Chapter 107: Women In Circus and Nominations

"As women we are complex. I am a creatrix. I am a woman, a writer, a poet, a mother, a friend and daughter. I am the sum of many things, but I am more than circus tricks."

The Good Girl Confessional, blog by Charlotte Lea
@GoodGirlTalk (Twitter)

How I would love to lay claim to being a bag of circus tricks at the moment, but this term I have yet to tumble on trapeze, thread my needle through a hoop or wrap my legs round a pole, such is the life of a Mum in the new school year, trying to find her feet. So yesterday, after yet another school coffee morning, heading to Lakeland Plastics in my knitted cardi and feeling decidedly mumsy, I found myself in the Ann Summers shop next door instead. I hadn't set foot inside one for over a decade, and feeling both grey, and blue, was gratified by the riot of colour that greeted me, the teases of teal and screaming fuschia satin sets interspersed with 50 shades of latex, vibrating lipsticks and naughty knickers. The last time I had seen any sex toys on display was at Ai Wei Wei's exhibition at the Royal Academy, where a set of jade handcuffs were a both a reference to his 81 days of solitary confinement and a cheeky nod to the jade anal pearl sticks in the cabinet next door. Sex, censorship and the unspeakable, it seems, are all intimately intertwined in the arresting development of the voice.

But is there a difference between the male and the female artistic voice? Bumping into Flora Herberich on the train up to Bristol we chatted about the difference in narratives, men very often making a commercial success out of taking on the big topics of life, the universe and everything, while women more easily located in a caring, domestic sphere. Does it matter? Well, for me, no, because I am the author of "Lucy Loves Circus", after all, a blog that to some may appear a sirupy, chirrupy cheerleader of all things circus. Which it is, on a good day. But I have off-days too, where my confidence crumbles. So it was this week I found myself, on Monday, pulling over by the side of the road, overwhelmed with exhaustion and a sense of utter pointlessness, "Is anyone out there listening?" I cried out. "Because right now, I could really use a hand." The universe had fun with that one. The waves subsided, and I was on way again, because that's what you do. Later, cutting through the Common on the way to the supermarket, I bumped into a very chatty guy balancing on a line strung between a couple of trees, time literally suspended in the sunshine.  So it was that I found an unlikely helping hand in Peter, giving me my first ever impromptu class in slacklining and restoring my inner equilibrium.

Still, I had another wobble on my way to Bristol at the thought of my husband having to cover the childcare, again. Was it strictly necessary that I go to the VOLT: Women In Circus event? Another circus writer, Kate Kavanagh, would be up there after all, whose critical reviews are highly valued by the circus community, as testified in supporting The Circus Diaries at www.patreon.com/thecircusdiaries. Then I realised I was falling into the classic, dare I say phallocentric, trap of assuming there need only be a single authoritative voice, when what circus needs right now is, as Lyn Gardner once said, "a critical mass" - a multiplicity of voices covering as many angles as possible. All my life I have championed writing from the margins, whether as a feminist discourse in literature, or in post-grad research on Latin American theatre, and it was time now to own my position as newcomer on the fringes, and not be embarrassed by my belief that I too have a right to speak up.

The stage is set for the panel discussion

The VOLT scratch night is a biannual collaboration between the independent circus producing company Ausform and Bristol's circus school Circomedia, creating a space for circus artists to present works in progress and get feedback. This evening was a little different as it was drawn into the space of the Biennial Bristol Circus City Festival, with a view to examining the role of women in contemporary circus. Before the performances, which I shall explore in the following posts, there was a panel discussion hosted by Lina Frank of Ausform, in conversation with Umut Gunduz, director of the series of shorts "Circus Girls" (see post - click here), and director and performer Flick Ferdinando.

Umut described the organic evolution in the selection of Circus Girls, looking to encompass a broad range of circus skills and how inspiring he found their determination and commitment to their art form. He was struck by how vastly different each performer was on stage to in reality, describing in awe "these gentle, sensitive souls that exploded into colour", and how he sought to represent all of that in three minutes, of which one minute is entirely focussed on the performance itself.

Flick Ferdinando was asked to speak on her role in contemporary circus in the UK, and talked about her route into circus through training in classical theatre and dance. Instrumental in developing the theatre course module at Circus Space (as it was then, now the National Centre for Circus Arts), Flick talked about how she locates circus in a theatrical context, branching away from corporate fixtures that simply require a series of spectacular tricks, to construct shows that engage in a narrative. 

There are so many women making circus in the UK: the touchstone in the discussion being the acrobatic theatre of all-female Mimbre, weaving together individual physiques of women to create a strong, positively-gendered body of work, and the social storytelling of Vicki Amedume's aerial-focussed company Upswing, moving on to mention of tightwire trio Dizzy O'Dare and recent National Circus graduates, TwelveFeetTall and the Alula Cyr (wheel) girls. With all that however, there was a need identified for women to be more forthright into stepping up to shout out about their own work. I guess it was with this in mind that Ausform and Circomedia had been encouraging people in the world of circus and beyond to write in and nominate inspirational women in circus. And nominations are still open - click here to add your voice.

It was fantastic to hear that over 70 women had been nominated, and to give a feel for the range Lina selected a few, reading out the nominations and leaving the audience to guess who they were. 

Co-founder of Circomedia in Bristol, Helen Crocker was an easy guess for this crowd, as was Upswing's Vicki Amedume, Ali Williams and Lyn Routledge of NoFit State Circus. Less obvious initially was Ilona Jäntti until you realised "the clue was in the tree" (see post on "Circus Al Fresco"). Most surprising of all for the audience, including yours truly belting out the wrong name from the front row, was the shout-out for the work of Lucy Loves Circus. I was utterly stunned, and then came a huge rush of gratitude at the welcome extended to the newbie and outsider into this community of remarkable women. I don't know who wrote my nomination, and, as much as I am dying to know and thank you in person for that vote of confidence, it is rather wonderful to believe it could be any number of people. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how karma works: when you are at rock bottom, just keep plugging away, because someone is listening and you never know what is round the corner...  

Circus Girls - A Profile: Missy Macabre

"You have to burn yourself to learn how to play with fire"

- Missy Macabre

As featured in the Channel 4 All 4 on-line series Circus Girls (click here), Missy Macabre is an alchemist of pain, a female fakir executing astonishing feats of endurance. Circus hurts, for sure, yet in her hands a naked flame is not an instrument of torture but an object of mesmeric beauty. In her ornate head-dress, Missy is a high-priestess of mastery over self, and exudes a serene confidence that has been hard earned over a decade performing a variety of lethal circus stunts: bathing in broken glass, driving nails up her nose (as a human blockhead), using her body as an ashtray or chopping block, working with whips, beds of nails, and, of course, fire.  Missy has an even longer awareness and history of circus in the blood. Missy Macabre's performance is a mix of fin-de-siecle decadent glamour with a twist of 21st century tattooed into it, and while often working internationally, and at Torture Garden, can also be found occasion in the Spiegel Tent on the Southbank, or the Café de Paris where the short was filmed. Here she is, in her own words:

The circus and the fairground has always been in my life. My family on my mother’s side were in travelling fairs, and circuses for nearly 200 years. My great-grandfather was a bare-knuckle boxer in the early 20th century, fighting his way through the fairs to being a professional, eventually becoming British and Heavyweight champion. He fought at the Royal Albert Hall, was in silent films, friends with Charlie Chaplin, along with other celebrities of that time, and, when he married my great-grandmother, they closed Brighton for them. He later toured the American show circuit as well. I always heard amazing stories as a child, and these really inspired me in multiple ways. 

I started performing when I was 17, with friends, and we started with cabaret, but I wanted to develop more professionally and went to do the course in clowning at Circus Space (now the National Centre for Circus Arts) at 18, while practicing walking on glass and eating fire in my spare time. This evolved, and soon enough - within about six months - I was having watermelon sawn in half on my stomach with a chain-saw, in the same show as a friend was doing a flesh suspension whilst we lit a lightbulb through his pierced cheeks. I then wanted to mix hard stunts like bed of nails or broken glass with a softer side of cabaret - fire-eating and luxuriant costumes - as sideshow was predominantly performed by men. That is how I evolved to where I am now.

Umut [Gundunz - the film-maker] contacted me through Jackie Le and I really enjoyed working with him. Actually it was quite rewarding to explain what I did to somebody who was so interested and respectful. We had several long phone conversations and if felt like I was talking to a friend. Umut is really approachable and open to ideas. He really wanted to get to know me and my history on a personal level prior to filming, which is unlike other film makers I have worked with! I enjoyed making the film - I'm used to filming so understood the process, appreciating the delays and the rewarding elements of it.  It was amusing squeezing everybody into my tiny flat for the background interview, and then relocating to the grandeur of Cafe de Paris to film my act. It's a fabulous venue, and I've worked there a lot over the years.

The act you see in the short is from my latest show with a new costume and it's great to have such a strong piece of footage recording it. When I made the act, I saw it as an evolution of everything that had gone before. I'm known for my big, gold headpieces and opulent fire acts, and I wanted to really push it this time. My inspirations come from Catholicism, fetish/medical fetish, Chinese opera, traditional circus/sideshow ballet russe, strong women etc etc... When I choreographed it, I also built on my past stunts used in other shows, and the new ones I can do. I like to mix it up! I like to improvise and see what happens. As long as I look good, and the music feels right, I'll do a good show.

I absolutely love the series Circus Girls. It's about time that somebody shone the spotlight on what we do, we're involved in such a rich a diverse community and there is a whole range here. I'm so inspired by the performers around me, and these films show why. When I first watched the series I felt nervous, of course, but again so proud of the girls and the crew, for really creating something magical! Being involved in something like this has made me look back over the past ten years at all the hard work as a professional performer channelling my passions, and this is a wonderful milestone to mark it. It also gave me an insight into who I am, because it's not often we get a chance to see ourselves through the eyes of others.

Where do I want to go from here? Well, I want to see where creating even more elaborate costumes will take me, especially when mixed with highly skilled performance and fetish. 

Still feeling the heat from the visit to the Savage Beauty exhibition at the V&A (see post on "Alexander McQueen and the Circus Strongwoman" - click here), for me, Missy's words, like the raison d'être of her performance, incarnate Alexander McQueen's own vision: 

"I find beauty in the grotesque, like most artists. I have to force people to look at things." 

And she does. 

See www.missymacabre.co.uk and watch her now as part of the Channel 4 All 4 online series  Circus Girls: Missy Macabre

Chapter 103: 35 Amici Drive and Friends

"Hi, would you like to come to our meeting tonight to save 35 Amici Drive?" asked a friendly face, handing me a leaflet. I looked blank. A meeting? Afterwards? I thought I'd come to a show at the Lyric, a short one at that. Had I walked into a fundraising evening to save a local community? Another cause to support. I was exhausted, emotionally spent, nothing left to give. Compassion fatigue you call it, right? I raised a barrier and retreated, too tired to engage, too concerned that I should be putting the kids to bed, not leaving it to my husband, again. It took me a moment to register this was the welcome committee in character, all part of the show "35 Amici Drive" at the Lyric, in Hammersmith.

I didn't know much about the show, you see, or the company. I had only heard about it that morning, when Facebook alerted me to the fact that a couple of friends where going - Joli Vyann's Jan Patzke and Olivia Quayle (Click here for Joli Vyann's show Stateless). I didn't have time to email them, or check which night they were going, so it was a real surprise to find that actually they were in it - circus everywhere - I should have known! I knew that Turtle Key Arts were the producers, and had heard about them through Ockham's Razor. Another familiar face was Jenny Sealey (click here for post on Extraordinary Bodies' "Weighting"). We had never met, but I recognised Jenny from the discussion panel at the press event for Weighting, and very much admire the work of Graeae's theatre company. We ended up sitting together, and it felt like the wheel had come full circle. Weighting had been on my mind recently as the BBC released a reportage about it last week, which I then sent on to the Circus Debere Berhan, an Ethiopian circus company, the first one in Africa to integrate disabled performers. We had just met on Twitter and I wondered if they knew their sister company Extraordinary Bodies, the partnership between Diverse City and Cirque Bijou. Circus Debere's director Teklu Ashagir in turn sent me the following video and told me more about Cargo, their collaboration with a Swedish theatre tracking the story of 14 illegal Ethiopian immigrants, and showing it from an EU perspective. Talk about zeitgeist.

"35 Amici Drive" is the knock-out production celebrating 35 years of the Amici theatre dance company. The company was founded by Wolfgang Stange, integrating disabled and able-bodied performers and the show is a celebration of the empowerment and embodiment of diversity and community spirit. It is energetic, joyful, moving and life-affirming, with a fantastic musical score - and musicians! - to boot.  If my words fail to do it justice here it is simply that I am in a hurry to get the word out and give you a chance to go and see it as well.  

The story centres round the inhabitants of 35 Amici Drive on the Candy Estate, where life is not so sweet. A so-called "regeneration" project by Eastlawn Incorporated, approved by the fictitious  Streathlee Green Borough Council, headed up by the divinely insouciant local MP Mrs Hatcher, is about to evict the residents, and their individual histories and herstories are interwoven into the battle to stay. 

The mischievous Mr Loki, living up to his name, introduces us to both residents on one side and councillors and developers on the other, and leads all a merry dance. It took me a while (until I heard the voice) to cotton onto the fact that the star of the fabulous cabaret-style set Ebony Rose was actually a man and there was a touching duet with Ebony's friend that when interrupted segues into a dramatic stick dance fight, staving off the developers. What struck me about that scene was the way every single member of the cast was drawn into the performance, and that it flowed with such ease, belying the complexity of logistics that must have been taken into consideration.  

There was a tender duet between a mother and son, with the twist that her love is overpowering rather than empowering, and it had me in floods of tears. There was a spectacular violence in the acrobatics representing the tale of domestic abuse, with such ease and dexterity in balletic movement in the way Suzi is ripped from her wheelchair and flung around, that it is hard to believe her legs don't work properly. This is thanks again to the ingenuity of the choreography and strength of her partnership with circus duo Joli Vyann (see below). Four sisters danced with colourful scarves with a grace and joy reminiscent of dancers at a Holi festival, and the masquerade of homophobia that battered Ebony Rose was incredibly powerful. The final tango to Ich Bin ein Berliner, an anthem that celebrates democracy and self-governance was just genius, and the dispatch of Mrs Hatcher gratifyingly dramatic. 

There were other moments I loved too - the Matilda of a girl with her single mother, a regular Mrs Wormwood, the tea lady swigging the cups back, the twilight twinkly elderly Scottish couple, Rosie the painter, gliding and creating works of art, the Amici Arms pub landlord whose wheelchair became a novel set, the Spanish-speaking political refugee, whose family has been disappeared, so topical. 

As you can see residents of 35 Amici Drive have all suffered from discrimination because, in some shape or form they do not "fit the mould", but the support they give each other is movingly beautiful to behold. Fiction and reality blurs, because the love the company has for each other on stage is tangible. Of course "Amici" is a word rooted in friendship.  The thing is, as an able-bodied person who lived as a student in Spain in a L'Arche community with disabled people, I find an emotional honesty and directness there that cuts the crap. Through the frustrations and the laughter, you become as one, with one, and that's what true com-union means. Family. So I was delighted later to meet, among others,  Mr Loki, who is in fact called Francis, like my son. He told me very directly there can only be one Francis and a lively debate ensued.  It all felt very familiar. I'd love them to meet one day. In an after-word later, Wolfgang Stange talked about how the idea came to him when the Lyric, that is home to them, went under refurbishment, and that Amici theatre company is telling its own story through the show, after a fashion, is clear. Congratulations Amici on your 35 years of success, and here's to the future building on solid foundations.

35 Amici Drive has two shows left, tonight 11 and 12 September. 7.30pm at the Lyric. Catch it will you can. 

Chapter 102: Women in Circus

"Do you not know I am a woman? When I think, I must speak."

Rosalind,  As You Like It

Last night I was back at the Edinburgh Fringe, watching a show called "Robbed of Sleep" in which half a dozen clowns hijacked a lorry, then turned their guns on the audience, shooting out ribbons, party poppers and festival banners. The oldest trick in the book, and we laughed. It was a dream, obviously, and I don't need my subconscious to warn me that circus is stealing all my time. But right now so much is happening, I must speak.

Oxford was on my radar last week. Keziah Serrau has just taken STRIKE! up to the Oxford Playhouse. Unfamiliar with the work, I had seen Serrau's heart-stopping use of a suspended wooden platform, hanging either horizontally or sliding to vertical depending on the balance of performers, at a presentation at the National Circus for Canvas 2015 (pictured left - for more about Canvas click here) and would love to see this production:

"STRIKE! is directed by rising star Keziah Serreau and devised by highly skilled performers using innovative aerial structures, lively humour and a Kafka-esque setting to blur boundaries between circus and theatre. Expect daredevil stunts with a fiery tale of uprising as the cast of five play office workers, buried (quite literally) under an ever-increasing workload. But when they decide they aren’t going to take it anymore, they bend rules- and their bodies- to escape."   See the Oxford Mail - Curtain Raisers, and the BBC Radio Oxford interview (click here) which is available til 1st October.

I emailed friends in Oxford immediately, only to be told, "actually we are at the Playhouse already on Wednesday, the night before, to see some sort of cross between juggling and ballet". Aha! I thought, Gandini Juggling must be up in town too, with Ephemeral Architectures (Chapter 59 - click here). The friends contacted me later to say how much they had been impressed by the sheer athleticism of the choreography and the beautiful music. So close, but narrowly missing them, I went to Oxford myself on Friday night, with my husband to his alma mater Lady Margaret Hall, for a promenade production of As You Like It* (pictured right) through the college gardens. Set in occupied France, I caught a glimpse of circus in a ring, albeit a wrestling tumble, an onion-juggling Touchstone and some stellar clowning. It's on until 12th September, and well worth the journey. 

While travelling up to Oxford, browsing circus channels, I came across a video of Lyn Gardner in conversation with young critics and bloggers**. Find your niche, she advised them, find something that no-one else is writing about, and name-checked Kate Kavanagh, of The Circus Diaries. It was terrific to hear that recognition for both Kate's work and her platform. Here are two writers at the vangard of circus criticism, one a journalist, the other a blogger, and reviewer for on-line periodicals. To point out that they are women could be taken as a sexist observation. What does gender matter in the job they do? Well, hugely for me. Maybe because seeing the clip was so closely followed by a performance of the gender-bending As You Like It at a college that was formerly all-women, reminding me of my own all-female college in Cambridge (New Hall, now Murray Edwards - see Chapter 43: Cambridge Circus - click here). Both colleges seek to redress an inherent, institutionalised sexism in society, that is still rife. It may not come as a surprise to hear that I came across Sexism in the City: the lads invited to strippers clubs on "bonding" evenings with managers, secret pay grades, partners asking why you don't sleep your way to the top. But I have seen discrimination at work in academia as well, and heard Jude Kelly, director of the Southbank Centre, talk about it in the Arts - read her here marking Women of the World Festival.  And yet, despite being warned of the "jocks and jerks" around, I find the community of circus pretty egalitarian and I wonder if growing out of the margins of society, and still, to a certain extent, on the fringes, accounts for its inclusivity? There is a discussion there, waiting to happen.

Photo: www.maddiemcgowan.com

And happen it will on 14th October in Bristol. Ausform, in partnership with Circomedia, as part of the Bristol Circus City Festival (see www.bristolcircuscity.com) is hosting VOLT: Women in Circus. An evening that begins at 7.30pm, it will host a discussion on women in circus and a double-bill of work in progress performances from Maddie McGowan and Grania Pickard, the descriptions below taken direct from the website: VOLT: Women in Circus (click here)

"He Ain't Heavy from Grania Pickard (see project video below***) depicts an autobiographical narrative using a swinging trapeze and a puppet to give you an insight into Grania's relationship with her autistic brother. After an intensive month of research and development this will be the first showing of this exciting new work at Volt. This process has sparked a burgeoning collaboration with Alexander Hamilton-Ayres who has composed an original soundtrack for the piece. Grania hopes to raise awareness about families caring for a loved one with autism or special needs by sharing her own experiences with you. In his own words, her brother is both a 'rat bag' and 'the best.'

Grandma's Hands from Maddie McGowan: 
“Two people, at the start and at the end of their lives, 
bonded through blood...” 
The relationship between grandparents and grandchildren can be tender, delicate, and funny, its significance changing with time. Through aerial rope, text, movement and recorded conversations, Grandma’s Hands explores themes of biological inheritance, ageing, and what we can learn from each other across generations."

On Twitter at the weekend @Ausform invited suggestions as to whom should be on the panel for the evening. Were they talking circus artists, producers, programmers, promoters, writers, directors? I wondered out loud. A whole flurry of names immediately sprang to mind, and I have only been moving in circus circles for a year. That is incredibly encouraging. Fresh from my first ever 10k run round Kew Gardens (the Richmond Running Fest) with half a dozen girlfriends yesterday, I am in the zone for celebrating women supporting women. I think of the girlfriends who came to a circus experience afternoon at National Circus, and my fabulous friend Anne who signed up, with me, to evening classes there on the back of it (see Chapters 1, 2 and 3 - click here). It's Anne's birthday today, happy days! And I give thanks for the men who support us. So here's to momentum, moving forward and celebrating, circus style.

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." (Anaïs Nin)

*Creation Theatre's As You Like It is on in the gardens of Lady Margaret Hall until 12th September. 

Click here: www.creationtheatre.co.uk

** Lyn Gardner on Blogging and Theatre to Young Critics

***Grania Pickard is looking for support. See this project video for He Ain't Heavy 

Total Theatre Awards 2015 at the Edinburgh Fringe: and the winners are...

Total Theatre and Jacksons Lane Award for Circus and the winner is...

... well actually, the winners are, because *breaking news* there were two entirely different productions that stood out to the judges as meriting an award.  

This year's joint winners for The Total Theatre and Jacksons Lane Award for Circus this year are:

The Ricochet Project's Smoke and Mirrors (left)  and Palestinian Circus Company B-Orders (right)

Photo: My own (left) and www.circusdiaries.com (right)

I was due to see B-Orders but the show was cancelled, so was glad to be able to read Kate Kavanagh's review in The Circus Diaries (click here), as well as Lucy Ribchester's interview with the Palestinian Circus Company for Fest (click here). 

Read Lyn Gardner's review of Smoke and Mirrors (click here), and for my response to the performance see previous post (click here).

Total Theatre Award for Physical/Visual Category

Gandini Juggling narrowly missed the award in the Physical/Visual Theatre category, which went to Al Seed's Oog - read Mary Brennan's review for The Herald (click here).

Total Theatre and The Place Award for Dance

Photo: Rolline Laporte

Finally, as someone who has recently taken up ice-skating, I would love to have seen free skating  Le Patin Libre's Vertical Influences and have been reading about them with interest - check out:

Lucy Ribchester writing in The List (click here)

Kelly Apter in The Scotsman (click here) 

Kate Kavanagh's review of their show last year "This is Contemporary Ice Skating" (click here)

Funnily enough, I had a message only this morning, from Rosie, a figure-skating ice guide who took me round Somerset House at Christmas. We also bonded over a shared love of storytelling - find her @minimakebelieve on Twitter.  I'm looking forward to catching up with Rosie at Streatham Ice Rink once the kids are back at school!

Here are the other awards - you can find out more at www.totaltheatre.org.uk/total-theatre-awards

Total Theatre Significant Contribution Award: Forced Contribution

Total Theatre Innovation, Experimentation and Playing With Form Joint Winners: Portraits in Motion and Can I Start Again Please

Total Theatre Emerging Artist/Company Award: Breach with their show The Beanfield

Congratulations to all the artists and companies involved, and to the judges and assessors - familiar with the short and long-lists, for circus at least, rather them than me. Great news, and exciting times ahead. 

Total Theatre and Jacksons Lane Award for Circus 2015 - The Shortlist

Coming down the stairs after Smoke and Mirrors (see previous post), I would, of all people, bump into Layla, my static trapeze teacher from the National Circus. Talk about upping the ante for next term! Layla Rosa is one of the three judges for Total Theatre and Jacksons Lane Award for Circus the others being the Roundhouse's circus producer Leila Jones, and Jackson Lane's artistic director Adrian Berry. 

This is the second year the award for circus is running, and the winner is announced today. Last year's winners were Barely Methodical Troupe with Bromance (click here).

Smoke and Mirrors is one of five contenders this year, the others being Elephant in the Room (click here), Ellie Dubois' Ringside; La Meute and B-Orders (see www.thecircusdiaries.com). Also, in the category for Physical/Visual Theatre, is Gandini Juggling's  Ephemeral Architecture (click here).  Good luck to all. 

And the winner is...

Highlights from the Fringe: Smoke and Mirrors

Photo: www.thericochetproject.com

Have you heard of Pepper's ghost? It was a popular illusion in old carnival sideshows, dating back to the 1800s, using angled mirrors to conjure up the image of an ethereal spirit.  Alexander McQueen used the technique on the catwalk to render Kate Moss a will-o'-the-wisp trapped in a transparent pyramid (click here for the video), and I saw it recently at the V&A exhibition Savage Beauty (click here for the post). The aim of the installation was to provoke an emotional response, and I for one found the hologram a captivatingly poignant finale to the promenade through his work, summoning up McQueen, as his much as his muse. McQueen was a tortured soul always, striving to fashion beauty out of pain, and there is a sense of that longing for the unattainable in Smoke and Mirrors by the Ricochet Project, a partnership between Laura Stokes and Cohdi Harrell, over from New Mexico for their first Fringe. It was a hauntingly beautiful piece. 

Photo: Kate Russell www.theguardian.com

There was a lot of buzz about this show, and I was tremendously excited, having heard on the grapevine that it would feature the most exciting static trapeze work around. I arrived at Smoke and Mirrors a little deflated. I had just watched Wings in my heart (click here), two and a half hours' long, enchanting but exhausting. Then a chance conversation about further budget cuts to the arts left me despondent. There are so many vibrant companies, communities and theatres operating on a shoestring of a budget, using their own smoke and mirrors tricks to conjure up shows out of thin air, how will they survive? Smoke and mirrors acted like a defibrillator to revive my flagging heart.

It is a show diametrically opposed to Wings, an intimate Cirque de Soleil-style spectacle that carries a gentle, sincere message to follow your dreams and soar. Wings is a picture postcard from the rural idyll the Rigolo family inhabit in the Swiss mountains. Smoke and Mirrors is spartan in comparison: a couple of chairs, a trapeze and a rope. Its very minimalism suggestively ominous. We are presented with an urban hell of disconnected living where people's lives are driven by financial forecasts and meaningless statistics, enunciated by the voiceover at the beginning. Harrell and Stokes are dressed in suits, accessorised with briefcase and glasses, but very quickly this city apparel is stripped away to bare the humanity underneath. There is a sense of rediscovering our inner noble savage for, as an Orwellian (or Orson Wellesian?!) voiceover signals, society has taken a wrong turn, we human beings "think too much and feel too little". We have twisted ourselves in knots in the pursuit of happiness when really it's very simple: we just need to connect.


I still get goosebumps thinking of the sublime aerial acrobatics and choreography used to convey this. I love watching duets and the dynamic charge that generates, so watching Harrell and Stokes together on trapeze, and their synchronised handstands, was a complete joy. But I was also mesmerised by their separate turns. I found the drops on rope thrilling and the toe hangs excruciatingly lengthy. But more than the endurance of pain, and strength required, it was the extraordinary beauty of the forms  that Harrell and Stokes create with their mercurial movement that impressed me. The lighting and shadows gave their installation a Reubenesque richness, and I found the audio, the music and spoken word, the perfect frame. Together all these elements came together to create a performance of great physical depth and extraordinary power, that I feel privileged to have witnessed first-hand.

Smoke and Mirrors is at the Assembly Checkpoint 6pm for three more performances until 30 August.

Catch it while you can.