SOCIAL inclusion is the name of the game at Circus Oz, and three of the performers in the show coming to the Canberra Theatre this week have been busy putting the theory to practice.
Performers Jeremy Davies, (a former Canberran) Flip Kammerer, and Luke Taylor spent a busy day at the Warehouse Circus headquarters in Chifley putting a new generation of clowns, tumblers and jugglers through their paces, with a mixture of groans and laughs erupting at inadvertent slips.
But that’s no problem, as Kammerer explained–a few mistakes and spills are what makes circus enduringly exciting. And that, in her view, was a real problem with Cirque du Soleil which, before cause of its perfection could be in her mind “a bit boring.”
To Kammerer, originally from Aubrey Wodonga and a former member of the Flying Fruitfly Circus, the strangest reaction they get when they’re on tour is from people who haven’t seen much theatre or circus and think it’s like TV, only you can’t turn it off.
With the kids at Warehouse, it’s different. They very well understand the interaction involved in live performance. At the workshop, the girls were outnumbered by the boys, who, Kammerer noted, “don’t mind acting like idiots,” and were therefore perfect for the slapstick-clowning classes that are her favourite thing.
She’d come to the workshop to develop her skills, but more particularly to learn some of the performing. Martin belongs to an emerging artists group who recently did five performances in the Poncho Circus “Underground” show at QL2 Dance Centre and she is also, increasingly, a composer for the circus’s performances.
While Martin doesn’t have a fixed game-plan, she said many of her Warehouse Circus peers were planning further studies at NICA, the National Institute of Circus Arts.
As for the three circus performers, it’s back to the serious work of chills, thrills and spills as they go on stage at the Canberra Theatre tonight.
Circus Oz, “From The Ground Up,” 7:30pm, October 3, 5 and 5 and 1:30pm, October 4, 6 and 7. Bookings to 6275 2700 or canberratheatrecentre.com.au
Who can be trusted?
In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.
If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.
Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.
Thank you,
Ian Meikle, editor
Leave a Reply