Ow

Just... ow.

I Think We're Being Followed...

Where Good Ideas Come From

I came across this really fascinating video about where good ideas come from and while I suspect it's meant to apply to more scientific discoveries, I think it also applies to art and the creative process.




For a more in-depth discussion on this subject by the same author, with some great anecdotes, please head here.

Enjoy!

Barbara

On more than one occasion, I have been asked what I plan on doing as a career when I get older. And I admit, I've asked myself that very same question. While it is true that German wheel is relatively kind to the body, especially compared to many other circus disciplines, my body hurts. Quite a lot of the time, I might add.

As it turns out, however, I am never allowed to complain again.

Ever.

Why?  Because of a woman named Barbara...




Only 57 years to go until retirement...

What the...?

Where did you come from?! We left Nantes over a month ago!

Presents!

 Last night was Circus Christmas*, so how fitting that some excited, thoughtful, and lovely audience members came to the show bearing gifts! Apparently they loved the last show my circus performed so much that they've been waiting for the current show with considerable impatience! They drew pictures in advance to give to us during curtain call! And, somewhat inexplicably, they gave us a book!

Plus, the two little girls responsible for the drawings that follow had watched and studied the video of the previous show at school! Now that's an awesome teacher. No wonder they couldn't wait to see us in action!

The best part is that the morning after the show, we received an e-mail from the girls' mother that included pictures of the girls and some pictures of the exchange going down! Now that's what I call capturing the moment.

Did I mention that I love it when kids send us drawings? Because I do.







* Foie gras, snails, chestnuts, duck breast... yeah, Christmas at a French circus can be pretty swell! And delicious...

Overheard Backstage

"How are your arms?"

"They're good. Oh... they're bleeding..."

Memory Lane

Look out! An Ice Dragon!


Okay, so I'm not actually supposed to be an Ice Dragon, but being an Ice Dragon is way more awesome than what I'm actually supposed to be*.

Of all the costumes I have ever worn, this one is easily my favourite. True, it's made of spandex covered in vinyl, covered in velour, covered in glitter... and it easily weighs 10 lbs... but look at all its majesty!

Really, what I love is how it screams Cirque du Soleil. This was part of my costume for the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino. I was still in circus school at the time, so to be wearing a costume like that was pretty damn exciting.

The best part? They let us keep it! I've never worn it for anything else, but I really should. So if your next production calls for an Ice Dragon, give me a shout.




* Well? Aren't you at least going to guess?

La Loi de l'Emmerdement Maximale

The only way I can think to write this post is as a long list of complaints. Personally, I don't really enjoy writing those kinds of posts, nor do I terribly enjoy reading those kinds of posts. And yet, when a series of events slides so far off base and so much goes so wrong, how else can you proceed?

Despite massive amounts of evidence suggesting that getting the show together in Voiron would be laborious at best, those in charge let personal relationships and what can only be described as denial guide us into two full days of misery.

As I mentioned in a previous post, A isn't here because he has a mad case of mono. C is replacing him and the director naively chose to believe that since C replaced him for two shows nine months ago, the transition would go smoothly. Only when C replaced A in Besac, he mostly just did the straps act. All of A's backstage cues were handed to other cast members. This was not the case here. And of course, A was at least in Besac and could be consulted for details and specifics. In Voiron, we are adrift.

Add to that the fact that the man who took most of A's manipulations in Besac isn't here either. His replacement is. So there's no asking P what to do either.

So we arrived in Voiron and proceeded as usual. Meaning we didn't meet until 2pm. The meeting found a very surprised group of people with a very packed rehearsal schedule. We had to rehearse all the moments with C. And we had to rehearse all the things that normally get rehearsed the day of a run through. We started the run at 9pm. When we got to the final act, the group trampo-wall number, we stopped. Everyone but the four main acrobats went back to the hotel. We, the acrobats, stayed past midnight making the act work. D isn't comfortable on trampoline and so she never took C's jumps. Without A, we're two people short in the act. There's only so much M, L and myself can do.

There's no denying the run-through was bad. And despite more rehearsals the morning of the premiere, the premiere wasn't much better. There were so many technical problems I can't even begin to name them all. C forgot the first of his newly acquired cues resulting in quite the impressive temps morts on stage. We're talking serious crickets. Unfortunately, the way it was dealt with meant that a later scene in the show no longer any made sense and so fell flat...

But the true gem is the moment where we set up the trampoline for the group act at the end. To put it mildly, there is no room. When people talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place they're talking about this moment.

The first time we tried it, we didn't realize just how little space we had. When we noticed that the structure was in the way, we naturally tried to push it further back. What we didn't realize is that there was a technical bridge in the way. We were pushing the bottom but the top was stuck on the bridge. I'm sure that in some alternate Universe the entire structure fell over, crushing L, C, and I to death. Fortunately, we just had the entire thing kick back and forcibly push us back to where we started.

Which brings us to the rock and hard place. One side of the trampoline is touching the curtain. The bass player, due to limited space on stage (what with a trapeze flying in his face and all) has to stand right up against the curtain, and therefore, the trampoline. As does the drummer. So there's no room on that side. But the other side has perhaps a margin of 10cm before the structure. Bear in mind, people need to walk back and forth between the trampoline and the structure, as well as the trampoline and the curtain. The whole thing just leads to much elbowing and suddenly finding yourself stuck between the trampoline and the structure because someone decided to get a little room elsewhere.

I've been pinched, crushed, bruised, had my head bashed, and formed blood blisters all by trying to set up the trampoline in this non-existent space. And the run isn't over yet.

Then there's the state of the music, the fact that we can't even hear the audience, the sound system crapping out (that was a fun show), the lighting system crapping out the same day as the sound system (fun fun fun), and my falling ill...

Nothing but good times.

I Got New Pants!

After almost two years on tour, a couple hundred shows and almost as many promises, I finally have new pants! They're not the same fabric, but that's okay because these ones sparkle!

Old pants...

New pants...

The side-by-side comparison...

Aren't they beautiful? No more gross, discoloured, practically-no-more-fabric-in-the-knees pants for me! It's all bright and shiny from here on in! True, the first time I wore the new pants on stage the zipper came undone and they started to fall off, but it was only a run-through and a clip has since been attached. Considering the costume designer spends more time complaining about how much work she has rather than doing the actual work in question, I consider it a small miracle to even have new pants. Reliable zipper or not.

So hooray for new pants!

Leap of Faith

If you could use a little inspiration, or would like to be moved to tears, watch this video.

If not, watch it anyway.

Are You Kidding Me?

A will not be joining us in Voiron. He will not be joining us in Voiron because he is currently hospitalized with mononucleosis. There is a very good chance that he will not be joining us on tour in the New Year either.

Seriously?

We're already having auditions for a potential replacement for L in Voiron. I'm beginning to think that my health is not the only thing that's jinxed...

The only silver lining in all of this is that the man who will be replacing A in Voiron already replaced him for two shows back in the spring. So it stands to reason that we won't be spending the two weeks before Christmas trapped in a pitch dark theatre all day long, right?

Right?

CINARS - Circus Incognitus (Jamie Adkins)

The first time I ever saw Jamie Adkins perform was also the first time I ever participated in a CINARS event. At the time, he was performing a part of his previous show, Typo. Six years later he's back with Circus Incognitus and it's just as brilliant.

Honestly, I can't say enough good things about Jamie Adkins. He is one of those rare performers that simply makes you fall in love with him. His work is extremely creative, free of pretension, and masterfully performed. Jamie takes the audience by the hand and doesn't let go. He is charming, funny and has brilliant timing. But its the way he interacts with the audience that shows what a seasoned artist he is. Jamie takes whatever the audience or circumstance happens to throw at him and makes it work for him and the show. The best example of the CINARS performance would be the use of the line "Twenty-five minutes!", referring to the time limit imposed by the event. Incredibly simple, but it makes a show suddenly seem like it was made especially for the people watching it at that moment.

And the real life Jamie? I've had the pleasure of meeting him and was even in a show with him once (though I doubt he would remember me). He is the man he is on stage, which is to say friendly, funny and generally awesome. If ever you have the opportunity to see him perform, take it. His show may be geared toward a youth audience, but I guarantee, your inner child will be standing on its seat screaming and laughing along with everyone else.



A longer, but lower quality video, can be found here.

CINARS - Inside Out (Cirkus Cirkör)

I hate to say it, but I really don't think this was a particularly successful sales pitch. I know I shouldn't even be referring to a show as a sales pitch, but that's kind of the point of CINARS. And its not that the show is bad, its that I had no idea of what the show was supposed to be, really.

For some reason, Cirkör chose to focus more on video that its actual artists. There were, of course, excerpts from the show, but they let the entire promo video (embedded below) run while a guy did some bad simple wheel in front of the screen. I can see how it might have been a good idea to show the very well filmed promo video, but next to the companies that actually performed coherent portions of their shows it just didn't work.

For starters, you couldn't help but wonder if the show is actually like that. Having an extremely visually stimulating video projected while some other visually stimulating thing is going on simultaneously in front of that visually stimulating video is just way too much to take in. You don't even want to look.

But worse is that next to the very artfully filmed video, the live version just looked, well, cheap. The worst part, for me, was the singer. Her costume, a long red dress and feathered head dress, screams elegance and power. But the woman in the costume was moving like a 15 year old grooving to some indie rock tune in the back of a bar. Speaking of indie rock music, for me, there was a serious disconnect between what was happening on stage (specifically, the Universe the artists were creating) and the accompanying music. When I see a decaying traditional circus that seems to have ripped the heart out of some unsuspecting audience member, I expect the music to kind of support that. And while I must admit it does work more or less for the video, it quickly becomes out of place during the live version of the show. Perhaps as a whole, this is not the case. I couldn't say.

My friend K, however, was beautiful. He's a slack rope walker and for me is a perfect example of what a contemporary circus artist should be.

I would definitely be curious to see this show in full, but not without a supply of ibuprofen.

CINARS - Les Parfaits Inconnus

Okay. There's only one word to describe Les Parfaits Inconnus and that word is fun. Very high energy, great characters, and live music made for a seriously good time. And I think they did a brilliant job of selling their show in the respect that if I were a buyer, I would know exactly the kind of show I would be getting. Not to mention they came off as incredibly charming.

Sadly, this is one of those examples of the disconnect between audience member and buyer. I really liked what I saw but the two buyers seated behind me didn't seem impressed. They were more enamored with the emotionally void Australians than these vibrant and zany guys! The base player, who had a wonderfully nerdy character, managed to maintain that persona while performing technical skills on a rola-bolla! For me, that's circus. Way more than just a salto all on its own.

Even more surprising, the friend I saw the show with (and a fellow circus artist to boot) felt that it had too much of a school presentation vibe and didn't care for it as a professional show. Hm. Its true it was quite silly, but I think the real issue is that the energy remained the same the entire 25 minutes. I can't really say monotone, because for me that means flat. This show was certainly not flat, but it could use some variations in energy. Then again, I only saw 25 minutes, so who could say?

One thing I really appreciated as an artist is that I learned something. I don't know that I've ever seen a better example of manipulating the audience to believe that the skills being performed are much harder than they actually are, therefore making the artist seem that much more impressive when they succeed. I don't mean to come off as cynical. I'm not. That kind of showmanship is a huge part of the circus tradition. To see it executed so well is a treat and certainly food for thought.

I suspect that the video below is of a much older version of the show. The version I saw had six artists, not four. But it still gives a good idea of what Les Parfaits Inconnus are all about.

CINARS - CIRCA

The first company to present their work was Australia's CIRCA. I've got to say, I'm somewhat on the fence about them. Technically, they were very good. Very, very good. The artists moved with fluidity and maturity. They were strong, performed skills that were both impressive and creative, and clearly mastered their technique.

I particularly appreciated the way the women were represented in the show (well, the sample of the show I got to see, anyway). The women were just as powerful as the men, sometimes more so. For me, this was most apparent in the sports acro dance piece where both men and women acted as both porters and flyers. Often, I see women perform more skills that I can only describe as fluff, but these women were skilled, strong, and feminine acrobats. It was a pleasure to watch.

That being said, here's what leaves me on the fence: the skills were there, but for the vast majority of the presentation, nobody on stage gave me anything.

What I mean is, they were far too neutral. Of course, being neutral is a very possible state of being on stage, but the audience should still feel that the artist is present and fully engaged. There were many moments where I felt like the artists were just standing there, completely detached from what was going on around them or worse, oblivious to the fact that people were watching them. This was most apparent in the sports acro dance piece. There were many moments where I felt like the music was doing all the work.

There was a wonderful moment where a woman in sparkly red spiked heels walked all over and physically manipulated one of her male colleagues. The idea is spectacular, and while there was definitely more feeling that in the previous moments on stage, I still felt that the artists were holding back and that they could have gone much further with what they were doing/feeling. If the woman in the heels really was going all out, she wasn't able to fully transmit that to the public. If she can find a way to do that, that number would go from good to brilliant.

I would like to see this show in its entirety. Since I can't do that at this time, here's a video!

CINARS

CINARS (Conférence internationale des arts de la scène*) is a concept that was developed in the 80s where artists, producers, buyers and artistic-event programmers from Canada, the Americas, Europe and Asia come together to discover productions of all kinds: dance, music, theatre or multidisciplinary arts. The first ever CINARS was held in Montreal in 1984. In a nutshell, CINARS aims to promote and facilitate greater touring opportunites of artistic productions and creations.


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