Circus Space blog

‘You in Mid air!’ rehearsals Tuesday 19...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:44:00 +0100

‘You in Mid air!’ rehearsals

Tuesday 19 June

Rehearsals are under way for our 2nd year Foundation Degree students ensemble performance, featuring RADA graduates and students. The show is directed by Nona Shepphard and opens Wednesday 26 June at Circus Space.

Tickets are £10/ £5 concessions and can be bought online right here

Foundation Degree Devised Pieces Charlie Wheeler and Tom Gaskin...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:45:02 +0100

Foundation Degree Devised Pieces

Charlie Wheeler and Tom Gaskin - “Mugglers Jonkey”

You can see Charlie, along with other Foundation Degree students and RADA students and graduates, performing next week. Tickets for ‘You in mid air!’ are available now online: https://circusspace.co.uk/YouInMidAir

Happy Families Rehearsals Friday 14 June Our BA Hons and...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:24:00 +0100

Happy Families Rehearsals

Friday 14 June

Our BA Hons and Postgraduate students are at the Hangar Arts Trust rehearsing for their ensemble show, ‘Happy Families’, directed by Cirque Bijou’s Billy Alwen.

‘Happy Families’ is being performed at Jackson’s Lane Theatre from 3 - 6 July. Tickets are on sale now.

Find out more and book tickets

Beren D’Amico and Louis Gift became the recipients of this...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:52:00 +0100

Beren D’Amico and Louis Gift became the recipients of this year’s Deutsche Bank Award and were also crowned the winners of Circus Maximus.

Here’s what they had to say…

“Since our first year, we had planned to create a company with another student, Charlie Wheeler (currently in second year). The idea stuck, and when we started third year we thought it was the perfect focus for our Deutsche Bank Award business plan.

The company is called Barely Methodical Troop and we’re planning to use the prize money to develop our debut show, Bromance. It’s about where you draw the line between romance and friendship between male friends. There is a lot of joking around and being affectionate between good male friends, and we wanted to explore at what point a close companionship is seen as a sexual preference.

The inspiration for the piece came from our ‘hand to hand’ discipline. We can think of maybe three or four male hand to hand partnerships in the world, it’s much more common to have a male and female hand to hand partnership. Specialising in ‘hand to hand’ means we hold hands all the time. We were interested in the idea of how we might change people’s perception of our relationship when we stopped holding hands as part of our discipline and held hands ‘normally’.

As a result of training at Circus Space we’re used to being in close proximity to each other. It’s normal to us, but might be really uncomfortable for the average person which is where the idea of personal space, what’s acceptable and what isn’t, came from. Because of all the training we do, we’re very close, and we’ve drawn on how we are together. You lose a lot of your embarrassment after a while!

The show will consist of creative acrobatics, similar to our devised piece (see video) with more theatrical elements included, such as character development. We will be working with two dance/movement choreographers and a director; Charlie will use his cyr wheel to represent the boundaries of personal space.

Because Charlie will be starting his final year at Circus Space in September we’re a bit restricted on when we can work together; we’ve got two weeks of research and development booked this summer, we’ll be developing the project at weekends and we’ll also block out some time at Christmas and next Easter.

The set is going to be really simple, so easy to tour. There will just be us, drums because Louis plays drums, Charlie and his cyr wheel and that’s it. Hopefully we’ll be able to debut it in London, and then maybe take it to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival next summer with the Underbelly.

(Winning the Deutsche Bank Award and Circus Maximus) is a big thing, the biggest thing that’s happened. It’s brilliant… we feel super good about it… but it hasn’t properly sunk in yet. We’ve got through the competitions and we’ve been told we’ve won but we haven’t started on anything yet. As our plan begins to come together we’ll be able to see really clearly that we couldn’t have done it without winning the Deutsche Bank Award and Circus Maximus.”

The Deutsche Bank Awards for Creative Enterprises is an annual award offering a £10,000 prize, a Deutsche Bank business mentor for a year and a four day small business training course.

Circus Space became a Deutsche Bank Awards partner in 2006 joining a host of prestigious arts schools and conservatoires including the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Art, London Academy of Music and Drama (LAMDA) and London Contemporary Dance School. The Award enables participating arts colleges to offer practical and financial support to their students in that crucial year after graduating.

All of our third year students are required to enter the Deutsche Bank Award as part of their degree course. They are all given a mentor with whom they work on their idea throughout their final year. A number of finalists are selected to present their idea to a judging panel and the winner receives a £10,000 grant to realise their project.

Circus Maximus 2012 was the first ever UK wide circus competition. The finest circus talents competed in the iconic Udderbelly on the South Bank in London for the votes of the audience and judges. The prize was £5,000 and the opportunity to develop a new show with Underbelly Productions and Circus Space.

Find out more about the Circus Space Higher Education Programme

Circus Space Nightrider Challenge In the early hours of Sunday...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:09:00 +0100

Circus Space Nightrider Challenge

In the early hours of Sunday morning an intrepid team of cyclists set off on a 100km (62 mile) route around London. The team of eight have so far raised over £1,700 so far to support the next generation of circus artists through free workshops, bursaries and scholarships on our degree course.

Setting off at just after midnight, the course was an uphill challenge - quite literally - as the team tackled some of the capital’s highest points including Alexandra Palace and Parliament Hill. They also wound their way through a deserted Canary Warf and moonlit Trafalgar Square. The team’s hard work and training paid off though, with the group finishing in an average of seven hours.

Making a 100km loop through the streets of London has always been a goal of mine. To do one through the night and to raise funds for our organisation all added to the thrill of the adventure. Loved it and look forward to new challenges.

Tim Roberts, Director of Higher Education Courses

We’d like to say a huge thank you to the team which included Tim, Eira Gibson (Director of Participation & Outreach), Jennie Albone (Head of Participation & Outreach), Krystle Wilkinson (Finance Manager), Alex Diner, Alex Toumazis, Colm Matthews and Samantha Tai.

The team’s sponsorship page is still open for donations. If you would like to say congratulations, please visit mydonate.bt.com/events/circusspacenightrider/95576

Jam Jar Army At Circus Space, we believe that the wonders of...

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 15:19:00 +0100

Jam Jar Army

At Circus Space, we believe that the wonders of circus – the confidence, encouragement and self-esteem it fosters – should be available to any young person who wants to experience it. Our ultimate goal is to give everyone the opportunity to learn circus through a range of programmes including free workshops in schools, scholarships and bursaries.

In April, we asked our youth participants to help us achieve this goal by joining the Circus Space Jam Jar Army, the simple act of filling an empty jar with spare change and donating it to Circus Space. We were amazed by the response – in just six weeks we received over 50 full jars and raised over £500!

The grand total of £523 will allow even more young people to experience the wonders of circus. It could pay for a class of 30 local school pupils to try circus skills for the first time; our local schools workshops are a key part of an outreach programme that allows 450 young people – the majority from disadvantaged areas - to access our work for free every year. Not only do students learn circus skills such as juggling and acrobatics, they gain all important life skills such as self-confidence, coordination and team work.

We’d like to say a huge thank you everyone who took part for their efforts.

If you would like to find out more about how money raised supports our work, you can do so here

‘All you can leave behind’ 12 - 14 July Circus...

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:56:00 +0100

‘All you can leave behind’

12 - 14 July

Circus Space’s London Youth Circus perform their summer ensemble production, ‘All you can leave behind’, directed by James Doyle-Roberts.

Tickets are on sale now, and the show is open to everyone. Find out more and book online

Lots of congratulations to all of the Circus Maximus finalists,...

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:41:25 +0100

Lots of congratulations to all of the Circus Maximus finalists, who have been performing a fantastic show in the Udderbelly over the last few days. And extra congratulations to our BA Hons Degree students Louis and Beren, who won the competition!

A Strange Equation - R&D supported by Circus Space...

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:29:00 +0100

A Strange Equation - R&D supported by Circus Space Lab:Time.

A strange equation is a collaboration between Ziggy Slingsby, a rope performer and Jasmin Perrow a choreographer. Discovering that both their grandfathers were miners inspired the idea to create an aerial show that reflects the experience of working underground through physical movement.

“As an aerial rope performer I work with height: moving up and down through a tall but narrow vertical space. My grandfather was a miner and on a subconscious level, the image of going underground has influenced my imagination and perceptions of aerial work.” Ziggy Slingsby http://astrangeequation.wordpress.com/

Find out more about Lab:time

You in mid air! 26 - 29 June Circus Space, N1 6HD Circus...

Wed, 29 May 2013 17:20:39 +0100

You in mid air!

26 - 29 June

Circus Space, N1 6HD

Circus Space 2nd year Foundation Degree and RADA 3rd year Acting Degree ensemble performance. Directed by Nona Shepphard.

Tickets on sale now

Nightrider Challenge Here are four members of the Circus Space...

Wed, 29 May 2013 16:08:30 +0100

Nightrider Challenge

Here are four members of the Circus Space Nightrider Challenge team, Jennie, Eira, Tim and Krystle. On Saturday 8 June they will be night-cycling across London, from Alexandra Palace to Crystal Palace, to raise money for Circus Space.

They’re working towards a group fundraising target of £2,500.Please help support the team’s efforts by sponsoring them here.

Circus Maximus - The Finals Silvia Pavone, hula hoop. Find out...

Wed, 29 May 2013 10:54:16 +0100

Circus Maximus - The Finals

Silvia Pavone, hula hoop.

Find out more and buy tickets

Circus Maximus - The Finals Dress rehearsal, Tuesday 28...

Tue, 28 May 2013 16:20:12 +0100

Circus Maximus - The Finals

Dress rehearsal, Tuesday 28 May

‘Circus Maximus - The Finals’ opens tonight at the Udderbelly on London’s Southbank.

Find out more and buy tickets

Juggling Matthew Green - ‘tilT’ Performed as part of the...

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:21:00 +0100

Juggling

Matthew Green - ‘tilT’

Performed as part of the Circus Space BA Hons Degree 3rd year devised pieces, ‘Strange Forces’.

Find out more about the Circus Space Higher Education Programme at http://circusspace.co.uk/degree

Video by Mark Morreaux - http://www.morreaux.co.uk/

Juggling Lynn Scott - ‘For the birds’ Performed as part of the...

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:09:56 +0100

Juggling

Lynn Scott - ‘For the birds’

Performed as part of the Circus Space BA Hons Degree 3rd year devised pieces, ‘Strange Forces’.

Find out more about the Circus Space Higher Education Programme at http://circusspace.co.uk/degree

Video by Mark Morreaux - http://www.morreaux.co.uk/

Rope Heidi Hickling-Moore - ‘Are you...

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:03:00 +0100

Rope

Heidi Hickling-Moore - ‘Are you nervous?’

Performed as part of the Circus Space BA Hons Degree 3rd year devised pieces, ‘Strange Forces’.

Find out more about the Circus Space Higher Education Programme at http://circusspace.co.uk/degree

Video by Mark Morreaux - http://www.morreaux.co.uk/

The Circus Maximus finalists are… Silvia Pavone (heat 1)...

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:57:00 +0100

The Circus Maximus finalists are…

Silvia Pavone (heat 1)
Fran and Lucie (heat 2)
Louis and Beren (heat 4)

Our heat 3 winner, Leilani ‘Lucky’ Franco, was unable to take part in the finals, so instead the judges have voted for two ‘wild cards’:
Ben Brown
Tom Ball

The acts will be rehearsing the finals show this week, with the shows taking place from 28 May - 1 June. Get your tickets at https://www.underbelly.co.uk/circusmaximus

Hand to hand Louis Gift and Beren D’Amico Harp by Helen...

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:19:00 +0100

Hand to hand

Louis Gift and Beren D’Amico

Harp by Helen Orford

Performed as part of the Circus Space BA Hons Degree 3rd year devised pieces, ‘Strange Forces’.

Find out more about the Circus Space Higher Education Programme at http://circusspace.co.uk/degree

Video by Mark Morreaux - http://www.morreaux.co.uk/

Static Cloud Lydia Harper - ‘Where your wings...

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:00:00 +0100

Static Cloud

Lydia Harper - ‘Where your wings were…’

Performed as part of the Circus Space BA Hons Degree 3rd year devised pieces, ‘Strange Forces’.

Find out more about the Circus Space Higher Education Programme at http://circusspace.co.uk/degree

Video by Mark Morreaux - http://www.morreaux.co.uk/

Heidi Hickling-Moore is in her third year on the BA Circus Arts...

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:39:00 +0100

Heidi Hickling-Moore is in her third year on the BA Circus Arts degree programme.

She has been training at Circus Space for 13 years and specialises in rope.

Did you always know you wanted to do circus?

When I was really little, we used to go swimming every Wednesday at Britannia with my mum. I used to watch the gymnastics class and I always wanted to do it. I’d always said to my mum I wanted to join the circus, but she couldn’t find anything at first. She said, there’s gymnastics…or you can do ballet classes with your sister. And I said I didn’t want to go by myself so I went to ballet.

When was you first experience of doing circus?

When I was five my mum signed me, my sister and my big brother up for a Circus Space one off day at the Barbican. We did acrobalance, trapeze and a little bit of rope, juggling. It was a children’s workshop, because I remember we got put in partners, and me and my sister didn’t get put together. I found it so scary that she got put with a little boy!

Did you start going to Circus Space after that?

All three of us got put on a waiting list and they called my mum when I was eight, so three years later, and said we’ve got spaces…I wanted to join straight away.

What have you noticed about the changes here?

The way it’s run, the spaces. It’s gone from being like a happy hippy circus to more like a theatre or ballet school. It’s a lot stricter.

Did you miss aspects of the old programme?

When it changed to include the London Youth Circus you couldn’t specialise in more than one thing anymore. I still loved it, but I had to choose between either flying or static.

What do you think about that now?

I think it was great to specialise in static trapeze but I think it would have benefited me to do flying as well…We do flying all the time now on the degree; I have regular flying classes and it’s been really helpful for my aerial awareness.

Did you start specialising in rope on the degree?

Yes. We did a bit of rope on the youth programme as a complimentary classes on Friday evenings. And I was absolutely terrified of drops…I used to refuse to do them. My friends loved doing them, and they’d always do curly wurlies which is the one where you go like a star shape and tumble down. At the time I would never have dreamed of doing one.

And how did you come about deciding what discipline to specialise in?

At first I didn’t want to do rope, I was a bit bored of solo static trapeze; I’d done it forever (from 8 – 18 years) and my doubles partner didn’t get into the degree because she had an injury. I didn’t want to do doubles with anyone else other than her.

What changed your mind?

On the degree I was dead set on doing Chinese Pole. I think I thought it was cool. I was useless though. I tried so hard, practiced every day after school any free time I had I was climbing up and down the pole, but I was still useless at it. I didn’t have the natural strength for it; I’m happy that I tried otherwise I would never have know. My teacher, Glen (Head of Acrobatics), was like, it’s not really the right skill for you, and I said, can I try and prove you wrong and he said I don’t think you will, but you can try.

I went through the process of pushing myself with something that was so unsuited to me. I was determined. Somewhere you’ve got to draw the line. But I think going through the process was really valuable because I think if I had decided to do rope in the first place I wouldn’t love it half as much as I do now. They said afterwards, okay you can do rope or hula hoop. I’m naturally quite good at hula hoop so that could have been the ideal choice, however, I went with rope. I was like, I’ve done aerial my whole life, I really like rope and I want to push myself and I feel like I can do hula hoop in my own time.

What did it feel like to decide you wanted to do Chinese Pole, try really hard at it and then realise you couldn’t do it?

I was really upset, but it was like fighting a losing battle. I think the reason I pushed it so hard is because I’m quite determined. You can’t say you can’t do something if you haven’t tried hard enough. For the strength I had at the time I tried really hard, but it was the realisation that this was going to be such a struggle and it was just going to be such a waste of my time on the degree because I would be spending my whole time learning to climb and looking like a clown. Some people can climb Chinese Pole really easily and look quite good and I’d do it ten times and still look rubbish. But, I’m very happy that they wouldn’t let me do it.

That’s why when people get fed up that they’re not allowed to do a certain discipline I think, that’s (the teachers’) job, they know what they’re doing and they use their knowledge of the field to advise you in the best way they can. I respect my teachers quite a lot; they said you’re still not naturally strong so rope will still be a challenge, which it is; it’s a challenge for me every day. I have to really push myself with my conditioning.

What do you do to build up your strength?

When it’s just building up strength I do lots of different climbs, pull ups, meat hooks, leg lifts, a million different things. I have at least an hour rope lesson a day and then a couple of hours extra for strengthening. And then, if you’re working on shows you’re running routines over and over again. We used to do sand bag conditioning where you do lots of conditioning with a weighted sand bag belt. Everything feels easy afterwards because you’ve lost loads of kilos when you take it off.

What made you decide to stay on the Youth Circus and do the degree?

I’ve always wanted to do circus.

Stupidly, when I picked my A-Levels, I did Biology, Chemistry, Psychology and Geography at AS Level and an extended project for Circus Space, which points wise counted as an AS. I went through all the archives and had a look through everything. It was really interesting.

I don’t know why, but when I was picking my A-Levels for some reason I thought I could be a GP as well. I didn’t think; I must have been really naive. And then it dawned on me, I’m just doing science for no reason, why am I here? I tried to change to do drama, my dad was like if you drop out of chemistry now who’s to say it won’t happen with biology? Which is hilarious because I failed AS-Level Chemistry and then I failed A-Level Biology once I got on the Circus Space degree. My school set me so much work to do and I was like, look, I’m at Circus Space every day of the week. By that time I was doing so many extra classes… People moaned, and would say they’d ruined the youth programme, but I was like, use it to your advantage – if they’re going to offer you all these extra free classes take them…I had a scholarship for a few years as well, on the youth programme and that really helped.

How did the scholarship help?

I wouldn’t have been able to stay if they hadn’t given me the scholarship, so that for me was a really big part of it. I’m sure I would have begged for money somewhere, but it made a huge difference.

Was it a natural progression to audition for the degree?

I wouldn’t say natural progression. I spoke to Eira (Director of Participation and Outreach) who was really supportive in advising me on what I needed to focus on to get on the degree. I wanted to do tightwire instead of acrobatics and Eira advised me not to because on the degree you need acrobatics. I’m still useless at it but I think it was helpful to have a strong understanding of it.

Do you think you were in a stronger position for your audition?

Stronger than I would have been without it, definitely. And having the extra conditioning as well. We didn’t understand why we needed to condition for the trapeze because trapeze is moves. When you’re 15, with a group of other girls of course you’re not going to understand why you need conditioning.

It’s really important to have the right mind set, five of us auditioned from the degree and two of us got in. The two people who went to extra practice time. Technically I wasn’t the best acrobat or the best on the trapeze, but I think if you work for something and try hard they can see you’ve put the effort in. I know a lot is about ability but not everything is.

Do you think if you hadn’t been accepted onto the degree you’d have reapplied the following year?

Definitely. I had a back-up plan – I got into all of my unis to do primary school teaching degree. I didn’t initially get on (the Circus Space degree), I was on the waiting list. If you ask some of the staff at Circus Space they will tell you how I upset I was. I was injured at my audition, I came in on crutches. I’d injured myself the day before. My teacher told me not to train the day before, and at the audition she was like, what did you do? But I think to get back up shows determination.

How have the last three years been on the degree here? What have been the highlights and the challenges?

The highlights have been being able to learn a new discipline inside out and really getting to know things…training regularly.

The challenges have been deciding what discipline to do in first year and trying to get stronger and fitter every day.

Overall, it’s been amazing. I don’t want to leave, loads of people get really excited about leaving but I don’t want to at all. I’ve been here for 13 years!

What benefits do you think a Circus Arts degree offers that other performing arts degrees do not?

The chance to be completely unique. Even within your own discipline you can adapt it to your own style and invent tricks that no one else has done before.

What do you feel the challenges are facing performing arts graduates? Do you think doing a circus arts degree has put you at an advantage?

Finding people that will pay you what you deserve to be paid. If I went into a club and did an aerial rope act I could die – if you do a risk assessment that’s the worst case scenario. It’s not like your job is on the line, your life is on the line every time you do a performance, but bookers don’t see it like that. Plus you’re in competition with people who are undercutting your fees. I think people should be educated to charge what they rightfully deserve. It’s hard, because if you charge a certain amount for a rubbish act and the booker is happy, they’ll pay the artist who is charging £50 rather than someone else who’s much more skilled but charging a higher fee. Circus is a community, if you undersell yourself you mess it up for everyone else, and take their jobs which then causes a backlash within the community because you’re undervaluing what your colleagues are worth. It’s not the way to go about things, because then everyone ends up with less work or they’re forced to undersell themselves in order to get work.

Do you think there’s a benefit to doing a Circus Arts degree in London?

Yes. It’s the hub of circus in the UK. There are so many venues opening, cabarets, companies. You get to know professionals, form links and learn the etiquette of being a professional performer; it’s not just about the skills.

What are your plans for after your graduate?

I’m not fully sure. Definitely performance work… I want to find lots of high spaces where I can perform rope, which will be a big challenge. And I want to perform as much as I can and to always be able to enjoy it. I also want to set up a company with a classmate which specialises in hula hooping hen and birthday parties and workshops for children and adults.

How do you find work when you graduate?

I’m on a couple of agencies’ books. A lot of circus work is through connections, castings and being able to apply for jobs through Side Show Circus Magazine. Circus Space now has a jobs page specifically for professionals. I’ll definitely join Circus Space’s Artist and Company Development Centre when I leave.

If you had a magic wand what three things would you like to be doing in five years time?

Perform rope regularly in well established venues.

Develop my company from a business plan into a successful reality.

To be one of the most successful rope performers in the country.