Friday, January 10, 2020
How Circa Contemporary Circus Pulls Off the "Impossible" Onstage
Dance Magazine: Watching Circa Contemporary Circus is a nail-biting experience. The acrobats climb the limbs of their fellow cast members, fly through the air without wires or ropes, and create human architecture that leaves audience members' mouths agape. The venues they perform in—from Jacob's Pillow in Massachusetts to the Barbican in London—grow abuzz with anxious energy. It's impossible not to wonder, "How do they pull it off?"
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3 comments:
I read this article because it was about dance which is something, I know very little about. The most interesting thing about this article for me was how the experiences differ for the people who are the bases and the flyers. I have never really thought about before how in tricks like this, the bases aren’t actually in a lot of danger, which they mention in the article. I have just always thought that these tricks are dangerous, so everyone is in danger. Which I still think is true; anyone can get hurt, but the flyers are in much more danger. I thought it was really interesting when the base said that he doesn’t do things he is scared of because he is the one that has to be trusted by the flyers so they are safe. I think that collaborative attitude is necessary in things like this. The whole section on fear was very interesting because I had always thought that when people do this for long time, they wouldn’t be scared when they go and perform on stage, but I guess that isn’t true and there is always there and is a good thing.
The elements of trust and communication is such an interesting part of this piece for me. I'm so used to performers who think of themselves as an individual in a group of other individual because they see their role in a performance as getting to where they need to go despite what others are doing. This is likely due to the fact that most of the performers I have worked with are still unsure of their relationship with the stage and the work they are doing, but I still think the comparison is interesting. In some ways, this group reminds me more of a cheer team than any theatrical group I have seen, but the blending of these styles is really exciting to me and does a great job to emphasize the collaborative aspects of theater as an overall art form. Even the creation of the performance piece is collaborative in a way that I would think gives the performers a lot of ownership of their work and makes them more willing to trust each other.
The way that my brain comprehends this type of performance is kind of as a cross between cheerleading, general acrobatics, and acting. It’s incredibly impressive the strength and precision that these performers display and achieve through their works, and I enjoy that they make the things they perform accessible to a wide range of audiences. The Batman, for example, could be understood by adults and children alike, adding to the crowd-wide spectacle aspect of their performances. One thing that I find admirable about these performers is that they acknowledge the role of fear in their performances. Often times it seems that people who perform these kinds of stunts are “fearless.” These artists, however, admit to fear and discuss how it keeps them safe and aware of their bodies. They recognize the potential threats to their well being in doing what they do, and take precautions as a result (they do three hour rehearsals before each performance).
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