The other night I had the opportunity to see the circus segment of CINARS. My friend K just so happened to be performing with Cirkus Cirkor and while I came into town to see him, I also managed to score a pair of tickets to see the show!
'Show' is a generous term, of course. 'Showcase' is a better way of putting it. Four companies presented 25 minute versions of their shows in hopes of selling it to different producers.
Sitting in the audience was a very interesting experience for me. As a circus artist, I make for a very demanding (and critical) member of the public during a circus show. As an artist, I am most deeply concerned with what is projected from the artists on stage and what (if anything) they make me feel. For me, a truly successful piece consists of great skill and great emotional depth. Hearing what the business types had to say about what they were seeing, and witnessing what made them react most, was discouraging to say the least. Mind you, I did know at least one artist in three of the four shows being presented, so I did take their criticisms a little personally.
The point is, it would appear that what's important to me as an artist, both technically and artistically, doesn't mean jack in the eyes of the buyers. But then, they're not a 'real' audience either, so who can say who's in the right?
I was initially going to write one big long post on the whole thing, but I think to truly do the night justice, I'll need to do this Montreal Completement Cirque style, which is to say, multiple entries. That means as a reader, you get to live vicariously through me, and as the critic, I get to live vicariously through the artists!
Get ready for CINARS 2010, circus style!
* International Conference for the Performing Arts
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