me to another space, the Salt Caves, in Earlsfield, where I can sit in a deckchair, listen to the waves and breath in, if not sea air, ionised particles at any rate. In short, I miss the sea. Like a grounded selkie, my second skin must be hidden away somewhere, I dare not look for it...</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Back to reality. I arrived at Jacksons Lane to find the bar shut, so grabbed a coffee from across the road. I enjoy a coffee before watching a performance. It heightens the senses.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">This time, no presence on the stage. It was quite literally a black canvas. We waited. A pregnant pause. Timing is everything. Silph or cypher, in black off-setting flame coloured hair. The flame colour of Rebecca's hair reminded me of my niece Fly Davis, (a theatre set designer, who conjured up<a href="https://www.flydavisdesign.com/productions/ocean-end-lane/" target="_blank"> Ocean at the End of the Lane</a>), and the texture of the hair, thick waves, reminded me of my Neil Gaiman-loving daughter Izzy, a creative free spirit whose imagination is constantly tumbling out into her writing. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There was no music or speaking, but every sweep of movement and flow punctuated by breath, and the muffled thud of the rope thwacking the floor. Very zen. I was mesmerised. I was fascinated by Rebecca's climbs, the placement of toes curling round the rope, the grace and dexterity, but also the movement, on the descent I believe, where she spun through her hands to face out, back arched, like one of Neptune's wooden angels at the bow of the boat. Earlier that week I had just waved off Dutch friends from Tower Bridge, and as they were waiting at the lock, readying to set sail for Holland, taking a picture of Astrid in a similar position against the lines. So bear in mind I am reading and projecting my own experience onto a work of essentially abstract art, a study in neutrality which I believe, hope, invites such engagement.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">As sand tipped onto the floor, Rebecca, inverted, used her hair to create brush-strokes across, tracing semi-circles and waves of light and shadow. Again, there was something about the combination of textual sound and movement that I found gently meditative. I have been thinking a lot recently about the link between repetitive physical movement and the creative process reading Haruki Murakami's "What I talk about when I talk about running". So maybe that is why, at the end, when Rebecca brings on a broom to silently sweep the sand, she reminds me of a caretaker of Japanese gardens where the gravel and stone are raked over and over, into patterns, Karesansui gardens, they are called, which literally translates to "dry landscape", where fertile imagination blossoms, I reflect. Only here the sand is not just swept, but swept away. Gone. Yet, the ephemeral lingers. As the sand was swept away, the medium of film came into play, with a projection of art on a backdrop, making the experience all the more immersive. It was as if the audience was weaving through different moments of movement in a promenade, each brush stroke of sand on the floor mirrored by the strokes of light and shadow on the screen.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjU3dmd_XGBjUWTlHJ-dIsZ0SecFNzE_qEArfOgZKPb-ekIEU1CSS4fadDxwHPch_qWLAw8l5cU2LXXhGJ_CbVY0bVN3JihXQCYy541dJp0Z_gaBgd_yal9rE9vAK7VtbB32MFszNvNuXRxdZlCesYQKmRUHNRZdBxUsC_1NsvFsOLu9HLRiyya7yrbHAk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1005" data-original-width="357" height="864" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjU3dmd_XGBjUWTlHJ-dIsZ0SecFNzE_qEArfOgZKPb-ekIEU1CSS4fadDxwHPch_qWLAw8l5cU2LXXhGJ_CbVY0bVN3JihXQCYy541dJp0Z_gaBgd_yal9rE9vAK7VtbB32MFszNvNuXRxdZlCesYQKmRUHNRZdBxUsC_1NsvFsOLu9HLRiyya7yrbHAk=w306-h864" width="306" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>I also thought of <a href="https://lucylovescircus.blogspot.com/2017/03/chapter-175-jair-ramirez-sugarman.html?m=1" target="_blank">Jair Ramirez' Sugarman (click here)</a> using sand in an altogether different way, as an autobiographical element to express his relationship with and release from cocaine when growing up in Colombia. Jair, who taught me aerial, from whom I bought the teal green silks that came sailing round the world. A softer sail. I also like the edgy, uncompromising burn of the rope that worked far better here.<p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">There was a Q&A afterwards with Ade Berry, as Artistic Director, where Rebecca talked about her training at the National Centre for Circus Artists and the creative space that had given her as a residency. She also mentioned performing in a medieval church for an Arts Festival. I would have loved to see this in that space. What and which artists inspired you? Bright colours, and Monet. And another name that I didn't catch. My thoughts went straight to "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" by Hokusai. An image at that is everywhere, maybe (like circus!), I still ordered the design for my new iPhone cover that just arrived in the post today. Completely forgot what had prompted me to do that (other than my old transparent case was falling apart) until writing this post and the penny dropped...</p><p style="text-align: justify;">What did you used to paint? Asked one child. Circus performers! Came the response. I thought of my next-door neighbour Jane, who travelled with the circus in South Africa and set herself up as the resident artist at what was then Circus Space (now NCCA) some decades ago. I've seen a number of her sketches from those days, beautiful. And I think of @curtis.tappenden, who I follow on Instagram. Often to be found painting performers from Zippos, which in a curious twist of fate has just materialised on Wandsworth Common, where I live. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a world where the boundaries between art forms are continually blurring, Rebecca's performance was a testament to the infinite possibilities that lie in the intersection of different creative mediums. It made me reflect on the various artists I have encountered, each with their unique approach to blending tradition with innovation. It's a reminder that art is a language that transcends boundaries, whether they are geographical, as with my neighbor Jane or Curtis, or between different mediums, as with Rebecca. As I look forward to the opening night at Zippos on Wandsworth Common tonight (Wednesday, 30th August), I am reminded that the world of art is vast and varied, from the sublime to the traditional, and I am grateful to be a part of it, even if I am <i>just a spectator.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Check out the interview with Rebecca Youseffi here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0U8gaSbmuM">Interview at the Coastal Currents Arts Festival</a></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Photo credits: <a href="https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/archived-event/transmission-rebecca-youssefi/" target="_blank">Jacksons Lane</a></p><p><br /></p>LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-52676452877710270772023-08-11T03:58:00.016-07:002023-08-11T09:20:33.842-07:00Chapter 217: Rosa-Maria Autio in Transmission, Jacksons Lane<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGp13WTrCl1V1LCvtdGYR3SlJJpiRoAh4gUnuEjAGfcleIJWHRUAhYu8Qzdl4av36iterV6UHJtiGR3LA_yR5ipychk1I4qfB6vB0qcULt-Ir1JXzNGYp0BafhJci2AaX5H1lI4G5tksq4n0_HM6FtuuSLS6e07pRe5-Z7R7H0eH3LXp1J9Y2Tlv8-RQw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="943" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGp13WTrCl1V1LCvtdGYR3SlJJpiRoAh4gUnuEjAGfcleIJWHRUAhYu8Qzdl4av36iterV6UHJtiGR3LA_yR5ipychk1I4qfB6vB0qcULt-Ir1JXzNGYp0BafhJci2AaX5H1lI4G5tksq4n0_HM6FtuuSLS6e07pRe5-Z7R7H0eH3LXp1J9Y2Tlv8-RQw=w520-h284" width="520" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"> "Anyone else, with any other explanation, and it would be another story," Sam said later, "but for you Lucy, I get it, circus is your crack."</div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">When my phone vibrated against my leg, it was Sam wondering where I was; we had planned to meet for a walk just a few days ago. As the penny dropped, so did my stomach. At that very moment, I was instead seated in Jacksons Lane, beside the theatre's artistic director, Ade Berry, engrossed in watching Rosa-Maria Autio, the Finnish foot juggler, showcase her research and development for the longstanding "Transmission". This series is an inspired initiative of Ade's to give space to artists for creative exploration out of season. Transmission was how I'd met Ade, nearly a decade ago. He liked a piece I'd written on a cabaret by Aircraft Circus (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.com/search?q=midnight" target="_blank">(From Circus Space to Dream Space)</a> and invited me to come up and see behind the scenes. Then I was hooked. Since then I've had many adventures, the majority of circus ones charted here, then sailing over 20,000 nautical miles France to Australia over two years with my husband and three children on our 40ft cat La Cigale (<a href="https://www.sailinglacigale.com/">www.sailinglacigale.com/</a>), and bringing all those worlds into play now in my third year as a French and Spanish teacher in a large South London Academy. Basically, I'm still juggling. And dropping the odd ball, as ever. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The last time I was at Jacksons Lane, newly returned to the UK, the place was a building site and I was wearing a hard hat. It was fantastic now to see how it had all come together. The discovery of stained glass windows, now features, the open view of a hidden turret, the variety of rigging points, sound-proofed studios, and not to mention the glossy bar. Having legged it from school (yes, it's the holidays, but...), I'd ordered a double-espresso. Then Ade arrived and looked at me. "Lucy, it's Friday afternoon. It's summer." Ordering a large glass of wine as a chaser. was the only possible response, along with cheers! in Finnish. It felt so ruddy civilised. Such a great space, so much to catch up on. The last time I'd been in the auditorium it was putting on a show with Sean Kempton and Michaela O'Connor. I miss those clowns in London. Thanks to the recommendation of kettle-bell juggling performer Hamish Tjeong we had a Finnish juggler in our show one year too, Onni Toivonen (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.com/2016/07/chapter-153-tease-of-pictures-and-pat.html" target="_blank">see blog post Chapter 153, click here</a> ) who "clubbed to death" (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=TzcfNvwNwb8" target="_blank">see video here</a>) and brought the house down. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Back to the present. We take our seats. The audience seems to be primarily local residents and families. I say that because I imagine so many are up at the Edinburgh Fringe and the only other person I recognize from the world of circus is digital artist Mark Morreau.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Rosa-Maria is already on the stage, shepherding the audience into the best seats for the best views. Gently commanding. At ease, connecting with her public. A brave move, I thought, liking her already for that. I hate dealing in stereotypes but... average height, long blond hair, blue eyes, with an openness in her expression, a directness and kookiness (evident in her choice of circus art if nothing else), Rosa-Maria is so, well, reassuringly <i>Finnish</i>.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Having seen her in NoFit State's show Lexicon, I knew Rosa-Maria was supremely skillful, but it's the type of juggling one step removed from engaging with the audience. The performer is flat on their back tossing objects with their feet, after all, how do you build a rapport from there? From Rosa-Maria's Instragram feed <a href="https://www.instagram.com/autio.rosa/?hl=en" target="_blank">@autio.rosa</a>, one to follow!, I had an inkling of the answer: clowning. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And that, indeed, was the heart of it. In an outfit ressembling Wonder Woman with a bustle, Rosa-Maria introduced us to her partner, Rizzo, an 8.5 kilo cylinder that soon wore the shirt, if not the pants, of an actual partner. Introduced by the Turtles signature tune (the intro chords playing on a loop like as we took our seats) "Imagine me and you, I do..." Rizzo really came to life. Rosa-Maria and Rizzo, sharing a glass of wine (kippis!) and other moments of togetherness served to highlight the fundamentally solitary nature of working as a solo performer. It's a work in progress, which is why I don't want to say too much about a scratch that is evolving. But I really enjoyed the comedy, the great choices in music, the atmospheric lighting, the gentle surprises and deft footwork. The audience clearly enjoyed it immensely. Brava!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I appreciate being able to swap thoughts with Mark afterwards about the show and hear his insights, with all his experience, as we fill out our feedback sheets and share. And being able to thank Rosa-Maria and her team when they stop by the table. For me, circus is a world where the whimsical meets the disciplined, where the seemingly impossible is made to look effortless. It’s a place where you can find solace in the company of a foot-juggling cylinder named Rizzo or the gentle glow of memories in a refurbished theatre. In this space, both artists and audience members come together to celebrate the shared joy of performance and creativity. The "Transmission" series, among other shows I've witnessed, reminds me that circus is not just about feats of skill, but about the stories that can be told through movement, expression, and the unexpected partnerships forged on stage. As the lights dimmed and the audience began to disperse, I found myself grateful for the journey – not just the one Rosa-Maria took us on that afternoon, but the personal journey of discovery, passion, and the continuous juggle that is life. To all the performers, creators, and supporters of this art form: thank you for sharing your world with us. Until the next adventure, keep juggling and let your passions guide your path. <span style="text-align: left;">And Sam, thanks for always getting it – and for being you. And my circus talisman. </span></p><p>Read more in this Jacksons Lane interview here: <a href=" https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/blog/transmission-in-conversation-with-rosa-maria-autio/" target="_blank">In conversation with Rosa-Maria Autio</a></p><p>For more on What's On with Transmission at Jacksons Lane see: <a href="https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/events/transmission/">https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/events/transmission/</a></p><p>Photo credit: Jacksons Lane <br /><a href="https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/blog/transmission-in-conversation-with-rosa-maria-autio/">https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/blog/transmission-in-conversation-with-rosa-maria-autio/</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-26700720153116230232018-02-16T08:43:00.000-08:002018-03-05T18:01:23.638-08:00Chapter 216: A Circus Valentine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim_2iWeyohDMXpTJ9V6Z4aeTHZxwFeNRhaGQJZqA6AZcB5_rJU_7EslRjZPXMqY23AO7VzujfkeqULCZWST4vkaztJa77PotlNaJgHPZN4JItnd9DZqPSrdXoPcwkkUnddYlHPRW-WSIY/s1600/onion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim_2iWeyohDMXpTJ9V6Z4aeTHZxwFeNRhaGQJZqA6AZcB5_rJU_7EslRjZPXMqY23AO7VzujfkeqULCZWST4vkaztJa77PotlNaJgHPZN4JItnd9DZqPSrdXoPcwkkUnddYlHPRW-WSIY/s400/onion.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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"Not a red rose or a satin heart. </div>
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I give you an onion. </div>
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It is a moon wrapped in brown paper. </div>
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It promises light</div>
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like the careful undressing of love. </div>
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Here. </div>
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It will blind you with tears</div>
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like a lover. </div>
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It will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief.</div>
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I am trying to be truthful. </div>
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Not a cute card or a kissogram.</div>
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I give you an onion. </div>
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Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,</div>
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possessive and faithful</div>
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as we are, </div>
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for as long as we are. </div>
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Take it. </div>
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Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring, </div>
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if you like. </div>
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Lethal. </div>
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Its scent will cling to your fingers, </div>
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cling to your knife. </div>
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<i><b>Valentine, </b> </i><b>by Carol Ann Duffy</b></div>
LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-70226975970277970112017-11-15T02:26:00.001-08:002017-11-15T06:23:51.268-08:00Chapter 215: VOILA! EUROPE - Juggling - Robin Boon Dale<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy2AeopFnFBJWuFKZ9IuUsyOu7w5yMd_ivqLvd7nFDNVGVSYSlwhk_nFmH8J72eM44Qiylm8LiU0T0uOUfVzRYtZhHw2XrBkVfV0dIIwAkoMhl0DZ7AubdyKQqPVj9uTu_oHz11Y6qma4/s1600/jungle+book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="997" data-original-width="1600" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy2AeopFnFBJWuFKZ9IuUsyOu7w5yMd_ivqLvd7nFDNVGVSYSlwhk_nFmH8J72eM44Qiylm8LiU0T0uOUfVzRYtZhHw2XrBkVfV0dIIwAkoMhl0DZ7AubdyKQqPVj9uTu_oHz11Y6qma4/s640/jungle+book.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credits: Be Festival</td></tr>
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"This is a historic occasion. We haven't seen jugglers at the Cockpit Theatre for 17 years!" declared Ringmaster Dave, Artistic Director of <b>The</b> <b>Cockpit </b>theatre<b>, </b>in Marylebone, in a tone that had a twinkle of a challenge to the opening act as much as a welcome. It was the first circus scratch night <b>Circus in the Pound </b>(<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/chapter-163-circus-in-pound.html">see blogpost Chapter 163 - click here)</a>, so named as the entry fee is only a quid into the traffic cone at the entrance. The act being introduced was a work in progress between <b>Gandini Juggling's</b> <b>José Triguero</b> and<b> Chris Patfield</b>,<b> </b>and juggling is now back centre stsge at <b>The Cockpit </b> with artist <b>Robin Boon Dale</b>, this time as part of <b>VOILA! EUROPE 2017</b>, <i>the non-Brexit fearing theatre festival that busts the barriers of language, and showcases plays from around Europe and the UK to the multi-national audiences of London: </i><a href="https://www.voilaeuropefestival.com/about/">see www.voilaeuropefestival.com - click here</a>. As a Brit who has just sailed under a Swiss flag down from France, via Spain and Portugal, and is currently moored in Las Palmas on a pontoon with Swedish, Danish, Dutch and German families, I am very much there in spirit with a festival that brings together such a Euro-Vision.<br />
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The festival is the brainchild of <b>Sharlit Deyzac, </b>who has been touring the acclaimed <b>Boys Club </b>with <b>Leonor Lemee</b> as part of <b>Two Tongue Theatre (</b><a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/chapter-160-two-tongue-theatres-boys.html">see blogpost - click here</a>), that came to <b>Jacksons Lane Postcards Festival </b>this summer. <b>VOILA! EUROPE </b>has a cracking line up of provocative, hilarious, life-enhancing, boundary challenging shows running until Saturday 18 November. And this year the programme has a touch of circus thanks to the presence of <b>Robin Boon Dale </b>and his show <b>What Does Stuff Do? </b></div>
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<b>Circomedia </b>graduate Robin was one of a trio of artists in the excellent bar flair act <b>Shakedown </b>that I heard about earlier this year thanks to <b>Kate Hartoch</b>,<b> </b>organiser with <b>Lina Frank</b> of <b>Circus City, </b>Bristol's Biennial Circus Festival that took place to great acclaim this October (check out the photogallery for starters: <a href="http://www.bristolcircuscity.com/gallery/">www.bristolcircuscity.com/gallery</a> and <a href="http://www.circusdiaries.com/">www.circusdiaries.com</a> for reportage). Robin told me his show is the extension of an ongoing research project entitled "Is Juggling Liquid?" which explores ideas about creative notation and object oriented philosophy through circus skills and I'm intrigued by the description of this new show which has already won the ACT festival prize this summer and just returned from tour in Spain as part of the "Best of BE Festival":</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvVWWOSrkHAJ7keLALn2S0weolUKxJI3GOOh51d7gdnJZ0meKjBFgLI38y5u4L2OexgMQf86MXYpBfNc4ZeJsetrE5XG70-Fy5kbmBxl7c1Zhhkymv69F7OvcwjjOYXOe0_8Fdfwdcc08/s1600/glass+bar+flair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="870" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvVWWOSrkHAJ7keLALn2S0weolUKxJI3GOOh51d7gdnJZ0meKjBFgLI38y5u4L2OexgMQf86MXYpBfNc4ZeJsetrE5XG70-Fy5kbmBxl7c1Zhhkymv69F7OvcwjjOYXOe0_8Fdfwdcc08/s400/glass+bar+flair.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><i>In his charmingly rhetorical debut show, Robin Dale utilises innovative juggling, physical comedy, and almost-philosophy to guide you through his mind and body of research.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>What Does Stuff Do?</b> is a lecture style performance in which Robin strives to understand the ever-unfolding relationships between people and stuff, and to help fill in the space between art and science.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><i>Featuring an assortment of unexpected props and a motivational speech delivered by a man in swimming trunks. Please, bracket for the next 30 minutes any scepticism about the value of the totally obvious.</i></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: transparent;">What Does Stuff Do? </b><span style="background-color: transparent;">is on Thursday, 16 November 2017 8.30pm. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;">Tickets here: </span><a href="http://thecockpit.org.uk/show/what_does_stuff_do" style="background-color: transparent;">http://thecockpit.org.uk/show/what_does_stuff_do</a></div>
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Find @RobinBoonDale on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Page. </div>
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<b>VOILA! EUROPE </b>festival runs until Saturday, 18 November at several venues: <b>The Cockpit, Etcetera </b>and <b>Applecart Arts</b>. Check out the shows <a href="https://www.voilaeuropefestival.com/work/">www.voilaeuropefestival.com/work</a></div>
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</style>LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-40269288874196233662017-10-09T00:28:00.001-07:002020-06-17T04:15:12.833-07:00Chapter 214: Postcard from La Rochelle<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP2LN0Ltxzn39VMiB2pRk9MPXvi6kYlnejVlF5L5gArYaOjyDIWgAD1GEFwn4gNx7Se-3D9jiXkIAfxolBgOAb3axrwfnoWwrzKDvqVS7000tRizE_TCrepilORCVNNHsujNwq0EqzodU/s1600/seul+on+va.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP2LN0Ltxzn39VMiB2pRk9MPXvi6kYlnejVlF5L5gArYaOjyDIWgAD1GEFwn4gNx7Se-3D9jiXkIAfxolBgOAb3axrwfnoWwrzKDvqVS7000tRizE_TCrepilORCVNNHsujNwq0EqzodU/s640/seul+on+va.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Seul, on va plus vite. Ensemble, on va plus loin.</div>
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On my own, I go faster. Together, we go further.</div>
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(motto of <a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/chapter-183-compagnie-xy-its-not-yet.html"><b>Compagnie XY </b>- see post, click here</a>)</div>
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My stomach lurches each time we walk along the sea wall. We are in France, in La Rochelle, and the French are pretty<i> laissez-faire</i> when it comes to health and safety. It is clearly a well-trodden walkway, yet there is no sign of a barrier, a "garde-fou" or "protecting-the-idiot" (moi!). The wall is a good couple of feet across, the drop either side barely a few feet, threatening at most a twisted ankle, yet despite my love of tightwire, my palms sweat each time as I follow my children, who are skipping along without a care in the world. One day my youngest slipped her hand through mine. "Mum, why did you decide we should go sailing round the world when you love circus? It must be hard to like two things at the same time." </div>
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For nearly a month now we have been living in La Rochelle and working on the boat. It is a very pretty old port, one that I can still hardly believe exists after reading about it for years in the <i>Tricolore</i> textbooks at school. I have fallen for the towers at the entrance to the old harbour, the cobbled streets in the pedestrian centre, the houses set behind walls, doors sometimes opening onto an inner courtyard to offer a stealthy glimpse of a grande manor or hidden secrets. Now into October the wave of tourists is subsiding, but the tide of bicycles is pretty constant, and we zip around on our Bromptons too, our helmets a clear indication that we are visitors. We have stayed in three different Airbnbs here now, finally moving onto our boat this week, a 40ft catamaran called <b>La Cigale</b>. She is named after the Cicada in the old La Fontaine/Aesop's Fable story, singing and dancing her way through summer while her friend Ant toils makes yproverbial hay while the sun shines in readyness for the winter months. For us the music in the name conjures up continental summer evenings, and, of course, she will always be our "Sea Gal". Ironically though, with all the preparations in tow, I feel more formicide than singing bug right now, but it's all about balance: connecting with both the industrious Ant and the carefree Cicada. That is why I turned to learning recreational circus skills several years ago at a time when I couldn't see the wood for the trees. Circus, and cicadas, are a state of mind. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.la-coursive.com/spectacles/elephant-room-cirque-le-roux">www.la-coursive.com/spectacles/elephant-room-cirque-le-roux</a><br />
La Rochelle, 10/11 October 2017</td></tr>
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I carry my circus aerialist necklace with me, a talisman from a dear friend, my sea-green silks are safely stowed on board (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/chapter-186-aerial-intensive-week-with.html">picked up from Jair during a week intensive at Freedom2Fly - click here</a>) as are a whole bag of juggling balls (in case any slip overboard), but still, I do miss actual circus, the community.<br />
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Then one day passing <b>La Coursive</b>, a renowned theatre-dance space here, a Gallic <b>Sadlers Wells</b>, I saw a poster advertising <b>Cirque Le Roux</b> bringing <a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/highlights-from-fringe-day-1-elephant.html">Elephant in the Room</a> to La Rochelle next week. It accentuated, if not homesickness or "mal du pays" exactly, rather a sense of "mal du cirque". I had seen these guys up at the Edinburgh Fringe a couple of years ago (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/highlights-from-fringe-day-1-elephant.html">see post - click here</a>), and would have loved to see the production again, wondering how it had developed over the past couple of years, and what it would be like to see it in such a different environment among a non-circus going crowd - or so I assume. <b>Cirque Eloize</b> brought<i> I. D. </i>to La Rochelle a couple of years ago, but contemporary circus does not feature heavily in <b>La Coursive</b>'s programme in general. When it transpired that further delays to the boat meant I'd be in town to see them after all, I was further gutted to find the dates were completely sold out. </div>
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LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-43232841869024920862017-08-18T04:50:00.002-07:002017-08-19T06:16:06.486-07:00Chapter 212: Bassline Circus: FLIP <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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All photos & videography courtesy of Bassline Circus</td></tr>
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"Luce, are you coming up to Jacksons Lane to see <b>Bassline Circus</b> today?" I hadn't planned on it. Home alone packing up the house on a very tight deadline, the fact that it was <b>Transmission</b> season was not really on my radar. But it was Leonor from <b>Two Tongue Theatre</b> (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/chapter-160-two-tongue-theatres-boys.html">see <b>Boys Club </b>- click here</a>) asking, and I wanted to catch up and say goodbye. And I do love the whole concept of <b>Transmission</b>, a circus residency programme run by <b>Jacksons Lane</b> giving at least a week to up to six companies a year to experiment with and develop ideas with full technical support from the theatre. There is no pressure to deliver a finished project at the end, the companies are simply invited to share where they are at and a questions and answers session generally follows. It is always super interesting to see the play and potential. Going to <b>Transmission</b> with three kids in tow though. How would that work?! Well, we could always discreetly slip into the back row... </div>
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"Mum, what are we going to see?" <i>Well, kids, we are off to see a vectorised circus concer</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">t</span><i>... </i>I didn't reply. In fact, I wasn't quite sure myself what to expect. What the <b>FLIP</b>?!<span style="color: #282828; font-family: inherit;"> A blend of </span>hiphop dance, circus and graphics, it sounded like festival fun, a bit trippy. Still, nothing quite prepared me. </div>
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Back in the foyer at Jacksons Lane, meeting up with Leonor after <b>Postcards Festival</b> was a funny feeling. <b>Boys Club</b> had been part of Postcards as well. The big top of bunting in the foyer was still up, and my son was chuffed to recognise <b>Simple Cypher</b> lads Kieran & Chris on a poster after seeing them there last time for <a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/chapter-207-postcard-from-jacksons-lane.html"><b>Cypher Stories </b>(click here)</a>. But the chalk board now had the Autumn programme up. We went in. Encouraged by one of the ushers, my 5 year old marched straight to the front row. I do trust my kids to behave, I reflected, while confiscating any potential noise disrupters (like crisp packets!).</div>
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Director <a href="http://www.articulationarts.org/bex-anson.html"><b>Bex Anson</b></a> introduced FLIP. Today we would see excerpts with a couple of the dancers: the Krumper <b>AndroidX,</b> and Flexer <b>Kaner Flex</b> for this sharing. In future there will be a handbalancer and the vocals of singer songwriter and emcee <b>Eva Lazarus</b> (see <a href="http://www.evalazarus.com/">www.evalazarus.com</a>). <b>FLIP</b> is an interpretation of Mathieus Malzieu's story of "The Boy With a Cuckoo-Clock Heart", transplanting the story into a boy with a pace-maker - a neat complementarity there with the robotic elements of hiphop movement - who falls in love on-line and enters a world that questions perceptions of reality, exploring impossible worlds. What followed was an awesome blend of krumping (dance), tutting (hand movements) and flexing (contortion that gave the piece a circus stamp) against a backdrop onto which all sorts of graphics were projected and vectorised by <b>Dav Bernard</b>. The sharing was in two scenes. In the first "dimension" the graphics followed the movement of the dancers, who literally emanated energy. It was as though we could see the mind at play on the screen behind, a running narrative of the dancer's psyche. And I was not surprised afterwards to hear the dancers appreciated the organic dynamics of having what they intuitively realise and visualise when they move choreographed on the screen behind them. </div>
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/229461451">FLIPreactive extract</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user778243">Bassline Circus</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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In the second the dancers stepped behind the screen and their shadows played into world of virtual reality, responding to a maze of scenarios that was completely mesmerising and pulled us as an audience onto a rollercoaster of an experience with them. It was clever, being drawn into the perspective of the protagonist, disorientated, searching, negotiating all manner of visual paradoxes, while for the kids it was like stepping into a computer game themselves. It will be interesting to see how these two parts, in essence fairly abstract still, will be propelled by the narrative going forward. </div>
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/229462137">FLIPshadows extract</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user778243">Bassline Circus</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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Afterwards in the Q&A session with <b>Adrian Berry</b>, Artistic Director of <b>Jacksons Lane</b>, my 9yo whispered that the dance moves had reminded her of <b>Jungle Book (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/chapter-140-metta-theatres-jungle-book.html">Metta Theatre's </a></b><a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/chapter-140-metta-theatres-jungle-book.html">production: click here</a>), and I was glad to hear that <b>Bassline Circus </b>will be exploring relaxed viewings for families going forward, as my kids thought it was utterly brilliant. I would also like to see it again in full "concert" mode, interested to hear the plans to include live vocals and fully immerse the audience, getting them on their feet just like mine wanted to. The fusion of dance, circus and visual arts that I saw has already created a unique experience that synergised, as well as energised, the audience. Going forward it will be exciting to see how this experience expands: as it stands it was mind-bending and virtually life-affirming. </div>
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Check out <b>Bassline Circus</b> <a href="http://www.basslinecircus.org/news.html">www.basslinecircus.org</a> on social media @BasslineCircus for news of further developments. Next stop in Autumn: Stratford Circus. </div>
LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-89584713483373274952017-08-11T04:30:00.004-07:002020-08-28T23:53:22.841-07:00Chapter 210: Postcards Festival Finale... Shhh!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Clowns are the pegs on which the circus is hung" (PT Barnum)<br />
Michaela O'Connor and Sean Kempton<br />
All photos unless otherwise credited: Liam Croucher (<a href="https://www.liamcroucher.co.uk/">www.liamcroucher.co.uk</a>)</td></tr>
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Every so often in life a night will come along that takes me completely by surprise, and that's what happened on the last night of the <b>Postcards Festival</b> at <b>Jacksons Lane </b>watching genius clowning at play in a cabaret where every single act had all of us in the audience gasping at the sheer talent, audacity and risk. <i>Humbug!</i> I can hear people say. <i>You curated the show. Of course you'd say that! </i>Well yes. <b>Barnum</b> has been the soundtrack of my circus journey since the very beginning. I love both the honky-tonk musical and the character of the circus impresario who brought the colours of his life to a world fixed in black and white. As with Barnum, I sing out, because these guys are worth it. I am very grateful for the illuminating photography of National Circus graduate Liam Croucher (see <a href="https://www.liamcroucher.co.uk/">www.liamcroucher.co.uk</a>), that speak volumes about the artists involved where my words fail.<br />
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<b>ROUND ONE</b></div>
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Darkness. The music cranked up - <i>Do you wanna funk?</i> - and the spotlight fell on <b>Sean Kempton</b> and <b>Michaela O'Connor</b> centre stage in white shirts, gold lamé leggings, and a slash of red. </div>
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<b>Jessica and Jair Ramirez</b> were the first act. Jair came on with a broom and carrying a mannequin over his shoulder which came to live and led into a deeply romantic acrobalance routine. The poise and precision, undercut by the tension in the positions, brought the story to life as much as the mannequin.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQb12Xh4V5d1LoIiadWkwkSILqBBYx9wNWCuI1bU8Wvsg-JAbZyea51dPUBIOczwFdXiDESd2tLB_PkBD_38jCst1KHuu5ZzGVQXrQrS9sqD6oRPJWM6h0XFKGiJnqLdF47g6h6ATiZM/s1600/Shhh-17.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQb12Xh4V5d1LoIiadWkwkSILqBBYx9wNWCuI1bU8Wvsg-JAbZyea51dPUBIOczwFdXiDESd2tLB_PkBD_38jCst1KHuu5ZzGVQXrQrS9sqD6oRPJWM6h0XFKGiJnqLdF47g6h6ATiZM/s320/Shhh-17.jpg" width="320" /></a>The mantle of the broom was picked up by <b>Michael Standen</b>, gazing after Jair, holding it tight. Hands materialized seductively around his body, and then shoved him off as <b>Soulnia</b> took the stage to "Give me a reason to love". A Portishead temptress with hoops set on fire in all sorts of articulations, she swallowed a ring only to rethread it through her neck onto a chain.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj58m_x4jWxIO5gd1ttHTPf8m5E9AOU7etVuqhP7h2VX_0Eu3ruKQw5af-JU9bU043_KKk9XBvEgWNP7hS_OA8P2Abyt4feSRMHn5OMtpbpnbJOSIW5MCv2lMFddDvXR4tcPVfGifeLD2I/s1600/Shhh-25.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj58m_x4jWxIO5gd1ttHTPf8m5E9AOU7etVuqhP7h2VX_0Eu3ruKQw5af-JU9bU043_KKk9XBvEgWNP7hS_OA8P2Abyt4feSRMHn5OMtpbpnbJOSIW5MCv2lMFddDvXR4tcPVfGifeLD2I/s320/Shhh-25.jpg" width="320" /></a>Michael<b> </b>returned with his own hoop, through which he did all manner of contortions. Set to the xylophone music bubbling out Chopin in C, it was both a hilarious and kooky act in contrast to the studied depth and brooding beauty of <b>Sophie Page Hall</b> and <b>Will Davis' </b>aerial tango set to Piazolla's <i>Libertango. </i><br />
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The second act opened in overdrive with Sean and Michaela clowning around with the audience again.<br />
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<b>Soulnia </b>cast a spell this time with mind-reading tricks.<br />
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<b>Sam Goodburn</b>, whose solo show you can catch at the Edinburgh Fringe at the moment (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/chapter-204-sam-goodburn-is-dumbstruck.html">click here for post on <b>Dumbstruck</b></a><b> ) </b>zoomed around on his unicycle in Top Gear, and to that style of anthem, whipping off clothes, putting them back on, and making the audience crack up. Things went wrong, but were recovered in such a way you could never quite be certain whether by design or by accident - as if to prove that point the smiley face on the back of his boxers would flip down to a sad face emoji in an instant. Ha! The video below says it all:</div>
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For the grand finale it had to be Beyoncé, with <b>Michaela O'Connor</b> mixing her original triples trapeze act from Vegas (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcA_XUc9_Mw">click here for video</a>) with <i>Single Ladies</i> <b>Will Davis</b> and <b>Sophie Page Hall</b>. To be honest, with a track like that they could have got away with simply standing on the trapeze and throwing in a few diva gestures, but with two aerialists who had been involved in a Guinness World Record Breaking Challenge and one Circus Maximus Winner, they brought the house down. </div>
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Thanks to <b>Adrian Berry</b> and all <b>Jacksons Lane</b>,<b> </b>and to this cast of circus heroes who gave it their all and rocked it: <b>Sean and Michaela, Jess, Jair, Sonia, Michael, Sophie, Will, Betty Bedlam </b>and<b> Sam</b> it has been so much fun off and on the stage with you (even when I least expected it!), ENCORE!!!<br />
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<span face="" style="color: #14171a;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><i>Thanks for the feedback!</i></span></span></div>
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<span face=""><span style="font-size: 14px;"><u><b style="color: #14171a;">Rhia O'Reilly </b><span style="color: #999999;">@rdpixie Jul 30</span></u></span></span></div>
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<span face=""><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><u>@Lucylovescircus</u> </span><span style="color: #14171a;">awesome show last night! You curated an eclectic bunch of talented wonders!</span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""><span style="font-size: 14px;"><u><span style="color: #14171a; font-weight: bold;">A Girl & Her Passport </span><span style="color: #999999;">@agirlpassport Jul 30</span></u></span></span></div>
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<span face="" style="color: #14171a;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">This was amazing last night! I highly recommend.</span></span></div>
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<span face=""><span style="font-size: 14px;"><u><b style="color: #14171a;">Luciano Rila </b><span style="color: #999999;">@DrTrapezio Jul 30</span></u></span></span></div>
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<span face=""><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">@Lucylovescircus </span><span style="color: #14171a;">Thanks for putting together such a fantastic show </span></span></span><img alt="🎪" aria-label="Emoji: Circus tent" class="Emoji Emoji--forText" src="https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/72x72/1f3aa.png" style="border: 0px; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: 1.25em; padding: 0px 0.05em 0px 0.1em; text-align: justify; vertical-align: -0.2em; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 1.25em;" title="Circus tent" /><img alt="🤸♀️" aria-label="Emoji: Woman doing cartwheel" class="Emoji Emoji--forText" src="https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/72x72/1f938-200d-2640-fe0f.png" style="border: 0px; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: 1.25em; padding: 0px 0.05em 0px 0.1em; text-align: justify; vertical-align: -0.2em; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 1.25em;" title="Woman doing cartwheel" /></div>
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<span face=""><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #14171a;"><b><u>Leslie Tate</u></b></span></span></span><u style="font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><b style="color: #14171a;"> </b><span style="color: #999999;">@LSTateAuthor Aug 11</span></u><b style="color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </b><br />
<span face=""><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #14171a;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">@Lucylovescircus </span></span></span></span><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">A fantastic show. Thank you, Lucy! </span><img alt="🍎" aria-label="Emoji: Red apple" class="Emoji Emoji--forText" src="https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/72x72/1f34e.png" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: 1.25em; padding: 0px 0.05em 0px 0.1em; vertical-align: -0.2em; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 1.25em;" title="Red apple" /><img alt="🍒" aria-label="Emoji: Cherries" class="Emoji Emoji--forText" src="https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/72x72/1f352.png" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: 1.25em; padding: 0px 0.05em 0px 0.1em; vertical-align: -0.2em; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 1.25em;" title="Cherries" /><img alt="🥦" aria-label="Emoji: Broccoli" class="Emoji Emoji--forText" src="https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/72x72/1f966.png" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: 1.25em; padding: 0px 0.05em 0px 0.1em; vertical-align: -0.2em; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 1.25em;" title="Broccoli" /><img alt="☀️" aria-label="Emoji: Sun with rays" class="Emoji Emoji--forText" src="https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/72x72/2600.png" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #14171a; font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: 1.25em; padding: 0px 0.05em 0px 0.1em; vertical-align: -0.2em; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 1.25em;" title="Sun with rays" /><br />
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<span face="" style="color: #14171a; font-size: 14px;">We've just checked out the Autumn programme now. If that's the quality, Jacksons Lane is the new Sadlers Wells for us!</span><br />
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<span face=""><span style="font-size: 14px;"><u><b style="color: #14171a;">Jacksons Lane </b><span style="color: #999999;">@jacksons_lane Jul 31</span></u></span></span></div>
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<span face=""><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #14171a;">Great times at glorious Shhh! Cabaret on Saturday, which closed our 3-week extravaganza of circus, cabaret & lots of fun </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">#<u>Postcards2017</u></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #14171a;">*</span><u><b style="color: #14171a;">Ade Berry </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999;">@Ade_Berry 1 h*</span></u></span></span></div>
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<span face=""><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #14171a;">Replying to </span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><u>@Lucylovescircus</u> <u>@jacksons_lane</u></span></span></span></div>
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<span face="" style="color: #14171a; font-size: 14px;">Same time, same place next year please! </span><span face="" style="color: #14171a; font-size: 14px;">But don't quote me on that... </span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><b>*Allegedly.</b></span><br />
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LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-8644725469904464792017-07-29T09:00:00.000-07:002017-07-31T13:05:29.090-07:00Chapter 207: A Postcard from Jacksons Lane<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMDDI-0uqiPsTkvzhrivIt0gpfvWmc1dmOJRtZyGYSDM5OD5qAeYi6264gwDTitR-caO8HjAEASS2H1fnm06BNRGUNTEopXrzoNqFl7uV-m7NbHpPCYDa7yxrIJlhouxOKL4zsHfNxek/s1600/kieran+on+phone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMDDI-0uqiPsTkvzhrivIt0gpfvWmc1dmOJRtZyGYSDM5OD5qAeYi6264gwDTitR-caO8HjAEASS2H1fnm06BNRGUNTEopXrzoNqFl7uV-m7NbHpPCYDa7yxrIJlhouxOKL4zsHfNxek/s640/kieran+on+phone.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: Kasitzjay (@kasitzjay on social media)</td></tr>
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Back in London this week I have been making the most of <b>Postcards Festival</b> at <b>Jacksons Lane</b>, especially as come September we look set to start sailing round the world and I don't know when we will be back. I have seen so many amazing shows at <b>Jacksons Lane</b> over the past three years that have changed or broadened my perspective, met so many wonderful people and I am incredibly grateful to Artistic Director Ade Berry and his team. In many ways it has been a life-line for my own sanity and energy as a Mum of three doing my best. This week I have been able to sample some of the amazingly eclectic programme over three consecutive nights, and there has been something for the kids too.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: Kasitzjay</td></tr>
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On Wednesday night my son and I went along to see <b>Simple Cypher</b>'s Kieran and Chris, and their friends, bring the house down with their blend of dance and circus schools. We went with a friend of his and his Dad, a self-taught fire-breathing juggler with a sharp eye for timing. The blend of the group's humour and easy-going nature translated into a chilled evening, but at the same time it was super high energy. An awesome DJ made for great vibes - and a superb breakdancing cameo in the encore at the end! - with his music framing sharp dance moves that had robotic elements, muscles popping in all directions, and hands twisting, slicing and weaving in and out. There was lots of fun with the juggling and the play in dynamics between Kieran and Chris. One of my favourite visuals was watching when all the cast held balls around Kieran and passed them round as though tossed in slow-mo.<br />
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I could watch the Cyr wheel forever too, mesmerised by the coin-spinning movements of the large heavy hoop of metal ("aka wheel of death Mum" whispered my son as it slammed on the floor at one point). I especially liked the foot hook moves, one outside and one inside the wheel, and the nonchalant one arm hangs. It was great to see National Circus graduates Josh and Tessa again. Last act I'd seen them Tessa had Josh on her shoulders while en pointe in ballet shoes. This time round there was more wicked acrobalance and gender inversions, and a fierce move that saw Josh lifting Tess single-handedly by the roof of her mouth. Respect all round! </div>
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What is true love? How do you find it? How does it feel? How long does it last? The spotlight was on Sean Kempton<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit;"> on Thursday night, for answers </span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit;">in his solo show <b>Stuff</b>. I loved the show already last year (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/chapter-154-sean-kempton-and-stuff.html">see post on <b>Stuff</b> - click here</a>), and the way Sean weaves in prerecorded interviews exploring the subject with his (then) 6 year old daughter Chloe, Jessica Ladley who is in her 20s, and an octagenerian family friend. It was great to see <b>Stuff</b> home from home at Jacksons Lane, where it had originally started out life. I loved the magic of the props: a book of light, flashing phone, mischievous lamps, all illuminating. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit;"><b>Stuff</b> is a responsive, dynamic piece in which half the beauty is the way Sean brings the audience into play in a tapestry of connections. The show underlined for me was the notion of real love that can be tender, but can also be this incredibly raw, powerful, act of revolution that blows worlds apart and I think the anarchy of clowning makes such a great bedfellow in terms of conveying that. There was plenty of laughter as rules were broken, nowhere and no-one was safe in the audience. There moments of body-slamming, gut-wrenching brokenness. </span><span style="color: #1d2129;">Sean's was a tour de force performance of unbridled energy and he had the whole tango of love, and a wonderful audience, at his fingertips. Genius clowning.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSPHmdQ95_PW-Hqu94OG-8sjlfLECF3NB0uZhbqBCssmdp63wN1L_NR_-uaF8coKiExNqJoTUZO4pYHgA_TEuccxgVg-0-lCUU7i2BfJVPRs7X4Ub-4V9aTNjOrxP71KOx3paxGuRjFw/s1600/Circus+Abyssinia+high-res_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="1200" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSPHmdQ95_PW-Hqu94OG-8sjlfLECF3NB0uZhbqBCssmdp63wN1L_NR_-uaF8coKiExNqJoTUZO4pYHgA_TEuccxgVg-0-lCUU7i2BfJVPRs7X4Ub-4V9aTNjOrxP71KOx3paxGuRjFw/s400/Circus+Abyssinia+high-res_web.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;">Then last night, Friday, my daughter and I went to see juggling legends Bibi and Bichu'</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;">s life-affirming <b>Circus Abyssynia.</b></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;"> </span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;">The premise has its origins in Gifford Circus' </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;"><b><a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/chapter-82-giffords-circus-moon-songs.html">Moon Songs</a></b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit;">, which we saw together a couple of years ago, where two boys in Ethiopia dream of running off to an English Circus. Bibi and Bichu have expanded the concept and brought together an evening of vibrant, fearless and utterly astounding circus skills. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkRHFi7KHSirlurqHM3D2YCUt2kf8mULKGCgNdtnhtHqm_6y9KCwBqmArj2vioYVj3TIT95TVrDBegTlEnQNvOiCOgGqdY4KCCfwDMOZGPJpP7b0SxhZXlwDEPbs6xGTkGZnG_Cmup3V0/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: start;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1219" data-original-width="1600" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkRHFi7KHSirlurqHM3D2YCUt2kf8mULKGCgNdtnhtHqm_6y9KCwBqmArj2vioYVj3TIT95TVrDBegTlEnQNvOiCOgGqdY4KCCfwDMOZGPJpP7b0SxhZXlwDEPbs6xGTkGZnG_Cmup3V0/s320/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;">The </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;">show started with a video came from Tweedy the clown as the Man in the Moon, and my </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;">daughter was delighted as the last time she had come to Jacksons Lane it was to see him in his solo show </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;"><a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/chapter-182-tweedys-lost-property.html">Lost Property</a></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit;"> My 9YO was in awe (as was I!) to see children, Alemayehu (young Bichu) and Ezra (young Bibi), </span><span style="color: #1d2129;">somersault</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit;"> o</span></span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: inherit;">nto an adult's shoulder in a three-high human tower, along with all manner of tumbling, acrobatics and juggling. We loved the serpentine contortionists, dizzying foot juggling and laughed at the classic clowning around. It was a great evening soaking up the energy and joy of extraordinary talent, and the show-stopping group finale on Chinese pole raised the roof - catch them at Edinburgh Fringe! </span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: inherit;">So now here I am back at Jacksons Lane, sitting in the auditorium for the tech run through for circus cabaret <b>Shhh!</b> tonight, which will be high-octane, no holds barred fun. It is a wonderful feeling for everyone to have a sold out house again this year. The bar is open til 1am and in the festival spirit we will continue into the night celebrating the finale of three weeks of stellar shows and incredible artists. If you are coming tonight, say hi, and if not, watch this space...</span></div>
LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-39424485888702213592017-07-27T07:29:00.001-07:002017-07-27T16:12:34.205-07:00Chapter 206: Breaking news... Shhh! <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jessica Judge Ramirez - <a href="http://www.freedom2flyda.com/faculty.html">www.freedom2flyda.com (click here)</a></span><br />
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Counting down to <b>Shhh!</b> at <b>Jacksons Lane</b> on Saturday night and thrilled to finally announce that we have a new addition to the cast, Jessica Judge, who founded <b>Freedom2FlyDA</b>, the aerial school for dancers, with her husband Jair, who is also in the cabaret. Jessica and Jair met in Singapore in 2009 on a cruise ship where Jessica was one of the professional dancers and was so impressed by Jair's aerial acrobatics that she asked him to teach her some tricks. The rest, as they say, is history, and herstory. Training intensively with Jair, Jessica's first aerial performance was in Jair's home country in Colombia, in front of the Colombian president no less, no pressure! Jair and Jess were married in 2014 in Cartagena, and if you watch the circus skills and love in the beautiful wedding video of Mr and Mrs Ramirez (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9413GPMcW4Q">click here</a>), you'll see why they are a match made in heaven. For those of you that saw Jair's solo show <b>Sugarman</b> (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/chapter-175-jair-ramirez-sugarman.html">see post - click here</a>) at <b>Jacksons Lane</b> in this <b>Postcards Festival</b> you will know that he has a wonderful clowning side. Jessica also has a wicked sense of humour, sending up situations and making the world laugh. Find out for yourself this Saturday night and catch their acrobalance duet which will open the show... </div>
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<b>Shhh! </b>is the final night of Jacksons Lane's three week <b>Postcards Festival</b> which has a Pay What You Decide policy so you can reserve tickets now (while you can!), and pay on the night. A pretty wicked concept!<br />
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Jess will be joining these amazing artists (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/chapter-201-postcards-festival-finale.html">see post - click here</a> - and check out their pages linked below), from top to bottom, left to right:<br />
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<b>Soulnia</b>: <a href="https://www.soulnia.com/">www.soulnia.com</a><br />
<b>Jair Ramirez</b>: <a href="http://www.jairramirez.com/">www.jairramirez.com</a><br />
<b>Will Davis</b>: <a href="http://www.will-davis.co.uk/">www.will-davis.co.uk</a><br />
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<b>Sophie Page Hall</b>: <a href="http://www.worldofcoco.com/about/">www.worldofcoco.com</a><br />
<b>Sam Goodburn</b>: <a href="http://samgoodburn.com/">www.samgoodburn.com</a><br />
<b>Michaela O'Connor</b>: <a href="https://michaelajoconnor.com/">www.michaelajoconnor.com</a><br />
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<b>Betty Bedlam</b>: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bettybedlam00/">www.facebook.com/bettybedlam00</a><br />
<b>Sean Kempton:</b> <a href="https://seankempton.com/">www.seankempton.com</a><br />
<b>Michael Standen</b>: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mstanden3">www.facebook.com/mstanden3</a><br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">So, come and enjoy Jess & Jair's spectacular duet along with all the magic and mayhem, aerial and acrobatics, Beyoncé and burlesque, cabaret and clowning around of <b>Shhh! </b>on <b>Saturday, 29 July </b>at <b>Jacksons Lane. </b>Book here: </span><span style="text-align: start;"> </span><a href="https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/whats-on/shhh-cabaret" style="text-align: start;">www.jacksonslane.org.uk/whats-on/shhh-cabaret</a></div>
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LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-77522171238406489212017-07-26T08:19:00.001-07:002021-07-01T21:16:58.333-07:00Chapter 205: Postcard from London<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lost In Translation Circus, 25 July 2017<br />
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I was at the physio the other day at St George's Hospital in a follow up appointment for my finger that was dislocated and broken in a freak accident. Freak as in not circus related, as everyone initially assumes. It has thrown a curve ball at my confidence, as much in terms of the possibilities of what can go wrong, as the pain of what has gone wrong. For the past few weeks, as a result, my body language has been screaming out: I'm vulnerable, go ahead and knock me out. <br />
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The physio's pragmatic response and strengthening exercises got me out of the doldrums, and then came a further boost: "I went to see some circus at Underbelly on your recommendation Lucy, the last time you were here". <i>What did you see? Did you enjoy yourself?</i> It turned out she had seen the Canadian production "Attrape-Moi" (Catch Me), ironically one of the shows I had been dying to see but hadn't managed to squeeze in. She was blown away by the energy, and the way her face lit up talking about it, recharged me in turn. That's what I love about the effect circus has on people. That evening, inpsired, I signed up for a package of classes at the local gym, and went to my first class this morning. Circuits, kickboxing punching bags - <i>good grief,</i> <i>I'm about to land a broken toe! - </i>squats and press-ups, the full monty. Channelling my inner <b>Betty Bedlam </b>(<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/chapter-181-box-btch.html">see also post on Box B*tch</a> and catch at Jacksons Lane this Saturday night <a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/chapter-201-postcards-festival-finale.html">click here</a>), the bitch is back! So to speak.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Lost In Translation Circus' </b>Annabel Carberry</td></tr>
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On Monday I also heard about the press photo-call for the launch of the <b>Circus250</b> logo, designed by <b>Sir Peter Blake</b>, with the fantastic Norwich-based <b>Lost In Translation Circus</b> doing phenomenal, crazy circus stunts opposite the Houses of Parliament, just down the road from where <b>Philip Astley</b> set up his first sawdust ring 250 years ago. In 2018<b> Circus250</b>, thanks to the organisation of writer <b>Dea Birkett</b>, will be celebrating with circus happenings, performances and events indoors and outdoors in Big Tops, theatres, churches (<i>churcus </i>is the term coined by Kate Kavanagh of <b>The Circus Diaries</b>!), museums, festivals and sawdust rings all over the UK and Ireland, and in the specially designated "circus cities" like London and Norwich.<br />
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It was an eye-opener. For over an hour the performers repeated stunts again and again, with subtle changes of angle and timing to get just the right moment captured for posterity. Just as my heart-rate adapted to watching the flips in the air over a concrete crashmat, then there were handstands on the wall with a sheer drop to the Thames, and on the back of a precarious bench, that set it in overdrive again. It was easier watching through a lens, and I snapped away on my camera too, for my own circus scrapbook. While I cherish my unofficial snapshots, the morning really brought home<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit;"> the importance of professional photography as a record and testimonial, how effective image (as in the visual) is as an ambassador for performing arts, and how damn photogenic circus is!</span><br />
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LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-51786234954300642222017-07-21T23:58:00.001-07:002017-07-22T02:25:13.281-07:00Chapter 204: Sam Goodburn is Dumbstruck<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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Imagine Adrian Mole pulled Pandora and it's the morning after the night before. He can't believe his luck. Dumbstruck. That is basically the premise for <b>Sam Goodburn</b>'s solo show <b>Dumbtruck</b>,<b> </b>only instead of being a spotty nerd, Sam has an endearing, dorky charm. Wanting to make sure he doesn't screw it all up Sam sets about making his still sleeping beauty breakfast, only things don't entirely go to plan... </div>
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From the opener which finds Sam half-undressed creeping around in the girl's floral apartment his character is clearly out of his comfort zone. The next 45 minutes or so pass in a whir of classic slapstick tropes given an innovative modern twist, causing chaos and then further havoc in the attempt to clear it all up. The clowning around would be entertainment itself, but in addition there is a whole series of superb circus tricks and skills propelling the story, whether literally juggling phone-calls from his best mate Brian, and the girl's Mum, as the Nutella Ninja in a novel knife act, or unicycling across a set of beer-bottle panpipes, a lad's own DIY tight-wire, which has to be seen to be believed. </div>
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Sam's skills are self-taught and top-notch, his experience straddling the worlds of both traditional and contemporary circus. I met Sam a couple of years ago unicycling his way across a tightwire when he was with the UK's leading contemporary circus company <b>NoFit State</b> for an open house at <b>Stratford Circus</b>. He had just won <b>Circus Maximus </b>on the Southbank that summer, a competition that seeks out the best in circus talent, and that led to the collaboration with Underbelly to produce <b>Dumbstruck. </b></div>
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Before that though, Sam had fallen into clowning accidentally (always the best way!) when working as a unicyclist and juggler in the Big Top of <b>Circus Zyair.</b> The clown pulled out and Sam stepped into his oversized shoes with little more than a few hours prep, holed up in MacDonalds, watching back to back videos of classic clown acts for inspiration. Maybe the location brought its own karma, as funnily enough the son of the legendary Coco the Clown (a friend surprised me recently with a first edition of his autobiography - a fascinating read), was the model for Ronald MacDonald. Anyway, Sam improvised four gags on the back of his research and honed them through trial and error. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLFFMnzpX0c4ZCur9AEuH2pDsNbFe27srebwSmFYfz2ihE8BgPAYrs8E903CXe40gw9Hpm5BH7p2pAznHE-b1L8y4Zz8KnhZiSBcJELI0h36IUbe2iHb_u_K87BBaCcC_dIwppekIpuSM/s1600/profile+2+dumbstruck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1363" data-original-width="1363" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLFFMnzpX0c4ZCur9AEuH2pDsNbFe27srebwSmFYfz2ihE8BgPAYrs8E903CXe40gw9Hpm5BH7p2pAznHE-b1L8y4Zz8KnhZiSBcJELI0h36IUbe2iHb_u_K87BBaCcC_dIwppekIpuSM/s400/profile+2+dumbstruck.jpg" width="400" /></a>Since then Sam has been mentored and directed by the New Zealand-based renowned clown <b>Fraser Hooper, </b>who also directed Boy With Tape on His Face on Australian tour<i>.<b> </b></i>Sam travelled out to Wellington for a month earlier this year for workshops with him and to develop the show, and Hooper, over in the UK on tour at the moment, was at <b>Jacksons Lane </b>for the premiere of <b>Dumbstruck </b>earlier this month. As well as the skills and the clowning, credit to Sam that evening for his choice of audience participation and the wonderful moments that generated. I remember another clown (Sean Kempton!) telling me that a great performer will be able to take the audience anywhere. And Sam does. </div>
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Check out <b>The Widow Stanton</b> interview with Sam: </div>
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<a href="http://thewidowstanton.com/post/162007676328/samgoodburn">thewidowstanton.com (click here)</a></div>
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Sam is takes <b>Dumbstruck </b>to Splatch Cardiff on Sunday 23, July. Check out the Facebook events page: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cardiffsplatch/">www.facebook.com/cardiffsplatch (click here)</a></div>
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Sam will be at the Edinburgh Fringe with <b>Dumbstruck</b> for 3 weeks. 3-13 and 15-27 August:</div>
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<a href="https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/sam-goodburn-dumbstruck">tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/sam-goodburn-dumbstruck (click here)</a></div>
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And, London!, you have one more chance to catch Sam when he appears in<b> Shhh! </b>cabaret on Saturday 29 July at 8pm, the festival finale for the <b>Postcards Festival </b>at <b>Jacksons Lane. </b></div>
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For more information about the evening: <a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/chapter-201-postcards-festival-finale.html">see post (click here)</a></div>
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Book tickets here: <a href="https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/whats-on/shhh-cabaret">www.jacksonslane.org.uk/whats-on/shhh-cabaret (click here)</a></div>
LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-69059308849849532282017-07-20T02:58:00.001-07:002017-07-31T13:15:44.990-07:00Chapter 203: 13 Years of NoFit State in Pictures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Augusts Dakteris</b> with cast of <b>Bianco</b><br />
All photo credits: Mark Robson (<a href="http://ineptgravity.com/">www.ineptgravity.com</a>)</td></tr>
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"Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything." <span style="text-align: right;"><i>Aaron Siskind</i></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Daiki Izumida</b> from <b>Parklife</b> in Stockton-on-Tees</td></tr>
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With the 250th anniversary round the corner of Philip Astley "the father of modern circus", there has been much talk, and many exciting plans put into action, to commemorate that fact, all brought together under the umbrella of <b>Circus250</b>. One of the highlights of the year will be a flagship show by <b>NoFit State</b>. The company has had an extraordinary trajectory, from its roots in the friendship of five friends in a juggling group that evolved organically from a university society in the early 80s (I was in my university's juggling society, we obviously dropped a few balls!), into the UK's leading contemporary circus company. </div>
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<b>Mark Robson</b> first came into contact with the company in 1995 when he blew up two cars for the finale of their show <b>Autogeddon, </b>joining their board in 2002 and taking pictures from then on which provide a stunning photographic testimonial both to the company and Astley's legacy. Recently Mark brought a number of photos together in a book, really meant as a family album, called "Let's Do It Again", as a leaving present and thank you to Ali Williams, one of the founders of the company. That provided the foundation, and prototype, for Mark to realise his dream of putting together professionally a coffee table book that memorialises and immortalises all the magic and wonder of shows over the past thirteen years from <b>Immortal </b>to <b>Block. </b></div>
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Mark's <b>Kickstarter</b> now is up and running. <b>NoFit State </b>is a company close to my heart. <b>Bianco </b>is the show that kickstarted my own desire to run away to the circus, and to see the show again in a Big Top on the Southbank at Christmas was a real joy. I loved the colour and the crazy of <b>Noodles, </b>and thanks to a <b>NoFit State</b> outdoor Open House at <b>Stratford Circus </b>a couple of years ago I first met Mark, as well as <b>Sam Goodburn</b>, who will be in a show I'm curating at <b>Jacksons Lane </b>next week (Shhh!). I admire the ethos behind <b>NoFit State's</b> social engagement along with the fact that they make shows of epic proportions and talent that inspire dreaming and fire the imagination.</div>
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I value and support this project for its subject matter but also, as a collector of images, simply for the beauty of the photographs themselves. But it will only become a reality if fully funded by <b>30 July, </b>so please spread the word and check out the <b>Kickstarter </b>campaign:<br />
<b> </b><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1656839042/in-nofitstate-immortal-to-block?ref=bcz4pf">www.kickstarter.com/projects/1656839042/in-nofitstate-immortal-to-block</a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Anna Sandreuter </b>in <b>Mundo Paralelo </b><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Check out <b>The Circus Diaries</b> informative interview with Mark Robson about theKickstarter: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Pwt97QdL4&feature=youtu.be&a">click here</a>.</span></div>
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31 July: CONGRATULATIONS to Mark Robson - the project is now fully funded thanks to everyone who supported and spread the word! Really looking forward to seeing my copy which will be coming out in Autumn. #circuscommunity #circusgoal #circuslove</div>
LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-33034014952492519672017-07-06T00:09:00.001-07:002017-07-06T02:48:16.788-07:00Chapter 201: Postcards Festival Finale - SHHH!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"<i>Acclaimed circus blogger <b>Lucy Loves Circus </b>returns to Postcards with a specially curated night of spectacle and surprise. From burlesque to boxing: expect nothing but the unexpected from this festival finale." </i><i style="text-align: right;"><b>Jacksons Lane</b></i></div>
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<b>SHHH!</b> is back this year with our fabulous MCs and co-creators, <i>Cirque de Soleil</i> clowns <b>Sean Kempton </b>and <b>Michaela O'Connor</b>. <span style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px;">Sean’s solo show </span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px;">Stuff </b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px;">is part of Postcards Festival this year and Michaela, also a trapeze artist extraordinaire, created the stunning triples trapeze show </span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px;">Hattie</b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px;">. </span>We have a whole new cast this year and a terrific line-up, so, introducing our kooky, oddball, playful circus family, drum roll please...<br />
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<b>Jair Ramirez </b>is well-known as a leading straps aerialist from <b>Circolombia</b>, winner of the Judge's Award <b>Circus Maximus </b>in 2016<b>. </b>He is also something of a clown, as you will find out in <b>Sugarman </b>on 13 July (see previous post), and an all-rounder with a circus skill that I find particularly terrifying to watch.<br />
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I met <b>Sam Goodburn </b>a couple of years ago down an alleyway round the corner from Stratford Circus a couple of years ago, casually unicycling on a tightwire while juggling. He was winner of the Audience Award for <b>Circus Maximus </b>in 2016, which has led to the development of his solo show <b>Dumbstruck </b>which has just had its debut and heads to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer. </div>
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<b>Sophie Page Hall </b>and<b> Will Davis </b>are record-breaking, prize-winning aerialists: Sophie took part in a Guiness world-record breaking challenge on aerial silks and Will won the UK competition <b>Circus Maximus </b>in 2014 and <b>UK Aerial Performance Championship</b> in 2016. As partners in rope they have performed in festivals all over the UK and Europe,<i> </i>and most recently in <i>Hangwire</i> at <b>Jacksons Lane </b>last weekend.</div>
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<b>Michael Standen </b>is an extraordinary handbalancer who has a wicked cabaret act in what has been described "a rather risqué number where he proceeds to show off jaw-dropping feats of gymnastic ability." (<i>Narcmagazine)</i></div>
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Bringing her own touch of magic to the evening is <b>Soulnia, </b>who I met while training in aerial at <b>Freedom2Fly</b>. Soulnia is a Spanish magician - the eagle-eyed may recognise her from the sleight of hand in the latest Rimmel advert - and professional dancer for the likes of Pharrell Williams and Rihanna and Jax Jones. High energy and lots of fun, you won't believe your eyes, but that's half the fun...</div>
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Finally, promising a knock-out performance we have strongwoman <b>Betty Bedlam </b>who I met at a Box Bitch! night at a gym in Fulham (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/chapter-181-box-btch.html">see post - click here</a>), where she taught us to swing our hips to deliver a belter of a blow as much as a shimmy. As well as a burlesque dancer, Betty is a boxer and you can see for yourself at Wandsworth Civic Suite on Saturday 15 July. </div>
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And if that's not enough to leave you punchdrunk, not only have <b>Jacksons Lane </b>extended the festival, they have extended the late night bar licence and we now have it until 1am people! So come and join us: <b>SHHH! Saturday, </b> <b>29 July, 8pm</b> and book your tickets here: <a href="https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/whats-on/shhh-cabaret">www.jacksonslane.org.uk/whats-on/shhh-cabaret</a>.</div>
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LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-14845831361304746242017-07-05T06:45:00.001-07:002017-07-05T16:10:09.916-07:00Chapter 200: Postcards Festival at Jacksons Lane<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEfvwAnKNArGjymOiclETcjylCEBJtmNMne7iBNRfl0u70AGoclR20QrqjwUouvSVCLP3nPfzKVoCMo1lrN-U7KgFNWrtyHG-JrbFBgkUWLQ99j6TA9kylAiI945b3ZmFmeuxj2sjKvI/s1600/IMG_5389.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1343" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEfvwAnKNArGjymOiclETcjylCEBJtmNMne7iBNRfl0u70AGoclR20QrqjwUouvSVCLP3nPfzKVoCMo1lrN-U7KgFNWrtyHG-JrbFBgkUWLQ99j6TA9kylAiI945b3ZmFmeuxj2sjKvI/s400/IMG_5389.jpg" width="335" /></a><b>Postcards Festival 2017</b> kicks off at <b>Jacksons Lane</b> next Tuesday (11 July), extended this year to three weeks of live performance and dead funny cabaret, circus and comedy. Expect mash-ups between genres and gender, nudity and explicitly adult content in some shows and others that are family friendly. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Two Tongue Theatre's Sharlit Deyzac</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span></td></tr>
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Along with several artists in <b>Postcards Festival</b>, I went along yesterday to the in-house presentation to the <b>Jacksons Lan</b>e board to hear more about the line-up, as well as talk about the circus cabaret I'm curating - Shhh! <b>Adrian Berry</b>, Artistic Director, took the floor. This is his 15th season presentation, the seventh year of Postcards, and there was lots to celebrate. The idea for <b>Postcards </b>came about when Ade found that there were a number of bite-sized pieces of performance around that deserved a platform, but were not full-length, and the evenings are a series of snapshots into the cutting edge of performance art, comprising solo shows, double-bills and an eclectic variety. The evening is <i>Pay what you decide, </i>and I love the ethos of accessibility behind that, so book now and contribute on the night.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">FAMILY-FRIENDLY SHOWS</span></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Circus Abyssinia</td></tr>
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The two shows I would definitely take my kids to see are <b>Circus Abyssinia </b> and <b>Morgan & West's Parlour Tricks. </b></div>
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<b>Circus Abyssinia </b>comprises acrobats from the Ethiopian circus school set up by the phenomenal <b>Bibi and Bichu</b>, beloved of <b>Giffords Circus </b>and <b>Gandini Juggling</b>, who<b> </b>I have seen perform both in a Big Top and on stage at the English National Opera (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/chapter-136-akhnaten-and-gandini.html">click here</a>). This show is an semi-autobiographical story of two young boys who dream of running of to the circus, as featured in the Giffords show <b>Moon Songs </b>(<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/chapter-82-giffords-circus-moon-songs.html">click here</a>). Astonishing physical skills, extraordinary. <b>Morgan & West </b>are a duo of time-travelling magicians who serve up slick, jaw-dropping stunts with debonair flair. They have fooled Penn & Teller, and that's enough for me.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">COMEDY </span></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">George Orange (Photo: Mark Robson)</td></tr>
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Sharlit Deyzac, one half of <b>Two Tongue Theatre</b> talked about <b> Boys Club, </b>their revolutionary drag king show. Mentored and directed by dark clown Peta Lily (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/chapter-195-peta-lilys-topless.html">see post - click here</a>), I have seen their show twice now, encore!, but won't share the link to the review here for the spoiler alert. Funny, feisty and no holds barred.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sean Kempton</td></tr>
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Cirque de Soleil maestro clown <b>Sean Kempton </b>brings <b>Stuff </b>to Jacksons Lane after a knock-out tour over the past year. I saw it premiere at the London ClownFest last year (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/chapter-154-sean-kempton-and-stuff.html">see post - click here</a>). Through mime, dance and some gently brilliant audience improv, Sean takes us on a journey of love in all its absurdity and sheer joy. </div>
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Great to hear <b>George Orange </b>is bringing his show <b>First Lady</b> to the festival, charting the true story of his relationship, falling for the man who ran for president... in a dress. I've seen George several times in <b>Crashmat Collective</b> and with the <b>Mary Bijou Cabaret</b>, and most recently at a work in progress at<b> The Roundhouse</b>. He has a deliciously wicked sense of humour, a smooth, genuine charm, and is a true raconteur.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarah Blanc with Jason Donovan</td></tr>
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I saw <b>Sarah Blanc </b>last year in <i style="font-weight: bold;">Flappers </i>cabaret last year and so pleased she is back with a solo show <b>It started with Jason Donovan</b>. As someone who watched the first ever episode of Neighbours, this is especially for me, quite frankly. As well as being naturally hilarious, Blanc is also an amazing dancer, choreographing Alula's <b>Hyena </b>(<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/chapter-194-alula-cyrs-hyena.html">click here</a>) in the early days, so expect physical comedy on a par with spoken word.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">CIRCUS</span></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tanter (Andreas Bergman)</td></tr>
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From Blanc's<b> </b>"banter dance at its finest" to <b>Tanter </b>circus bringing <b>Vixen </b>to the festival in a London premiere. I have been following this company with interest on Instagram and social media for a couple of years now. Graduates from Stockholm circus school of DOCH, they pick apart female stereotypes in an innovative way through stellar skills in trapeze, rope and slackline, are very funny, and a entertaining jazz song about a uterus has to be a first.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Living Room Circus</td></tr>
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It was great to hear from <b>Living Room Circus,</b><b></b><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;">who are an experimental company formed of National Centre for Circus Arts graduates. They bring circus to all sorts of unusual spaces and will explore every nook and cranny of </span><b style="text-align: justify;">Jacksons Lane </b><span style="text-align: justify;">in unexpected ways in <b>The Penguin and I</b>. Surreally talented, an immersive production, in many ways it will be like a circus blind date. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dizzy O'Dare</td></tr>
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<b>Cypher Stories </b>is an evening curated by Kieran Warner and Chris Thomas (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/chapter-198-something-different.html">see post</a>) melding hip hop, Cyr wheel and acrobatics. It will be high energy with awesome dance as much as circus skills on display.</div>
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Tightwire can potentially be a limiting discipline to have an entire show built round it, but it is possible as <b>Dizzy O'Dare </b>show in the beautiful show <b>Rise </b>(which I saw in its R&D stage - <a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/chapter-163-circus-in-pound.html">click here</a>) exploring life and love with striking images, comedy, live music and tenderness. <b>Double bill: Jair Ramirez </b>and <b>Laura Murphy.</b> Jair's show <b>Sugarman </b>premiered at <b>The Place </b>in January <a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/chapter-175-jair-ramirez-sugarman.html">(see post - click here</a>), and is one man's struggle to escape the daily grind. Jair is well-known as a superb aerialist, but here you will also see his clown emerge and it's a beautiful show. <b>Laura Murphy </b>has an an "awkward" muscly, female body which she interrogates, as well as the space it occupies, in her exploratory show <b>Contra.</b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">CABARET and GIGS</span></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sadie Sinner (Photo: Lena Lenman)</td></tr>
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With the image of Postcards poster girl <b>Sadie Sinner</b> from <b>The Cocoa Butter Speakeasy</b> all over social media and on tube posters, I was looking forward to seeing her in action. Even watching just a snippet of queer black female cabaret on a television screen, albeit on stage, on a Tuesday afternoon, had the Friday night vibes going. Soak in the cocoa butter jam of fierce skills, music and voices of performers of colour out and proud, and let them rub you up the right way.</div>
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If you're looking more for Sunday worship, what better place for some Pentecostal mojo that the ecclesiastical architecture of the former church that is Jacksons Lane? Fresh from Glastonbury <b>Legs Akimbo </b>bring <b>Oh My God! It's The Church </b>with a live band, praise the lord, and are determined to get the party started. Playfully sacrilegious, their website <a href="https://www.sexy-jesus.com/">www.sexy-jesus.com</a> says it all.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Late Night Shop (Photo: Sin Bozkurt)</td></tr>
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Billed as <i>sex clowns </i>you might be forgiven for thinking that <b>The Late Night Shop c</b>abaret<b> </b>is more red lights of Amsterdam than theatre festival, but it's less cock and more Le Coq, from where the artists all graduated. With a DJ on stage, expect grotesquely funny non-verbal clowning around. <b>Hocus Pocus Theatre </b>bring the world of a sleazy speakeasy to Jacksons Lane in <b>Guilty Party </b>with dress code of "uninhibited prohibition" and live music until midnight.</div>
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And what of the festival finale <b>Shhh! </b>on 29 July? It will have artists from the worlds of circus, burlesque, cabaret and just a touch of magic. Post to follow, watch this space...</div>
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To book tickets and for more information: <a href="https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/festivals/postcards-2017">www.jacksonslane.org.uk/festivals/postcards-2017 (click here)</a></div>
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<br />LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-4697015825505543612017-07-03T02:02:00.001-07:002017-07-05T04:49:46.680-07:00Chapter 199: "La Strada" at The Other Palace<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All production photo credits: Robert Day</td></tr>
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"This is an old story... this is a new story... and it starts with the sea... listen to the waves."*</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Audrey Brisson - Gelsomina</td></tr>
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A tide of bodies leant to the right, then to the left. An assortment of nautical ropes hung against a blue lit backdrop. One of them was a noose. I was at <b>The Other Palace</b> to see the musical adaptation of Fellini's film <b>La Strada (The Road)</b> that came highly recommended by a friend who had seen it the week before. Having not (yet!) seen the film, the moment I saw the trailer I fell for the live music and notes of circus. The story follows a young girl, Gelsomina, an innocent in every sense, who grows up by the sea and is sold by her mother for 10,000 lire to a travelling player Zampanò, a charismatic, angry strongman. They end up in a circus where she meets The Fool, a gentle soul, yet also, as clown, a natural agent provocateur. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sofie Lybäck & Tatiana Santini</td></tr>
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I loved the set that transitioned from the nautical to a Big Top rigged like three large sails with a mast for a king pole. The cast was astonishing, comprising a musical ensemble cum acrobats cum actors. Tragedy was foreshadowed in certain faces, painted pale with red shadows under their eyes, giving them a spectral hue. They were ghosts of circus for me, something uncannily familiar about them. The phenomenal female lead who plays Gelsomina had the voice of an angel, and physically reminded me of circus handbalancer and acrobat Tamzen Moulding**. Later I learned that <b>Audrey Brisson</b> is a bonafide circus acrobat as well as vocalist, playing the young girl Zoé in <b>Cirque de Soleil</b>'s <b>Quidam </b>on tour. <b>Quidam</b> is the only Cirque show I have seen, both at the Albert Hall and via a video link thanks to Sean Kempton, the clown in the last ever performance. I was also interested to learn that Audrey's father is Canadian composer Benoit Jutras, who was Cirque's musical director and composed many scores. Gelsomina was played originally by Giulietta Masina, dubbed a female Chaplin, and in her baggy oversized suit and bowler had that Zamponò makes her wear to announce his acts, Brisson was very much the vagabond clown. She had a mischief and a wonder that made the heart lift and tear at the same time, embodying Fellini's vision that "all life is beautiful, for all its tragedy and suffering." </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bart Soroczynski as The Fool, and cast</td></tr>
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<b>Stuart Goodwin</b>'s Zampanò bore a striking resemblance to Terry O'Quinn's enigmatic John Locke in the US series <i>Lost</i>, and channelled a terrific anger and strength, by turns menacing and lost himself. I loved the clowning around by Il Matto/The Fool (<b>Bart Soroczynski</b>), Zampanò's nemesis, who had the rangey physique and equilibristics talent of Ellis Grover and Sam Goodburn***. When he stated that he wouldn't be long for this world due to the nature of his job, I thought of all the crazy fools I know taking incredible risks and my heart lurched. As The Fool gave an impression of a tightwire act, with wings on his back, there was a touch of<i> Fevvers</i> in Angela Carter's <i>Nights At The Circus</i>. Soroczynski's actual circus skills impressed as well, both on ladder stilts and again when he played accordion on the unicycle. I also enjoyed the juggling of languages as he addressed Gelsomina in a melée of Spanish, German, French and Italian. The Big Top is a place where the world comes together in one language after all. But it was the touching tenderness with which he sketched out and encouraged Gelsomina's potential, and the light that shone in Gelsomina in turn, that really hit home.</div>
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There was a fabulous Carmenesque turn from cabaret singer <b>Tatiana Santini</b>, and the pragmatic resignation of so many widows brought to their knees in post-war Italy eloquently captured by <b>Sofie Lybäck</b> in various incarnations, while <b>Teowa Vuong</b> on violin was a virtuoso. All the ensemble had verve and flair, and it really was a stellar, Felliniesque fablesque production. If you are not a musical fan don't be put off. There are a number of innovative, contemporary musicals out there that capture and convey emotions without the jazz hands, and this is one of them. <b>La Strada </b>runs until 8 July at <b>The Other Palace</b>, see the video trailer below:<br />
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The <b>circus consultant </b>on the production of <b>La Strada</b> was <b>Gwen Hales, </b>who has worked as aerial director with <b>La Strada</b> director <b>Sally Cookson</b> on previous productions <i>Peter Pan</i> and <i>Hetty Feather</i>. Other credits include directing <b>CirqOn the Seam's</b> <i>Betwixt and Between </i>and performing/co-creating <b>Pirates of the Carabina's </b><i>Flown </i>and as consultant on <b>Tobacco Factory Theatre's</b> <i>Sinbad. </i></div>
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*My impression of the opening lines.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times";">** Tamzen Moulding @invertedco is currently working on a great project </span><b style="font-family: Times;">The Elusive Circus</b><span style="font-family: "times";"> which I saw in R&D a while back, using </span><span style="font-family: "times";"><i>The Night Circus</i><b> </b>as its touchstone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">*** I first saw Ellis Grover traversing a guiding line on a Big Top at the Edinburgh Festival. He has performed with <b>NoFit State</b> and <b>Pirates of the Carabina</b>, has a great vlog and most recently was at <b>Imagine Luton</b> doing a double-chair stacking tilting trick on a pole that defies the law of gravity, again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times";">I met <b>Sam Goodburn</b> at <b>Stratford Circus</b> when he was unicycling across a tightwire for <b>NoFit State</b>. Sam premieres his solo show <b>Dumbstruck</b>, with a good deal of clowning around,<b> </b>at <b>Jacksons Lane </b>tonight (3 July), 7.30pm.</span></div>
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<i><b>Post-script:</b></i><br />
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While the production evoked the neo-realism of 1950s Italian cinema, it was rather a surreal afternoon for me. Having spent the morning in A&E with a dislocated finger having my wedding rings sawn off, I thought I must be high on painkillers and seeing things when I bumped into Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber not once, but twice, in the corridor in the interval... I learned later that <b>The Other Palace </b>-<b> </b>so named I assumed as it is opposite Buckingham Palace, but apparently not! - is his project sponsoring a new wave of musical theatre. Even curiouser, it turned out I had last been there as a child when it was <b>The Westminster Theatre</b>, watching my brother on stage, part of a musical theatre company. <b>Mummy's Boy (</b>Oedipus Rex!) is the one that springs to mind.</div>
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The juxtaposition of sea and circus in <b>La Strada</b> at <b>The Other Palace </b>struck me as something of a circus zeitgeist given recent posts reporting back on festivals Greenwich and Worthing, and thinking of the Bristol HarbourFest happening too. </div>
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LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-82511506029464252072017-06-30T04:33:00.001-07:002017-06-30T15:32:38.294-07:00Chapter 198: Something Different: Greenwich and Docklands International Festival<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"I know families who mark off GDIF and Greenwich Fair dates on their calendar in the same way they do family birthdays they wouldn't want to miss"</div>
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- Lyn Gardner</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandfather visiting the Cutty Sark</td></tr>
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<i>What is <b>GDIF</b>?</i> <i>Good Dinner In Field? Great Day Impromptu Fun?! </i>I was asked the other day by a friend who tried to decipher the acronym from what she could deduce from pictures shared on Facebook. Well yes, it is that, but it actually stands for the <b>Greenwich and Docklands International Festival</b>, an outdoors arts festival packed with street theatre, circus, dance and all sorts of impromptu happenings, now in its 20th year. I take it for granted that everyone has heard of it, so firmly it is embedded in my diary, and yet I only came across it a couple of years ago myself. I was in Greenwich for the wedding of friends, and meandered through the festival on the way back from the breakfast the following morning. I watched <b>Collectif Malunes </b>(<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/chapter-84-snapshots-of-gdif-collectif.html">click here</a>) swing from trapezes that in an inadvertent trompe d'oeil appeared part of the rigging of the Cutty Sark, wishing my grandfather were there, I saw exceptional acrobatics on the Russian board from <b>15ft6</b> (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/chapter-85-snapshots-from-gdif-dynamite.html">click here</a>), and caught <b>Gandini Juggling </b>rocking it with<b> 8 Songs </b>(<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/chapter-86-snapshots-from-gdif-gandini_7.html">click here</a>). I missed the festival last year when Mum was in hospital, but was back this year, this time with the whole family in tow.<br />
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I looked through the programme in advance and highlighted a few items I wanted to see particularly, but taking kids of different ages and interests makes life unpredictable, and part of the charm of a festival is often as much the unexpected encounters and happenings...</div>
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A case in point. Computer games in physical from requiring human interaction - inspired! We particularly loved Donkey Kong and I found puzzling out stacks of shapes in Tetris as satisfying as ever. The kids loved the ping-pong bat with ball attached with elastic with which they would knock down a brick wall, threading their way through an alarm of red string, and my youngest spent ages popping her head through different holes in a box avoiding a foam mallet. Simple things amuse. </div>
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<b>Simple Cypher - <i>Roll up, roll up </i></b></div>
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<b>Simple Cypher </b>were one of the main draws for me, as I have heard so much about the mesh of juggling, hiphop and Cyr wheel acrobatics of Kieran Warner and Christopher Thomas for a while now, and knew they'd have the street cred vibe my son would appreciate. <i>So Mum, is this dance or is this circus? </i>He was hooked. I noticed my five year old quietly imitating their hand gestures and other kids couldn't help but gravitate towards them, literally at one point when a small child legged it into their space, and was scooped up and returned to their parent by Christopher with grace and humour. Bet that didn't happen in January at <b>The Place</b> (the centre for contemporary dance) I thought, and wondered how the piece changed according to its environment. What is clear is that it works in both settings because these two have charisma, and, like <b>Barely Methodical Troupe</b> in the previous post, have a piece here that appeals to circus newbies and the circus savvy alike. Catch them next at Jacksons Lane on 26 July in an evening mashing circus and hiphop where they will be joined by guest artists for <b>Cypher Stories <a href="https://www.jacksonslane.org.uk/whats-on/cypher-stories">www.jacksonslane.org.uk/whats-on/cypher-stories</a>.</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Z5upt1Ke-PfOD0rGu7mjR6LFEy7SKSxm2Y4d1mG63ItT8zQ96lIbvrqopYLpPBlnRFoHMOEfGLhlYPoBPpurqb3TvcTO1uoZzIXcxhTPQYCcxxj-U2_TPxAvXv-BT1fvBXFjBaAW4WM/s1600/IMG_4906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Z5upt1Ke-PfOD0rGu7mjR6LFEy7SKSxm2Y4d1mG63ItT8zQ96lIbvrqopYLpPBlnRFoHMOEfGLhlYPoBPpurqb3TvcTO1uoZzIXcxhTPQYCcxxj-U2_TPxAvXv-BT1fvBXFjBaAW4WM/s320/IMG_4906.JPG" width="240" /></a><b>Dizzy O'Dare's <i> Baba Yaga</i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">I know Dizzy O'Dare through their tightwire. Most recently having seen the beautiful show <b>Rise</b>, which is premiering at the Worthing Summer of Circus Festival (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/chapter-196-worthing-theatres-summer-of.html">see post - click here</a>). They also do street performing and I was very much looking forward to seeing Baba Yaga, the wise woman-cum devourer of Russian and Finnish folklore. She featured largely in my childhood thanks to the magical retelling of the the story, illustrated with silhouettes against backgrounds of sunsets, by Jan Pienowski (also the author of Mog & Meg!) in </span><span style="font-family: "times";"><b>Kingdom Under The Sea. </b>Others may have come across the legend through the Hellboy comic series (I hear). Either way, the witch, gratifyingly sinister with wicked ad libs, glided across the ground like a dalek, with a hut on chicken legs in tow, and it was utterly brilliant. My 8 year old laughed with a side order of relish as she was inspected as a potential dinner and found wanting (needs fattening up!). Others let out squeals as a water pistol was aimed through the hut window. My friend Heather and I were embraced as "Sisters! When <i>shall</i> we three meet again?!" Hopefully sooner rather than later Baba Yaga...</span></div>
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<b>PifPaf's<i> Seed</i></b></div>
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I was delighted to catch <b>PifPaf's </b>show <b>SEED </b>after narrowly <span style="font-family: -webkit-standard; text-align: start;">missing it at the Wandsworth Arts Fringe where I saw Hikapee Theatre's <b>Home</b> (</span><a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/chapter-188-hikapee-theatres-home-at.html">see post - click here</a>). <b>Seed </b>was the tale of one man's energetic fight against slugs that threatened his crop, whether enlisting the help of his puppet pet chicken or electrocuting them. There was something of the inventiveness of a regular Caractacus Potts about Wilford's ramshackle hut. His character, in his jean dungarees, greasing back his quiff in the mirror and fed up to the back teeth of slugging it out, had an air of an anarchic hillbilly crossed with John Travolta. I loved the moment when, with the gravelled tones of Louis Armstrong, he sang down a hosepipe about his blues at the lack of rain. The sponge slugs grew progressively larger until one took on the inflated dimensions of a bouncy castle and swallowed him whole. It was very cleverly done, and when Wilford finally got his wish there was a joyful rain dance that all joined in. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilb7oQSzNyUPICtWG_Sirodn7HRBvgfs_ZjmD760jZFSg5OQ4UQ8lVjCESjoZN-vEQrjpLWNd3C38_sR8L_o1JresNTplacECN3cy8ThT5VTflM6KgcGJFgWG2N3S-RqaPCchWCktFToU/s1600/IMG_4991.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilb7oQSzNyUPICtWG_Sirodn7HRBvgfs_ZjmD760jZFSg5OQ4UQ8lVjCESjoZN-vEQrjpLWNd3C38_sR8L_o1JresNTplacECN3cy8ThT5VTflM6KgcGJFgWG2N3S-RqaPCchWCktFToU/s320/IMG_4991.JPG" width="320" /></a><b>Tom Ball</b></div>
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There are two things I know about <b>Silver Lining</b>'s Tom Ball. He has a beautiful voice, and he is a superb aerialist. As well as at <b>Jacksons Lane</b> and <b>National Circus</b> I have seen him in other spaces too - at Edinburgh in the <b>Hitch</b>cock tribute cabaret (<a href="https://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/highlights-from-fringe-day-2-hitch.html">click here</a>)<b> </b>and in <b>Extraordinary Bodies </b>in Dulwich Park (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/chapter-76-extraordinary-bodies.html">click here</a>). I misread the programme though, and instead of a solo on trapeze I found him on stage with an awesome rainbow backdrop in Hawaian print doing a hula-hoop routine to Queen's <i>Don't Stop Me Now</i>, which had us all dancing in the street, having a good time... </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: James Berry <a href="http://www.jamesberryphotography.co.uk/">www.jamesberryphotography.co.uk</a></td></tr>
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<b>Sir Ian McKellan</b></div>
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The crowd suddenly shifted to the other end of the street. What's going on? It's Ian McKellan, somebody shouted out. I heard the familiar booming voice long before I caught sight of a navy blue panama hat and sky blue suit, and scaled a wall to rest on a ledge to get a better view - circus training has its uses! I thought of my Cuban friend Cheddy Mendizabel, who came over to the Royal Court as a playwright for a season of readings of contemporary Cuban plays. McKellen read from Norge Espinosa's play <i>Trio, </i>directed by Richard Wilson, and the playwrights asked me to take a picture of them all together later when we were on the balcony chatting. I had to get the roll of film specially developed, and took the photos out to Havana the following summer. Ah, they would have appreciated this talk, I thought, and wished they were here to listen to him speak on Section 28, gay rights and how lucky we are in the UK to have freedom of speech. The speech was followed by a moving duet by a couple of young male dancers and then the crowd dispersed under a blast of pink confetti. Ever the magpie I watched my youngest scoop up piles and dance around throwing them in the air for an encore.<b> GDIF </b>sparks all sorts of spontaneity and that is the joy of it. A day well spent celebrating life and love.<br />
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<i>Note: footage inadvertently recorded in slowmo is an interesting study in motion, sill better to catch them live...</i></div>
LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-40313992154767738862017-06-25T02:33:00.000-07:002017-06-26T04:40:10.189-07:00Chapter 197: Barely Methodical Troupe's KIN<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL6XjXYpsp5J8LFo9tSybFk9vrfTN_HvTd0AxC20joA_MIN_Q4Eoolijsi4yE10OpmTUnajXZQWiTq57BF6bp9vA0oaN-xtK1Tccgd9oejcgUn5fzzDt63jThCwgh-EjNfv0_CvAie2Lg/s1600/Charlie+wheeler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL6XjXYpsp5J8LFo9tSybFk9vrfTN_HvTd0AxC20joA_MIN_Q4Eoolijsi4yE10OpmTUnajXZQWiTq57BF6bp9vA0oaN-xtK1Tccgd9oejcgUn5fzzDt63jThCwgh-EjNfv0_CvAie2Lg/s640/Charlie+wheeler.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All photos courtesy of <b>Worthing Theatres</b><br />
Charlie Wheeller </td></tr>
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About a year ago I went to see a brilliant one man show at Battersea Arts Centre, a tour de force retelling of Milton's <i>Paradise Lost</i>. I was with author Lucy Ribchester, who also reviews circus at the Edinburgh Fringe for The List, but this was our night "off" circus. It was amusing then to watch the performer at one point ascend a rope, at another do a little invisible juggling. We chatted to him afterwards about it and it turned out he had a genuine interest in circus. "Did you go to the Roundhouse Circus Fest this year?" He asked. Oh yes, I replied, and proceeded to wax lyrical on one particular highlight, which he really should catch if possible one day, a thrillingly funny show called <b>KIN</b> by <b>Barely Methodical Troupe</b>. It turned out he knew the show already. He was Ben Duke. The Director.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">JD & Nikki</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonathan Bendtsen</td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: Times;">KIN</b><span style="font-family: "times";"> is </span><b style="font-family: Times;">Barely Methodical Troupe (BMT)</b><span style="font-family: "times";">'s second show. In their first show, the award-winning </span><b style="font-family: Times;">Bromance</b><span style="font-family: "times";">, which I saw at the Edinburgh Fringe, </span><b style="font-family: Times;">Charlier Wheeller, Beren D'Amico</b><span style="font-family: "times";"> and </span><b style="font-family: Times;">Louis Gift</b><span style="font-family: "times";">, who met as students at the </span><b style="font-family: Times;">National Centre for Circus Arts</b><span style="font-family: "times";">, explored the tensions and comedy that underpinned the dynamics of their three-way friendship. In </span><b style="font-family: Times;">KIN</b><span style="font-family: "times";"> the trio is extended to a group with the addition of </span><b><span style="font-family: "times";">Jonathan Bendtsen, Arthur Parsons</span></b><span style="font-family: "times";">, taking on Louis' role, and acro duo </span><b style="font-family: Times;">JD & Nikki </b><span style="font-family: "times";">(</span><b style="font-family: Times;">Jean-Daniel Broussé</b><span style="font-family: "times";"> and </span><b style="font-family: Times;">Nikki Rummer</b><span style="font-family: "times";">). Together they explore the shift in relationships as the boys compete for the attention of, and selection by, one woman </span><span style="font-family: "times";">in a Britain's Got Talent-style scenario, </span><span style="font-family: "times";">which works both in story-telling terms and as a metaphor for the politics of the group and power play. In both shows it is clear that, aside from the stellar circus skills, these performers have the X-factor because they come across as genuine and immensely likeable.</span></div>
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Crossing popular culture references with contemporary circus excellence was a great choice to open <b>Worthing Theatre</b>'s <b>Summer of Circus</b> festival. <b>Amanda O'Reilly</b>, Head of Culture, said that she wanted the circus programme to catch in summer the footfall from the pantomime-goers in winter months. Looking around at an audience largely comprised of locals and families, I could see she had captured that demographic. The oval space with its vast, high ceilings was the perfect circus setting, and a much more intimate affair, closer to the action than The Roundhouse, where I had sat on the back row of the gods. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">JD Broussé, Arthur Parsons, Charlie Wheeller, Beren D'Amico</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times";">Upbeat, energetic, dynamic, dishevelled with smatterings of what looked like flour (roisin?) on their faces, from the moment the </span><b>BMT </b><span style="font-family: "times";">boys tumbled onto the stage like wolf cubs, the audience were with them. Excitement and fun charged the atmosphere. Nikki, in matrix style coat and dark glasses stared on impassively, taking notes on a clipboard, as the boys, identified by randomly assigned numbers on their trousers, comically vyed for her attention. Displays of physical prowess, like <b>19</b> going for a backwards tuck off, and back onto, <b>39</b>'s shoulders, are met with blistering indifference. Put on pedestals, literally, these demigods (tongue in cheek) with laurel wreaths on the heads, were called in turn to audition for her favour. Awkward, risible moments followed: <b>108</b> played the</span> accordian<span style="font-family: "times";"> with that certain </span><i>je ne sais </i><span style="font-family: "times";"><i>quoi</i>, <b>19</b> was brought to his knees, and still lower, in a hilarious dance serenade to</span><i> Purple Rain</i><span style="font-family: "times";">, </span><b>39 </b>performed <span style="font-family: "times";">devilishly skilled diabolo juggling and <b>07'</b>s stroke of genius was playing </span><i>The Four Seasons</i><span style="font-family: "times";"> on a finger piano. Each was either interrupted by a buzzer or, even more humiliatingly, by their Adjudicator simply walking off the stage and leaving them to it. <b>52</b>'s turn on Cyr wheel was rewarded with a banana, but the Lord of the Flies rivalry that it gave way to made being singled out in that fashion something of a poisoned chalice.</span></div>
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As the show progressed the acrobatics crescendoed in terms of risk, all the more so because it was a sweltering evening and potential for slipping through sweaty grips rose exponentially. By the time it got to the teeterboard routines, bodies catapulting through the air off a wooden seesaw, I found myself registering any hint of a wobble or stumble caught in a split second, and becoming utterly tense, as though by contracting all my muscles I could secure their safety.</div>
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That's the play, get the audience teetering while the performers nonchalantly sail through the air. Circus performers really do have a different take on gravity and mindset born of talent, curiosity and hard graft. The clowning around throughout was hilarious, and there were also gentler moments of sheer beauty. As well as single turns on the Cyr wheel, I loved the duet between Bendtsen (<b>39)</b> and Wheeller (<b>52)</b>. This time round it felt as though it had been expanded with new tricks in there too. Watching JD <b>(108</b>) & Nikki hand-to-hand in their element gave me goosebumps, especially with a darker undercurrent opening the duet. As number <b>07</b> Arthur Parsons had, literally, giant shoes to step into, but felt a naturally integrated, fundamental part of the whole. </div>
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I loved the seamless silence with which Nikki flipped across the stage, or the way she walked across steps of human heads with fluidity and ease. Here was the one in control both of her physicality and emotions; contained, so it seemed. The aura of Mystery culminated in a visually striking three high, where a long cloak hid the middle and the base underneath, so only Nikki as flyer on top was visible. The haunting <i>Kyrie </i>playing underscored her status, to be revered, like a statue of the Virgin Maria paraded in Holy Week. As the cloak opened and the revelation, and realisation, came that she was way up there thanks to being on the shoulders of others, her fear became apparent. She was vulnerable. Get. Me. Down! She commanded, part pleading. The tables were turned. "What are <i>you</i> afraid of?" led to the confession "Being alone". The spell has been broken: acknowledging that without them all she was nothing, she was now part of the pack. </div>
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The crowd was bowled over. I enjoyed the ad libs from the eight children sitting in a row in front of me, clearly circus savvy, and the anticipation, whoops and gasps from all around at the superb stunts and the infectious, eclectic music from Bowie to Piaf to <i>Hair!</i> The moment the show ended everyone leapt to their feet in a standing ovation and gave a thunderous applause. It was a joy to be a part of that and witness this new wave of circus on the coast. Congrats all round, and cheers!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nikki Rummer,<b> 07</b> Arthur Parsons, <b>108 </b>JD Broussé, <b>19 </b>Beren D'Amico (front), <b>52 </b>Charlie Wheeller (behind), <b>39 </b>Jonathan Bendtsen</td></tr>
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LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-65755665330613759712017-06-22T15:14:00.000-07:002017-06-22T22:21:20.849-07:00Chapter 196: Worthing Theatres' Summer of Circus 2017<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; widows: 2;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">From left to right: Anyday, Elixr, Rise, The Wheel House</td></tr>
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Lucy loves circus. She also loves the sea. Set on the South Coast in West Sussex, <b>Worthing Theatres'</b> <b>Summer of Circus </b>festival brings the two together for ten weeks and I went down on Friday for the launch. <b>Worthing Theatres</b> had come onto my radar increasingly over the past couple of years programming exciting circus companies, and for being part of the <b>Coasters </b>initiative, one of 11 partners that receives Arts Council funding this year to promote circus and street arts across the country in coastal regions. I wanted to find out more by meeting the Worthing team and getting a feel for the physical space and location. I also fancied a stroll along the pier that extends out from their Pavilion Theatre, which featured in a trailer for a show I had seen earlier this year (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxDu_lvjpKY">see Cul De Sac - click here for video</a>)!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ywxDtIMLfRPO-DT-q_x_kf5KpUyOy0-t57rTRL4tzWrbCErYTSd2jVVHPB1F2YSC1NXPBlYXpvk7AUB5c2iQPZGHEQJQe33k6JACiVr_k7THceJgKFEh9LkvHE1Xc_if9pg4h_KzpJc/s1600/IMG_4611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ywxDtIMLfRPO-DT-q_x_kf5KpUyOy0-t57rTRL4tzWrbCErYTSd2jVVHPB1F2YSC1NXPBlYXpvk7AUB5c2iQPZGHEQJQe33k6JACiVr_k7THceJgKFEh9LkvHE1Xc_if9pg4h_KzpJc/s320/IMG_4611.JPG" width="290" /></a>I had never been to Worthing before. In fact, as far as I knew, the last members of my family to go there were my Victorian great-grandparents, holidaying around the same time Oscar Wilde was there writing "The Importance of Being Earnest", naming his protagonist Jack Worthing in honour of the town. There was an elegance to the architecture, and I enjoyed the ten minute wander from the train station to Marine Parade, taking in the Punch & Judy puppets and jester in a solicitor's front window, next to a statue of Laurel and Hardy, and round the corner from the poster for <b>Barely Methodical Troupe's </b>show<b> Kin</b>, in the shadow of seagulls that, I noticed later, made their mark all down the back of my blazer - clowns everywhere! </div>
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The weather was glorious and the turquoise sea provided a stunning backdrop for the Pavilion Theatre, built in 1926. The building, described by Worthing Theatre's Head of Culture Amanda O'Reilly, "is like a brick and metal Big Top", and actually did have visiting circuses in the early days, with an in-built ramp especially for the elephants and at least one incident of an escaping seal! </div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">It is Amanda who is primarily responsible for bringing a new wave of circus to Worthing. Coming </span><span style="text-align: justify;">from a background in contemporary dance, and with a love of physical theatre that has a narrative, Amanda was drawn to circus she was seeing at Edinburgh Festival that mixed those two genres, that was both accessible and family friendly without compromising artistic integrity. Dressed in a fabulous circus print dress that evening, Amanda struck me as really good fun, and that was the vibe of the evening she and her team laid on.</span></div>
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Alcoholic slush puppies were served on arrival, and black and pink sunglasses (the theatre colours), on bar tables next to baskets of monogrammed slices of rock on bar tables, augmented the holiday feel. At one end was a DJ pumping out tunes, at another a graffiti artist was painting a stunning collage in celebration of the event. A photo-booth was decked out with all sorts of wigs and accessories and a happy crowd milled around drinking up the festival spirit. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-jdFFBk8V_47UNZVtsMyG2Yy85xLb6PJHbG8DGKGESIkqTboT6eDEEv0vnLhi8VXOUYm3zfS5QrZ3U97umgAvlf_luMtsuq0D_a7WvDuAng4f4DigIVOu_9VPqnJ1SX0Zh5_h1nVIDNI/s1600/IMG_4678.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-jdFFBk8V_47UNZVtsMyG2Yy85xLb6PJHbG8DGKGESIkqTboT6eDEEv0vnLhi8VXOUYm3zfS5QrZ3U97umgAvlf_luMtsuq0D_a7WvDuAng4f4DigIVOu_9VPqnJ1SX0Zh5_h1nVIDNI/s320/IMG_4678.JPG" width="320" /></a>Amanda introduced the festival while a video behind her screened footage from each of the shows. The line-up is notable for the sheer variety on offer as well as the fact that what all these shows have in common is that they appeal to circus first-timers and fanatics alike. There is: <b>Barely Methodical Troupe's </b>thrillingly funny<b> </b><b>Kin </b>(post to follow); <b>Acrojou's </b>beautiful outdoors German wheel show <b>The Wheelhouse </b>that I have been trying to see for the past three years; <b>Max Calaf Seve's</b> touchingly gentle and life-enhancing trampolining show <b>Anyday </b>(I've seen extracts at Jacksons Lane and National Circus); the world premiere of <b>Dizzy O'Dare's </b>full-length uplifting tightwire show <b>Rise </b>(<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/chapter-163-circus-in-pound.html">see post - click here</a>); <b>Head First Acrobats </b>crazy zombie acrobatics and Cyr wheel antics in <b>Elixir</b>; <b>Ockham's Razor's</b> much-acclaimed, absolute must-see <b>Tipping Point;</b> <b>Kate Lawrence Vertical Dance </b>angelic new aerial composition in a secret location and <b>Metta Theatre's </b>retelling of <b>Jungle Book (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/chapter-140-metta-theatres-jungle-book.html">see post - click here</a>). </b><br />
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It was a terrific opening night, signalling all the fun that lies ahead this summer - check it out! In addition to the shows, there are all sorts of circus experiences and workshops on offer, including the artists above giving workshops in trampolining, tightwire, acro-balance, wheel and hoop. For dates, listings and more information see <a href="https://worthingtheatres.co.uk/summer-of-circus/">www.worthingtheatres.co.uk/summer-of-circus (click here)</a>.<br />
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A huge thank you for your warm welcome and congratulations to Amanda, Stephen, Pam, Alice and all at <b>Worthing Theatres. </b>It was my first time with you, but certainly not the last, and I'm looking forward to coming back with the family for more circus fun in the sun...<br />
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LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-41272354068387862342017-06-15T03:26:00.000-07:002017-06-27T12:55:22.200-07:00Chapter 195: Peta Lily's Topless<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last week I went to see Peta Lily's <b>Topless </b>at the Hackney Attic. A masterclass in physical comedy, comic timing, the female voice and emotional honesty. It was part of a #LaughorCry17 two act programme by <b>To The Moon</b>, founded by Artistic Director <b>Sharon Burrell</b>, passionate about serving up the darker side of life with a shot of laughter, and getting women's stories heard. In an interesting juxtaposition, Lily shared the bill with Ellen Waddell, a performer in her early 30s, who revisited her people-pleasing, perfectionist, ex-Indie rocker 2012 self, stripping back the lies she told with disarming honesty. Lily, on the other hand, rewound 20 years to the original <b>Topless</b>, setting the show in context by way of an introduction.<b> </b>The show is the first in a trilogy charting different stages of life, and was followed by <b>Midriff </b>and then <b>Chastity Belt </b>(<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/chapter-156-peta-lilys-chastity-belt.html">click here</a>). I was looking forward to the evening because I had enjoyed <b>Chastity Belt </b>as a kind of heads up as to what lies ahead, while <b>Topless </b>was written when she was around my age, speaks to the here and now, and, as I told Peta later, quite frankly I was in need of a good laugh.</div>
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Lily is the pioneer in the art of Dark Clowning, where the comedy is informed by pain and suffering, so I knew the show would contain elements of black humour, though I have it on good authority from a friend who has been on one of her courses that Dark Clown work delves even deeper into tenebrious material. Clowning in this sense also refers specifically to physical comedy, but from watching <b>Chastity Belt</b> I knew Lily to be a gifted poet, telling her story through verbal as much as corporeal language. I expected witty, and on occasion acerbic, reflections on being a woman, life, love and sex, but my god, I was not prepared for the emotional rollercoaster moving from the pain of a marriage break-up, to taking a younger lover herself (an old flame, we cheered!), to breast cancer and sticking-plaster sex, and ultimately to the death of her mother. It feels a bit strange to say then that I was laughing throughout, but that's the essence of dark clowning for you. It reaches deep into the most poignant parts without swerving into sentimentality. Life lands blows. We have to deal with it and laugh, or else we'd never get up again. There was macabre humour to be found describing the painful mangle of a mammogram ("it's like a strippergram but with a granny hug at the end!"), or when driven round the bend by her lover. Watching Lily, fed up, shaking her fist declaring "c'est foutu! c'est cassé! c'est passé! c'est oublié!" ("it's fucked! it's broken! it's over! it's forgotten!") - going round in circles on some imaginary Parisian roundabout, was simply a priceless, life-affirming moment. And that's the thing about Lily, she has élan, she has verve, she has style and she's lots of fun. Dressed initially in a scarlett trenchcoat and red beret, stripping off to a lacy black number, wiggling her derriere to distract the audience while she consults her script - in the programme it was classed as a reading but it wasn't, though every so often Lily mined the comic potential of losing her thread - she channelled Anne Bancroft whether as a regular Mrs Robinson or the dowdy book collector in "84 Charing Cross Road". A natural mimic, conjuring up a whole cast of characters from Peat Bog lady to her curly lashed dancer boy, Lily tantalised with a wicked wit that was very close to the bone, painfully, acutely funny, but never cruel. An utterly brilliant evening and a class act. </div>
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<i>Sometimes there comes a dark night of the soul... </i>check out <b>Peta Lily</b>'s blog at <a href="http://www.petalily.com/clown-dark-clown-theatre-practice-blog">www.petalily.com/clown-dark-clown-theatre-practice-blog</a> and contact her through her website for more information on dark clowning and upcoming courses in July and future events.</div>
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<b>To The Moon </b>is producing five female solo shows at the <b>Edinburgh Fringe </b>this year, including Ellen Waddell @ellenstarbuck.</div>
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See <a href="http://www.to-the-moon.net/">www.to-the-moon.net</a> for more information.</div>
LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-54354605370671942292017-06-12T03:47:00.001-07:002018-02-22T09:13:23.273-08:00Chapter 194: Alula Cyr's Hyena<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">"If you have never been called a defiant, incorrigible, impossible woman... have faith. There is yet time."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of <i>Women Who Run With the Wolves</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Photo: <a href="https://alulacyr.wixsite.com/circus">www.alulacyr.wixsite.com</a></span></div>
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The figure of a circus strongwoman, getting ripped and letting rip, is one that I have always admired, and so I was looking forward to seeing the all-female circus trio <b>Alula Cyr </b>in their show <b>Hyena </b>produced Underbelly Festival on the Southbank by <b>Jacksons Lane</b> last week. Set in the intimacy of the Spiegeltent, <b>Jessica Ladley, Lil Rice </b>and <b>Fiona Thornhill</b>, who met on the degree course at the National Centre for Circus Arts, showed their mettle and their friendship to be as strong as the steel Cyr wheels in which they revolved.</div>
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<i>Women Who Run With the Wolves </i>is a touchstone text for a piece that explores the power released by connecting into the archetypal Wild Woman, and <b>Hyena</b> is a neat twist, owing to the matriarchal organisation of that particular species, in which the female is as strong, if not stronger, than the male. Circus has all sorts of tribes, and, going with Edel, founder of the training space <a href="http://www.flyingfantastic.co.uk/">Flying Fantastic</a>, it was ironic that we ended up sitting with a pack of female aerialists (birds of a feather!), including <b>Layla Rosa</b>, who directed the show along with <b>Rosamund Martin</b>. Together we whooped and cheered at the fierce skills, and, woah!, the sheer strength on display.</div>
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As the girls walked in their grace was silhouetted in the wave of long, diaphanous skirts. It was a femininity to be adopted, discarded and played with at will, like their flowing hair, at one point gently braiding each other's, at another giving it a good tug. Underneath the skirts they wore leotard shorts. I liked the understated simplicity of the design, the contouring strips on them reminding me of a surgeon's marker pen marking out the anatomy on the female body. The acoustics in the round and the music was great, by turns lyrical in tender moments, visceral when echoing tribal dynamics, and always rooted in the very essence of <b>Alula</b>. <b>Ollie Clark</b>,<b> </b>who wrote and recorded the music, is an extremely talented long-term collaborator of Lil. I have seen them duet on stage a number of times at the Vaults, National Circus and Jacksons Lane over the past few years and get the sense that their musical partnership has grown organically, woven into the very fabric of Lil's identity as a singer. Watching Lil sing while rotating on Cyr wheel was a joy. Watching her belt out emotion from the top of a Cyr wheel, yet keep her balance on one foot, was both nerve-wrecking and enthralling. </div>
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Fiona is a phenomenal gymnast and carried off springs and flips with a calm, grounded confidence that was a study in physical precision. I had a soft spot for Jessica's comic turn as peace-making fulchrum between Lil and Fiona, diffusing tensions as glowering clouds gathered initially, through mischief and an irresistible sense of fun, mimicking and undercutting the dramatic posturing of synchronising prompts "And"... "Ready" ... "Change", teasing through sunshine. When they worked together as a triple it brought home the power of three, whether in acrobalance pyramids, co-ordinating impressive tricks and turns on Cyr, or lifting their wheels - hup! - in true circus strongwoman style. I also loved the way they linked the wheels together to create a Cyr ball and explored the new possibilities that afforded them. Ultimately, though, it was the show-stopping finale where the three became one vitruvian woman spinning round that left me reeling with the idea of an archetypal Wild Woman in us all. </div>
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"I am mother, I am sister, I'm daughter, friend.</div>
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I am Venus, I am Lilith, I have no end.</div>
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I need to be loved and I need to belong.</div>
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This is my tribe, and this is our song"</div>
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<i>Post-script February 2018: Since last summer on Southbank, HYENA has been in development and opens at Malden Family Theatre in Sussex. All the very best to Alula for the tour in this year celebrating 250 years of circus #circus250 - catch them when you can! </i></div>
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LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-25600873856287740202017-06-11T03:17:00.001-07:002017-06-11T04:45:48.329-07:00Chapter 193: Amici Dance Theatre Company: Tightrope<div style="text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Sheila Burnett <a href="http://www.sheilaburnett-photography.com/">www.sheilaburnett-photography.com</a></td></tr>
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"Save our circus," the bucket read. Ringling Bros. had taken its final bow, barely a few days before, and I was now with my daughters at the Lyric Hammersmith to see the Circus <b>Amici</b> struggle for survival in <b>Tightrope. </b></div>
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The show was about a fictional circus getting on in years and the bucket was actually collecting donations in lieu of a fixed payment for the programme. That's the deal with the <b>Amici</b> philosophy: give what you can. </div>
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The <b>Amici Dance Company</b> was founded in 1980 by Wolfang Stange and is renowned for <span style="text-align: left;">incorporating performers of all abilities in one body of visionary work: to date producing more than 20 company shows, holding numerous workshops that cross-share abilities, knowledge and experience, and giving rise to the off-shoot</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><b style="text-align: left;">Blink Dance Theatre Company </b><span style="text-align: left;">(</span><a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/chaper-146-blink-dance-theatres-four.html" style="text-align: left;">see post - click here</a><span style="text-align: left;">)</span>. Working in partnership with <a href="http://www.turtlekeyarts.org.uk/"><b>Turtle Key Arts</b></a> <b>Amici </b>brought back both it's 30th and 35th anniversary shows <b>Tightrope </b>and <b>35 Amici Drive </b>(<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/chapter-103-35-amici-drive-and-friends.html">see post - click here</a>) for one week in rep, both shows telling the story of a community under threat, reaching out to every body.<br />
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Boys and Girls</div>
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Welcome to Circus Amici...</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">We abandon no-one!"</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Declared Ringmaster Rosie Leake deliberately, carefully and with authority in her scarlet top hat and tails, as a parade of showgirls and acrobats, strongmen and clowns paraded round. The stage was set for some proper old school Big Top colourful entertainment. I was disappointed though, because right in front of the girls and I was sitting Francis Majekodunmi </span><span style="text-align: left;">(from <b>35 Amici Drive</b> and <b>Blink's Four Corners</b>) and a friend. How could they leave Francis out? Abandoned! Was he not in the show? I surreptitiously skimmed the programme to find his name. Billed as "Alternative Ringmaster" I thought maybe it was a job-share with Rosie, alternating performances. I had registered that he and his companion (Gurpreet Donsanjh) </span><span style="text-align: left;">were dressed identically, somewhat theatrically in trench-coat and top hat, but assumed they had dressed ahead of time for the evening performance. It was only when the Amazing Nicholas came on with his assistant (circus artist Olivia from <b>Joli Vyann</b>) that all was revealed. Francis and Gurpreet were plucked from the audience for a trick involving handing over a watch to the blind, rather forgetful, magician, only for it to be placed in a velvet bag and then smashed to pieces and... that was it. It was broken. There was no come back. "Rubbish!" they heckled. "Call this a circus?!" I was reminded for a moment of similar catcalls by Gandini Juggling in Smashed! (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/chapter-169-gandini-jugglings-smashed.html">see post - click here</a>). Of course, the audience were on the side of Circus Amici, willing them to carry on, and quickly booed the pantomime villains. We booed again when this couple of likely lads made fun of the circus strongmen carrying a ton of foam weights, and when the voice of Wendy the soprano failed to shatter the glass held aloft by her assistant Catherine, who quickly, and hilariously, silenced their insults with a peremptory hand gesture and stern admonishment that had us all cheering. We also laughed at the klutz clowns with their bumbling broom routine and a pie in the face for good measure, and at the highland fling of invisible blades by a regular "jock the knife" in her tam o' shanter, never entirely sure whether her aim really was to hit the target or if her clumsiness was a cover for murderous designs on her poor victims. </span></div>
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There were touchingly lyrical moments as well, thanks to the beauty in choreography and set. So I <span style="text-align: center;">watched David Grindley move across the stage on his knees, each step one of physical determination and courage. Behind him a group of dancers twirled white umbrellas that meshed to form a screen on which was projected an figure of a funambulist (Gandini's Chris Patfield) deftly crossing a wire, as though an image of David's limitless spirit. When David was attached to a wire and soared high into the air, it was a triumphant moment of liberation. I felt uplifted too watching the snake charmer's routine as ropes were twisted and ascended, and the aerial ballet, as tender as it was exhilarating, between Alex from </span><b>Ockham's Razor</b>, and Suzy Birchwood. In <b>35 Amici Drive </b>a couple of years agao<b> </b>I had seen Suzy in an acrobalance trio with <b>Joli Vyann's</b> Jan and Olivia, when, despite not being able to bear her own weight on her legs, she had a flexibility and fluidity of movement I could only dream of. This time round, Suzy moved out of her wheelchair and up into the air with an ease, confidence and trust in Alex, executing all manner of inversions and catches, that belied the fact that barely a couple of days before she had never been on a trapeze. </div>
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At the end, David took centre stage again, Glass-shattering Wendy hit just the right note and the company synchronised the release of dozens of red balloons into the air in a visual spectacular. I liked the fact that musician and composer Nao Masuda came down from the minstrel's gallery and joined the company as her wonderful music, with Jenny Adejayan on cello, and singers Wendy and Danny Standing, was an integral part of the performance. I was also touched when performers scooped up younger members of the audience, including my girls, to join them on stage for a final dance. The girls were delighted - they had been admiring earlier Stephanie Gallagher, a girl whose grace on stage gave their own dreams wings. Seeing them among the company, my youngest carried up the steps by a familiar clown (I later twigged it was because Colm Gallagher reminds me of Jean Reno!), I was struck again by the thought that we are all one family and "t<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit;">hat society is a collaboration of many different people; some wonderful, some odd, some strong, some weak—all necessary. That wonder is on the prowl, like a circus caravan, coming to a town near us, waiting to break into our world." (</span>Joseph Breslin on Ringling Bros. <a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-last-days-of-the-greatest-show-on-earth/">The Last Days of The Greatest Show On Earth - click here</a>). Kids get that instinctively. The joy about <b>Amici's Tightrope</b> is that it reminds the adults too.<br />
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LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-34342560610332584262017-06-08T08:58:00.003-07:002017-06-09T00:57:30.170-07:00Chapter 192: A Farewell to Ringling Bros<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: Lucas Jackson/Reuters (<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/05/the-finale-of-the-greatest-show-on-earth/527631/">click here</a>)</td></tr>
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A few of weeks ago a friend sent me a link to a fascinating BBC article <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/circus_leaves_town">"The Circus Leaves Town" (click here)</a> about the imminent closure of <b>Ringling Brothers Barnum and Baileys</b> in the United States.<br />
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I have never been to a <b>Ringling Bros</b> show, but I feel a certain connection. Great fans of <i>Barnum the Musica</i><i>l, </i>my children are fascinated by the thought that <b>Barnum</b> was a real person and I had hoped one day to take them to one of the circus spectaculars that was part of his legacy. Over these past couple of years I have virtually met Twitter with <b>Johnathan Lee Iverson</b>, Ringmaster at <b>Ringling Bros</b> for the past 18 years, and<b> Father Frank</b>, a student himself at a Ringling Bros clown school 45 years ago, before he found his religious vocation, who now spends several days a month as a circus priest (<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/07/20/the-surprising-history-of-the-catholic-churchs-circus-priests/?utm_term=.1b1bae83a1ba">see Washington Post article - click here</a>). I sent a message of support to both and received replies in kind that brought home we are all one Family. </div>
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It was important to me therefore to stay up and keep vigil watching the last ever Ringling Bros show live-streamed, which in UK time started at midnight and lasted until 3.30am in the morning. I had spent that afternoon watching Hikapee's HOME (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/chapter-188-hikapee-theatres-home-at.html">see post - click here</a>) and my thoughts now turned to these Ringling performers losing their family home on board the mile-long train - "the town without a zipcode". The rest of the house fast asleep, I curled up in bed and plugged in my headphones, joining a community of some 35,000 on-line viewers the world over.<br />
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I felt ambivalent about watching the Big Cat act, because it is not part of my heritage or culture. It was interesting, though, to see such an impressive act that is woven into circus history, and to listen to trainer <b>Alexander Lacey</b> giving a moving speech afterwards about his family breeding generations of great cats. Highlights for me included the capering and aerial antics of the <b>Clown Alley</b> brigade, especially <b>Davis Vassallo</b>'s tumbling sommersaults on the slackwire, the thrill of the acrobatics on ice with skaters doing three highs and flips into chairs held aloft, and the legendary <b>Cossack </b>riders. My heart went out to <b>The Tuniziani Troupe</b> seeking to perform the elusive quadruple sommersault launching from one flying trapeze to a catch in the other. I imagined the sweat and pressure on this the final night. Hands slipped. Without missing a beat, suavely and sagely Ringmaster Jonathan announced "We are not just the theater of the impossible, we are the theater of second chances..."<br />
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Unfortunately it appears their chances have been exhausted. As Johnathan observed in his final speech, this is more than the end of a show, "this is about the end of a culture, a community." <b>Ringling Bros</b>. had a size and history behind it that set it apart. Now many of the performers will be reabsorbed into other circuses - I heard Johnathan's wonderful clowning side-kick Paulo Dos Santos joined <b>Zippos</b> here in the UK only last week - and those that aren't I hope will forge a new path, one brick at a time. And, if you missed the life-streaming, below is <i>your</i> second chance to catch it, enjoy!<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">The circus embodies the risk of wonder. Like all true entertainment, it is more than just an exercise in pleasure, in mere feeding. The Show delights us, but also challenges us to recognize home truths about the human person: That freedom—the iconic freedom of the acrobat—is the product of discipline, not just whim. That man’s destiny includes the ennoblement and care of animals. That magnificence and goodness are worth the expense and hassle they bring in their wake, and that man </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">ought</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"> to be shaken out of his cloying obsession with comfort. That human sexuality, maleness and femaleness, is good and wholesome, just as it is dangerous and beautiful. That society is a collaboration of many different people; some wonderful, some odd, some strong, some weak—all necessary. That wonder is on the prowl, like a circus caravan, coming to a town near us, waiting to break into our world."</span></span></div>
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Joseph Breslin <a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-last-days-of-the-greatest-show-on-earth/">The Last Days of The Greatest Show On Earth (click here)</a></div>
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LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-90543066685214662692017-06-07T01:38:00.000-07:002017-06-07T02:28:13.222-07:00Chapter 191: Casus Circus' Driftwood<div style="font-family: Times; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; widows: 2;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All photos: Angus Stewart (<a href="http://www.angusstewart.me/">www.angusstewart.me</a>)</td></tr>
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London is transience. People flood in and out. We rub shoulders on the tube. Londoners never make eye contact; tourists and dreamers might. A look, a smile, an acknowledgement, we touch, we are touched, we drift. Apart. Or sometimes in the same direction. My husband and I met on the banks of the Thames and have bobbed along for 17 years now, wondering at the deeper currents that somehow drag us together through patches of stormy waters without getting wrecked. Through physical poetry and the element of risk <b>Casus Circus</b> describe both those moments of connection and the fragility of all relationships.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyDwlpUyL8XgXQAp24H_zahDXo_BNeNWykNSOUr7oTk96FCsUOzkkib9LWDDBW8xEia1fXnUZmp6mXGyWAt8_VRyA2S76xV0ENk3f-pJycNXjdwr8fG1XKLZrEQjqQtowbuBcT7Z8YbQE/s1600/Cast+Driftwood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1185" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyDwlpUyL8XgXQAp24H_zahDXo_BNeNWykNSOUr7oTk96FCsUOzkkib9LWDDBW8xEia1fXnUZmp6mXGyWAt8_VRyA2S76xV0ENk3f-pJycNXjdwr8fG1XKLZrEQjqQtowbuBcT7Z8YbQE/s400/Cast+Driftwood.jpg" width="295" /></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I watched <b>Driftwood</b> in the evening after meeting up with <b>Shannon Vitali </b>and <b>Jon Bonventura </b>to chat about the show (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/chapter-189-with-casus-circus-shannon.html">see previous post - click here</a>), and that personal connection heightened the anticipation. The hottest day of the year had given way to the balmiest of evenings and I sat outside the <b>Spiegeltent</b> transported in a wooden dodgem, this time in the wonderful company of Howard, founder of <b><a href="http://www.burlexe.com/">Burlexe</a></b> and <b><a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/chapter-34-boylexe-man-i-feel-like-woman.html">Boylexe</a></b>, drinking in the circus spirit along with tequila-infused Desperado beer. Luckily we noticed the doors opening in time to nip in and catch the last couple of free seats on the front row.</span></div>
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The lighting was dim inside, an intimate affair. In walked the performers and took their stations like five points of a pentagram. Shannon was directly facing us on the side and there was a flash of recognition and an immediate smile. This is the way of <b>Driftwood</b>, and part of their ethos - the artists are themselves and go with the flow. I had been ready for the pared down aesthetics of the show, the notes of silvers, greys and rich burgandies in the costumes, and then registered Jon owning it in a scarlett corset. Fabulous! Certain garments came and went - "circus folk bloody love taking their clothes off" after all (an observation at GDIF a couple of years ago <a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/chapter-84-snapshots-of-gdif-collectif.html">see post - click here</a>) - and I was sad to see the corset go, but could see how it would have been an impediment to fluid movements requiring greater flexibility in the back later. </div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">Threaded through the interactions was the recurring conceit of the red lampshade that would descend at points, each performer at different points drawn like a moth to its flame. By turns this could be comical with a performer contorting to reach the bulb, an echo of ET there!, then trying to restrain themselves from its siren call, or mystical in contemplation, and in the exploration of the pool of light it cast.</span></div>
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I loved the camaraderie between the group and the dynamics. If you have seen the "other" Driftwood (I haven't, but have heard about it) you would appreciate the subtle changes between certain acts. A charged duet between husbands <b>Jesse Scott </b>& <b>Lachlan Mcauley</b> in one show is a bromance in the other, playing on the familiar, rather than sexual, chemistry between Jon and <b>David Trappes</b>, and the physical comedy inherent in their small versus tall physiques. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigXs3oHrreCXCYw_mxst6y34bAZ5f3qrNzE7PYdZ4gwaHZWUvoeMLE6X7AXpLmzrhBtzy5OB64Yvp_NmirVKWi8ikJr308DLQfm9kK4e-bYMrDf2Snqxk1H5G5wwb1MdTR2heML-xJs68/s1600/L1004942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigXs3oHrreCXCYw_mxst6y34bAZ5f3qrNzE7PYdZ4gwaHZWUvoeMLE6X7AXpLmzrhBtzy5OB64Yvp_NmirVKWi8ikJr308DLQfm9kK4e-bYMrDf2Snqxk1H5G5wwb1MdTR2heML-xJs68/s400/L1004942.jpg" width="400" /></a>As mentioned in the previous post, the Samoan "Siva" dance between <b>Natano Fa'anana </b>and<b> Kali Retallack</b> becomes a "Bongle" reflecting <b>Johnny Brown</b>'s indigenous Australian heritage. The piece enables Shannon to return to her beloved dance roots, especially modern style. Johnny is also a dancer by training and watching them together in their (original) element was mesmerising. I can't remember if he was wearing the soft kilt still at that point, but I do remember the folds following the flow of his limbs, as with Shannon's skirted tunic. They both had such an elegance, energy and style. In Shannon's case this translated effortlessly onto a sequence on aerial hoop, as did her background in contortion, as she transitioned the most incredible of shapes at dizzying speed. I felt it especially keenly after the aerial intensive week with <b>Freedom2Fly</b> (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/chapter-186-aerial-intensive-week-with.html">see Chapter 186 - click here</a>) where even the slowest of spins felt like one of Torvill's triple axels on ice. </div>
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<b>Sarah McDougall </b>led the way with her hula-hooping - she was clearly the pro with the more intricate tricks. Shannon and Jon had flagged to me earlier they were new to the skill, but nonetheless performed seamlessly with flair, again no mean feat as I appreciated after a workshop with <b>NoFit State</b> back at<b> Underbelly </b>last year (<a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/chapter-165-running-away-to-circusan.html">see Chapter 165 - click here</a>). "Simple" tricks like the roll of the hoop across the shoulders of all three delighted me, and there was a sense of the hoop as metaphor for drawing (in) the circle family, connecting the dots. Sarah is also a natural clown, trained in trapeze and super-strong, so moments when she supported the whole cast, or based a three high, were as entertaining as they were staggeringly impressive, and turned the tables once again on gender assumptions. I love <b>Casus</b> for that as much as she does, clearly.<br />
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Another terrifying moment came with the arrival of the perch, which had doubled as a clothes hanger in an earlier scene. It was a study in equilibristics and connection as Jon balanced atop a perch balanced by David. Unable to communicate by language, for obvious reasons, as base, David had to subtly adjust his movements to any shifts is balance by Jon, who in turn interpreted the tremors travelling up the pole and responded accordingly. Later it was David's turn for a balance inversion, as he rested just on his head on the cushioned bar of a trapeze (the first time I have seen the Washington trapeze act performed live), swung gentle between the four performers, split and doubled up into a two-high on either side. As with other precarious feats it was tense watching, but also had the intensely lyrical quality of a lullaby, maybe it was the rocking motion that brought that to mind, or the gentlest of touches either side that set it in motion.<br />
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I was disappointed to see a rope come down finally as I knew, from conversation with Jon earlier, that, as well as being his speciality, this signalled the end of the line. I would have been content watching him perform the most beautiful drops, spins and acrobatics, but when the rope morphed into a Spanish web I realised that was the real showstopper. Normally (as I found out recently at Freedom2FlyDA) this would mean one hand is secured in a strap at the top while another holds further down and the bottom is swung round by another person to spin it. Here there wasn't a loop though, simply Jon's sheer grip holding on to both parts of the rope. Spinning faster and faster, wave after wave.</div>
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In a world where we are "tossed, and drifting ever, On life's unresting sea", navigating our way through human relationships, the consummate circus skills at play in <b>Driftwood </b>concentrated the thrill of turbulent emotional tides, as well as captured the gentler, endearing moments of connections and completely swept us away. </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span class="quote_sign">“</span>Like a plank of driftwood </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Tossed on the watery main, </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Another plank encountered, </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Meets, touches, parts again; </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">So tossed, and drifting ever, </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">On life’s unresting sea, </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Men meet, and greet, and sever, </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Parting eternally."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><i>Edwin Arnold</i> (1832-1904)</span></span></div>
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LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587253607890438271.post-14416277266192022412017-06-04T05:45:00.001-07:002017-06-12T06:01:38.059-07:00Chapter 190: Feathers of Daedalus' Coppélia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"The body is an endless sentence, inviting us to rearrange it so that its real meaning becomes a series of endless anagrams."</div>
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<b>Feathers of Daedalus </b>is a new circus company founded by <b>Joanna Vymeris. </b>A member of the <b>National Centre for Circus Arts</b>' (NCCA) <b>London Youth Circus,</b> performing in shows directed by Ockham's Razor and Jasmin Vardimon, in her final year at Cambridge, Joanna put on the university's first contemporary circus production, <b>Alice, </b>an immersive retelling of the Lewis Carroll tale,<b> </b>at the ADC theatre and then took it to the Edinburgh Fringe to great acclaim. On the back of this success she developed her current project <b>Coppélia</b>, which strips and rebuilds the ballet, setting circus alongside film, cleverly woven into the frame, and live poetry, written and read by Sophie Leseberg-Smith. <b>Coppélia </b>was awarded artist residency in Studio Kura in Japan last year, and Lab:time support from the Arts Council and the NCCA. </div>
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I came across <b>Feathers of Daedalus</b> on Instagram recently, which is where I learned that there would be a couple of Research and Development sharings over two evenings at<b> Jacksons Lane</b>. I couldn't make either date, but Joanna very kindly invited me along to the dress rehearsal, which slotted neatly in between interviewing Casus Circus at Underbelly and returning to watch Driftwood in the evening. Obviously meant to be! I heard via Casus Circus that afternoon that a friend of theirs, <b>Pascal Häring</b>, was in the sharing, but other than that had no idea what to expect. </div>
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It came as a wonderful surprise therefore to arrive at <b>Jacksons Lane </b>and find that along with Pascal doing some beautiful turns on Cyr wheel and an oneiric juggling sequence, there was <b>Nathalie Alison</b> (the sinuous Kaa in Metta Theatre's Jungle Book - <a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/chapter-140-metta-theatres-jungle-book.html">click here for post</a>) as graceful dancing on the ground as airborne on hoop, <b>Laura Moy</b> (see post on Crashmat Collective - <a href="http://lucylovescircus.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/chapter-49-dining-out-with-crashmat.html">click here</a>) flying on Chinese Pole and <b>Michelle Ross</b>, a soaring trapeze artist and acrobat I also follow on Instagram. I was sorry that I couldn't see their acts in full, as they had to conserve energy for the evening performance, but what I did see of them in action was beautiful. </div>
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Something else I was unprepared for, given the piece was set up for an R&D sharing, was that the design and costumes would be so well developed. The set had a steam punk feel and, while this was not an immersive spectacle, there was an air of Punchdrunk laced with gothic romantic tragedy that drew me in. Rather than a linear narrative, <b>Coppélia</b> was split into four parts, revolving around each of the four characters in turn - Dr Coppélia, Coppélia, Franz, and Swanilda. Viewed as a whole it explored the mechanisms of desire, possession and unrequited love. </div>
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The period of research and development now over, the production will be going to the <b>Edinburgh Fringe</b> this summer from 3-28 August (<a href="https://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/event/772621-coppelia/">www.edinburghfestival.list.co.uk - click here</a>), with the addition of six dancers and a different cast of circus performers: <a href="https://www.joshandtess.org/">JoshandTess</a> (Joshua Blackman and Tessa Frazer - hand to hand), Pete Shirley (Cyr wheel), all NCCA graduates, and dancer and acrobat Gabbie Cook. </div>
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For more information follow <b>Feathers of Daedalus</b> on Facebook and Instagram. Check out <b>@NoelShelley1 </b>production photographs on Instagram & Twitter.</div>
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</style>LucyLovesCircushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03643845832154413935noreply@blogger.com0