Food for thought

• Performers and Workers in Circus
• On the Road

Performers and Workers in Circus

Tony Rooke | Abi Collins | Donna Jackson | Antonella Cassella | Anni Davey | Sue Broadway road story

Tony Rooke
Tony Rooke, born in Queensland on a pineapple farm with 5 brothers and 3
sisters. Now living out of a suitcase, caravan and tent, mainly on the east coast of Australia. Founder of the National Circus Festival which is held almost yearly around Australia. Solo cabaret performer, and owner of the contemporary side show The Tiny Top.
Question 1. How did you get into this industry?
I was working with the Australian Performing Group at The Pram Factory in Melbourne in the early 1970’s where we were starting to present productions that were not drama but a mixture of vaudeville, social comment and physical theatre. Two of the performers (Bob Thornicroft and myself) came from dance backgrounds. I’d also just graduated from NIDA and could see the boring nature of the Australian theatre scene and didn’t want to pursue that road.

Question 2. What kind of training have you had?
Classical Ballet, NIDA, Carpentry and a life of Social Activism.

Question 3. What inspires you and why?
I’m inspired by the magic of performance and what amazing things the human body can do.
I’m also challenged by the interconnectedness of the people we work with and perform for.

Question 4. How do you see your self in the context of the circus and
physical theatre industry?
A planner, performer, connector and rebel.

Question 5. When you go and see new circus and physical theatre show, what are the qualities you look for?
People connecting with the audience. An environment where everyone feels special and fully human. Shows that break new ground and challenge the art form.
Question 6. What are your hopes for the future of the industry?
That it becomes as big as rock music and that all of us in the industry place as much importance on the fragile nature of the environment, social justice and the human condition as they do on the glamour of “Performing”.

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Abi Collins
Question 1. How did you get into the industry?
Ever since I can remember I have loved to entertain. When I was a child I was painfully shy and ironically the only way to deal with this was to perform. It was a way to escape out of my shell, to escape into a fantasy world where I could be anything. I started dancing when I was quite young but didn't really enjoy the 'cattle call' mentality of my local dancing school; being 1 of 257 Shirley Temple's didn't really give me room to develop! So instead I turned my attention to directing my friends in such luminary productions as "Money For The Wounded Soldiers" and "Carnival in the Middle of The Street".

Question 2. Training
When I was 9 (still living in the UK where I was born) The British Arts Council 'encouraged' the Royal Ballet to audition 'ordinary' kids (ie working class kids like me) for the Ballet School - perhaps the Arts Council was trying to justify the copious amounts of funding awarded to an art form enjoyed by less than 1% of the population?! I was absolutely devastated when I didn't get through the second round of auditions but fortunately for me an ex-dancer picked up us ugly ducklings, and she was determined to turn us into swans. I spent a year under Mrs Graham's tutelage and apart from discovering how much fun it was to kick my classmates in the bum during barre work, I also discovered a passion for the grace and discipline of ballet (I'm over that now).

For the next year I literally worked my butt off, spending hours at home holding onto a chair doing pliés, punishing my hips to improve my turnout (something I'm really paying for now in my 30s). To my amazement the next year I got through the second round and gained a place at the Junior Ballet School. And that's where the hell began. All selected girls were measured for the official school 'uniform' - except me. Due to distance I could only attend weekend classes, so I rapidly fell behind the other girls who were also training mid-week. Despite knowing this, the teachers refused to place me at a barre with a wall-mirror - so I couldn't even bluff my way through by copying the other girls! After three months my 10 year old sense of social justice was completely outraged and I stopped going to classes, to the relief of my parents.

I joined another local dancing school where the principal's daughter used to run around with her school shirt and tie tucked into her leotard - this was the place for me. I learned to crush my vertebrae mercilessly doing chest rolls with no floor mats and apply white eye shadow. When I got to secondary school I joined the Trampoline and Gymnastics Teams, but avoided ball sports as my poor eye-hand coordination meant I often used my face as a bat/goal/racket. With no qualified gym coach at the school routines consisted of cartwheels and forward rolls, and I wanted more.

I began a relentless back yard training schedule, teaching myself flick flacks by landing on my head. At the inter-schools gymnastics comp I apparently did the slowest five flick-flacks in world history to the theme from 'Zorba The Greek'. My attention turned back to dancing when a trendy school teacher introduced me to the band Talking Heads and contemporary dance. However, my work experience week at the London School of Contemporary Dance immediately put me off; I arrived there hoping to join in with the classes and they gave me posters to roll instead (needless to say I took the rest of the week off!).

At higher secondary college my focus turned to acting, which I adored. But fears about unemployment and my own self-doubt, meant that I opted for University instead of even trying for Drama school. I studied English and Theatre Arts at Goldsmith's College, University of London, where I had lots of fun and learnt some cool stuff too. Inherently low on self esteem I was amazed when I got my degree (perhaps also because I only spent 3 weeks studying for my finals - about which I still have nightmares).

I had no idea what to do with the rest of my life but knew I wanted to get out of London so I enrolled in a Masters program at the University of Bristol Drama Department. After a near nervous-breakdown I saw out the year and got my Master's, but I'd already been bitten by the circus bug. I attended just one trapeze class with a friend and despite the pain in my entire upper body and a bad first trip with the web, I was hooked. I enrolled in night classes in trapeze and tightwire at Circomedia, Bristol, UK and also got involved with a No Fit State Circus community project.

With some friends later that year I co-founded a couple of performance groups; Captive Theatre; a guerilla-style roving group, performing against the Criminal Justice Bill, and Prometheus; a fire and movement based troupe with a trapeze rig that looked like something out of 'Australia's Funniest Home Videos'. I also taught drama and movement classes for 3 to 12 year olds and completed a project for adults with learning difficulties. And then I met David Cassel at Glastonbury festival.

I took a huge leap of faith and left everything behind to travel around Europe with David for the summer (and continue my training, this time in street theatre). I put together a street show, "Fire on The Nile", a comic romp based (loosely) on Anthony and Cleopatra as a mock-ballet, and busked at Avignon Festival and various other events. At the end of the summer I packed up my home and moved to Melbourne, where David had already been living for some time. David and I began working together, got married at the 1997 Stradbroke Island Circus Festival, and the rest, as they say, is history (and it's still in the making!).

I'm still training now, learning new things whenever I can. I picked up the hula-hoop at 30, about the same time that I finally learned to do a proper handstand. This year, at age 33, I began to practice Ashtanga yoga, which I find excellent for warming up and stretching and all-round conditioning. I've also started to do some Pilates due to a lower back problem and I can't recommend it enough.
Because I spend a lot of time on the road I don't get to go to classes very often. The downside of this is that my technique's not all it should be. But the upside is that I'm self-disciplined and I really appreciate it when I do get a chance to train. By the way, I DO NOT recommend learning tissue (or any other risky stuff) all by yourself; this year I spent a long time stuck upside down in a remote French village - nobody could hear me scream (or they might just have been ignoring me). Seriously, if you want to do aerials, acrobatics, tight wire, any stuff where safety is an issue, GO TO A CLASS!!!

Question 3. What inspires you, and why?
I found moving to Australia and discovering a huge performance community in such a small population really inspiring. The lack of jobs and small audience base hasn't been so inspiring, which is why I still spend a lot of time in Europe. Not surprisingly I find many Australians over here too, and I love them. I love their resourcefulness, their humour and their warmth, and of course their work. There's always a feeling of great camaraderie when you meet Aussies overseas, a sense of being an economic exile, but still a great love of Australia and a great faith in the cultural future of the country.

One of the most inspirational things about Australia is the level of training and interest in circus among young people. The growing number of youth groups all around the country (sorry for not mentioning you all by name) attests to the fact that Circus seems to be an increasingly popular alternative to sport and more traditional hobbies. And thank goodness! It is a welcome diversion to computer games, footie and bullying as past times, and is, I believe the best alternative to competitive physical pursuits. Moreover it seems to lessen gender divisions at an age when the opposite sex is both deeply repulsive and incredibly attractive to each other.

I find women in general a great inspiration, but especially those involved with circus and other types of performance. These women have amazing energy, and defy the bounds of prescriptive femininity; they are strong, courageous, outspoken and consistently push the boundaries of what is possible for our gender. Some have become friends, others mentors, and some are both. And some are sworn enemies that better not come within a mile of me ...nah, just kidding. I love youse all.

Lastly, the idea of circus itself is hugely inspirational. When I finished my master's degree I felt like I was hurtling towards nothing without a safety net. I stuck my hand out and grabbed a trapeze, and when I put my best foot forward there was a tight wire underneath me. In fact, I can't think of a better metaphor for life than circus itself; wildly exciting, calculatedly risky and deeply satisfying.

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Donna Jackson

Founder of the Women's Circus in Melbourne, director, musician and currently performing and touring her show 'Car Maintenance, Explosives and Love'.

Question 1. How did you get into this industry?

I started in the industry by finishing studying for four years as a drama and English teacher and then went to work at a women's refuge. With a group of other women we made a show about domestic violence. The show was directed by Meme Mc Donald and supported and hosted by WEST theatre, which was one of the first community theatre companies in Melbourne, (this was in 1985). From there I made and directed shows on a number of issues many of which were about women but also about workers rights. Not all but a lot of the work was based in the Western suburbs of Melbourne. At the same time I was doing my own performance with bands like Nice Girls Don't Spit. We would do fast country and western and include fire eating, acrobatics, whip cracking, magic and even a dancing horse act where I got to play the horse's bottom half! The next band was The Sharons where we put on glam rock wigs and did raunchy rock n' roll with covers of songs, which had three themes -cars, sex, & rock n'roll.

Question 2. What kind of training have you had?

Over a period of years I developed skills but I wanted to train more constantly and so I set up the Women's Circus in Melbourne in 1991. The WC's is still running and has a strong feminist base. It firstly invited women to join who were survivors of sexual abuse . This is still a strong focus in the circus but there are also women who train there because they want to work professionally in the circus industry and other women who are involved because they like it as a recreational activity.

I love the WC but I left to do more of my own work and currently I have a one woman physical theatre show which is touring Tasmania in Oct-Nov 2000. It's called Car Maintenance Explosives and Love. I do angle grinding and rope work in the show. My current circus act is an adagio double balance act called BLONDES, which I do with Franca Stadler. She is a flyer and I'm the base. The show is balances on a HUGE Metal Bull Terrier, which we build during the act .It's an out door show for festivals.

Sally Forth was the head trainer in the first three years of the Women's Circus and she taught me thousands of things. It came through devising circus shows together with the 60 performers. As a director I was trained by Meme Mc Donald, she was a mentor for about eleven years. I think the best thing you can have is some one who is more experienced than you who will give you the benefit of their knowledge. That's one of the most valuable assets the industry has is people who help new shows and can give advice. You can still get great advice from old hands by just asking or volunteering to help on their show in exchange for some pearls of wisdom over a beer or a coffee.

Question 3. What inspires you and why?

I'm inspired when I see people extend the form of physical theatre. In circus to do something that is a new -take on a trick, turn it on it's head so it inverts the original meaning. For example the first Club Swing show in Melbourne changed the relationship of the catcher and flyer to a highly erotic relationship. As an audience member it shook up the way I see physical relationships in circus.

For me the real creativity in physical theatre is the idea the tricks are used to convey- the meaning. I love it when an act or show conveys ideas that challenge and extend my view of the world.

Question 4. How do you see your self in the context of the circus and physical theatre industry?

It's a pretty unwieldy industry and it's best I just get along doing what's important to me without looking for a set place. I think good work takes a lot of thought and crafting and repetitions. Car Maintenance Explosives and Love took me twelve years to write but now it's a solid show and as a result I'm up to my 95th performance and my sixth season. I think it's good to be patient, pushy and focused on the long-term goals. I'm interested in getting a good show and running it for a while. I can create shows quickly and direct acts or one off events but in my own work I prefer to plod along getting the skills I need to over a number of years instead of doing a lot of quick work. The work with the bands work was a little less controllable!

Question 5. When you go and see new circus and physical theatre show, what are the qualities you look for?

Does it make sense...I love acts where the theatre of the piece makes sense with the skills, the costume, props, music and character. Some times we focus so much on the skill and GEAR that we loose sight that all performance is about communicating meaning. Sometimes skill takes up so much time that the last thing we work on is WHAT DO WE WANT THE AUDIENCE TO FEEL / UNDERSTAND WATCHING THIS?

Question 6. What are your hopes for the future of the industry?

An explosion of how the form is used to convey meaning. (Translated- I'm happy to watch people do a cloud swing routine but I'm ecstatic if it conveys something to me personally-theatrically about the human situation which I haven't thought of before- Even better if I'm laughing while being pushed to extend my view of the world.)

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Antonella Cassella

Director of Vulcana, founding member of Rock'n'Roll Circus, acrobat and arts administrator.

Question 1. How did you get into this industry?

When I was trying to quit Uni and didn't know what to do, I did a community circus project called "Rock'n'Roll Circus" with Brisbane's "Street Arts Community Theatre Company" (Now Arterial). I decided new circus was where it was at, and found myself amongst an inspired bunch of people who started "Rock'n'Roll Circus" the company.

Myself and Lisa Small (Flying Fruitfly Circus) are the only founding members of the original company still slogging it out in circus/physical theatre arena, although Chris Sleight runs Brisbane's famous "Baldrick and Pandora's Circus Workshops" with circus portrait luminary, Pandora Karavan. "Rock'n'Roll", of course, has continued to develop and strengthen over the years, but I still have a sentimental yearning for those early days when we toured to lots of little Queensland country towns doing our friendly circus shows (which gives me a very big soft spot for Circus Monoxide shows).

Question 2. What kind of training have you had?

Hmmmmm-lots ! As an acrobat from all sorts of people: Fruit Flies, Circus Oz trainers, guest international trainers, London Circus Space, Mr Lu (my original hard core trainer and sentimental favourite), Rita Van Opzeeland. Back in the early days of R'n'R it was take what you can get, but since then I've done some more extended periods, while performing with Circus Oz and through the Flying Fruitfly's occasional big training projects like Moscow 1. I also join in when Vulcana organises a professional development project, mostly to train a double trapeze act with my aerial partner, Josephene...

As an arts bureaucrat? On the job and watching/asking other people in lots of contexts; the guidance of many wonderful people who spend all their time behind the scenes, unlike myself, who can't quite give up the performing side (I've tried!).

Question 3. What inspires you and why?

Passion, integrity, treating art as an honest living...my students, my aerial partner- Josephene. Re. Passion etc, sometimes doing it for love is the bottom line, sometimes you have to pay the bills, both are important as long as you have a strong inner sense of what you are about. The people closest to me inspire me because we share energy and excitement. I am inspired by anyone who works in this industry, they usually have pretty special reasons for choosing it (rather than say...banking). Artistically I am inspired by ideas, concepts, and speccy tricks (I admit). Examples? About a zillion.

Question 4. How do you see your self in the context of the circus and physical theatre industry?

As an acrobat, I just love the experiences of training and performing, and I am fascinated by the real possibilities and implications of using the body as a site for the generation of (new) meanings. In particular, I'm interested in how we represent/understand gender in our performance whether its women only or not.

I think I'm from the "second wave" of new circus, and feel at the moment there is this massive tidal third wave of welling up at the moment, with new ideas, a new level of professionalism, and new technical skills, and I love it that I'm still around and experiences these changes.

As Artistic Director of Vulcana, I see myself as facilitating women's access to the circus/physical theatre industry on many levels. I'm an advocate for circus as self esteem, and an advocate for circus as a career for women (including mothers!). Vulcana particularly helps train women performers, community trainers and riggers, and develops the skills within this genre of dramaturgs, directors, musicians and designers. Its also my job to have a fair idea of how the industry is developing, and make sure participants get access to the skills they need to enter it as professional artists.

Question 5. When you go and see new circus and physical theatre show, what are the qualities you look for?

• Visceral engagement: an unconscious, physical reaction to the work.
• Pleasure: in performance, and in engaging with the audience.
• Skill: like I said, I like speccy tricks, but other skills too, like stunning movement.
• Meaning, Challenge, Honesty...all in equal measures.

Question 6. What are your hopes for the future of the industry?

More companies, more training opportunities, cultural diversity, better developed health and safety policy and practice, greater communication about what everyone's doing...more recognition for community circus as a practice and part of the industry which contributes to it at just about every level-training, artistic development, audience development, etc etc.

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Anni Davey

Creator of Club Swing, singer, aerialist, tour manager, daredevil and more.

Question 1. How did you get into this industry?

Maude (my twin sister) and I funded our University days by going out to Western Australian country towns on the weekend to be the clowns at Agricultural shows. We had learned some basic circus skills from ....I can't remember his name.. oh yeah, Michael Price! at the drama course of the high school that we went to. Michael Price was apparently a very early member of Circus Oz. When we were in Cairns in 1993 doing a tech. run, there was a bomb scare in the theatre and we all had to evacuate. Just at that moment Michael Price rocked up out of the blue and insisted that we all come to a cafe with him. I've always thought it was him who made the bomb threat just coz he wanted to hang out with us. Anyway, then one day someone was looking for a female stilt walker to perform in a night club every Friday. I told them I could stilt walk, got the job and then had a week to learn how to do it. I used to walk to uni on my stilts. Then I moved to Melbourne, and then got a job with Death Defying Theatre in Sydney. We were a collective doing agitprop style street theatre.

That was my life for three years, during the eighties. Community Theatre was THE movement in those days. Art In Working Life projects, working on Housing Commissions, taking theatre to canteens in factories. Remember Popular Theatre Troupe? Based in Brisbane, really funny, really political. That was around the time Legs On The Wall was just starting, the Nanjing Projects in Albury were happening... very exciting times! It felt like an industry was growing up, learning life skills, learning circus skills....

As for being an aerialist, well, I had been with Circus Oz for a year and had concentrated on being the "performer", you know, the one who talks to the audience, I got to set up the triple back somersault routine on the trampoline that was interrupted by Matt as Health Inspector Smith/ Telecon maintenance man/etc (there was a number of scenarios!). People still come up to me and say that they were sorry that I never got to do the triple!!! Anyway, we had performer reviews at the end of the year and Tim Coldwell told me that I might be useful if I was stronger and had a skill. So I thought fuck you and took myself to Paris to learn how to catch Flying Trapeze!

As for being a manager, Linda was talking to me one day about two years after my accident saying that she had to leave the tour (she was the Tour Manager in those days) coz she was needed in the office but she didn't know who to get to replace her.... And then about five years later Linda wanted to have a second child, was talking to me about how she didn't know who to get to take over as General Manager for nine months or so...

Question 2. What kind of training have you had?

I went to a specialist Theatre Arts and Dance High School in Fremantle for two years. I went to Juggling Night at Hut 24 in Marrickville every Thursday night for a couple of years coz I had a crush on Brian Keogh. I did most excellent training with Lu Guang Rong, Freddy Osler and Johnny Hutch while I was a performer with Circus Oz. I did a course in Peking Opera (only short, but I still pull out the Woman Warrior stick routine whenever it's appropriate... it's amazing how often it's appropriate!). I went to Paris twice to train in Flying Trapeze with Jean Palacy. I studied Higher Maths at University for two years. I've made an enormous amount of mistakes.....

Question 3. What inspires you and why?

I like training with people. I love teaching when I've got energy and headspace. Teaching the Women's Circus advanced aerial class is like having your own private creative development laboratory. You can try things, experiment with form, invent new moves, enthusiastically and with no restrictions. Azaria Universe, Mozes, my friend Jonathan Graham, a rigger based in London who tells the most amazing stories about the most amazing gigs, Deb Pope who threw her first back flip on her 40th birthday and now, a couple of years later is about to have her first child, the fantastic architectural spaces in the new section of the Jubilee tube line in London, getting enough sleep, not getting enough sleep, vodka, the club in Glasgow that I've worked in which has a purpose built aerial rig specially installed... Hey I'm searching here! Always searching for inspiration! I haven't seen any theatre that's knocked my socks off recently but then I've seen Circus Oz 54 times since June so I haven't had much time to see anything else!

Question 4. How do you see your self in the context of the circus and physical theatre industry?

I decided this year that I would concentrate on turning myself back into a circus performer! People say I take up a lot of space. In fact Gavin said the other day that if someone else breathed in on stage I'd try to fill the gap. I'd like to be able to effect real and significant change in the larger Arts/Culture Industry and while I think a grass roots approach is invaluable, i.e. train and influence the people who make the work, I'm starting to seriously think that I have to start trying to train and influence the people who fund, hire, produce, govern...

Question 5. When you go and see new circus and physical theatre show, what are the qualities you look for?

Basically I want it to rock my world! I don't want to think about how long I've been there. I want to witness a performer or group of performers truly relating to the other performers, to the audience, and to the space they inhabit. I want to be entertained, I want to trust the performers to lead me into and out of the performance. I want to feel safe with them, I want to know that they are capable of taking the risks, both physical and metaphorical risks, that they do take. AND I want them to take risks, both physical and metablablabla! I want them to be thinking and to make me think!

Question 6. What are your hopes for the future of the industry?

OK this is a big one. I want Circus and Physical Theatre to be the most popular entertainment in the world. I want Australian Circus to remain at the larrikin end of the most popular entertainment producers in the world. I want Australian Circus to be like the girl they point to at a cocktail party because she's wearing scruffy jeans instead of Prada, and who turns out to be the most thought-provoking and intelligent woman there. I want the industry to eventually be a good career prospect so I can say to my niece, "I think you should pick up a few circus skills before you study architecture. At least then you'll have something to fall back on".

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Sue Broadway

Writes of her trip to an International Women's Clown Festival that was held in Andorra.

How did I get so Lucky? An expenses paid trip to spend a week playing with eighty women clowns in a small town in the Pyrenees.

Well, the story started in January this year when I was visiting London, mopping up the last bit of my Australia Council Fellowship by researching Vaudeville acts at Museums and archives including the British Film Institute and The Theatre Museum. Of course while I was there I looked up various colleagues from my years in London - we even had a reunion day for Ra-Ra Zoo. This Circus/Theatre company was founded by me and Dave Spathaky (clown/juggler) with Stephen Kent (musician/savant) in London in 1984, and managed to survive for ten years, touring all around the world, despite a notable lack of interest in Circus on the part of the British Funding Bodies.

Angela de Castro (the clown genius) was one of the forty or so old friends and colleagues there and we got talking and one thing led to another and she invited me to come with her to perform in Andorra. Wow.

Advertised as the first International Women's Clown festival (I'm not entirely sure if this is true and I would love to hear tales of any previous experiments) this festival was organised by the Municipal Theatre of Andorra la Vella, the capital of Andorra, which for those of you as poorly informed as I was, is an independent Republic high in the Pyrenees between Spain and France. It has a population of just over 65,000, an area of 468 square kms and two principal industries - skiing and duty free shopping. It also boasts the largest thermal spa in Southern Europe, which sadly I missed out on. I suppose it's roughly analogous to Launceston hosting the annual International Circus Festival in Australia.

So after three days of workshopping and rehearsing in London, with a new costume, a new clown persona and a new nose I lobbed into Andorra rearing to go. De Castro had two things on her agenda: the first a new piece she is developing "The Stagehands". This is De Castro (a cherubic and ebullient Anglo-Brazilian) accompanied by Hilary Ramsden (a tall and lugubrious Anglo-American) and myself (a short and loquacious Anglo-Australian), improvising between acts in a cabaret show with whatever comes to hand - equipment and props from other performers, curtains, microphone stands etc. She has already tried this out at a circus festival in Brazil with Bim Mason (of Circomedia) as her sidekick, and she is keen to give it another outing. Her other project for the festival is a "Combinat" (Combination) - she'll be teaching a two day clown workshop, and with her students will develop a show to open the Festival. Again, this is something she has tried before in Brazil and she has a structure to work with, a script which she delivers as a sort of clown M.C. which she will use to tie together material performed by the other women.

The programme for the festival consists of two days of intensive clown workshops, run by de Castro and two Spanish artists - Virginia Imaz and Merche Ochoa, followed by three days of performances with shows at 12:00, 19:00, 21:00 and 24:00 every day, plus an outdoor programme.

Altogether, over twenty professional clowns will perform, as well as something like sixty workshop participants. I've come across only four of these women before - clearly the world of women clowns is exploding. The line up includes four men, appearing in the programme because they are in shows which feature a woman clown. All the shows are on sale to the public and the houses are packed throughout.

First the workshops: We are divided into three groups (I don't know on what criteria) and I am assigned to Virginia Imaz. Unfortunately the programme gives no details about her life or career, and the very appalling French that was the only common language I had with most of the women made it difficult to share life stories, but clearly Virginia was a really experienced teacher, and she referred to previous workshops with women only. The workshops were a fairly familiar structure - group warm ups and then improvisations in groups of two or three.

An interesting variation was that she provided a whole wardrobe of dress ups for the class - this really seemed to set free the kid in everyone. It was so exciting to go behind a curtain, rummage through bags of wildly assorted clothing and emerge in a different persona for every improvisation. I wondered whether this was a particularly "girl" thing?

We crammed a lot in to two days - status, focus, entrances and exits, major and minor, and a concept new to me which I'm not sure how to translate - Virginia used the words "Civil" and "populo". By this she means something like "polite" and "rude" or "constrained" and "outrageous". She used analogies like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, or the White Face and The Auguste. I found this a very useful device for looking at behavior in clowns - improvisations in which we began in "civil" mode, descended to "populo" and returned to "civil" provided a very clear framework for exploring the extremes of a character and for looking at modes of social interaction.

I have long been fascinated by the role of the female body in clown performance. Although I have worked in "women only" contexts before, this was the first time I've done clowning in a room with only women. The result was fascinating. We seemed to release for each other a kind of exuberant, luscious and astonished quasi-sexual energy which was completely uninhibited and totally ridiculous. In the absence of the male gaze, and in a space where actual sexual behaviors are impossible (clowns being pre-sexual by their very nature) the absurdity of the female body and its movements became a suitable subject. More than that: they became a rich source of inspiration and a deep resource for ludicrous comical invention. For two days we inhabited a kind of pre-adolescent pyjama party where anything was possible.

On day three we moved onto preparation and performance. There were four group shows. Three of these were specially constructed for the festival - one directed by De Castro, one by Virginia Imaz and another by Merche Ochoa (another clown who also taught workshops).

The final show of the Festival was a cabaret combining three pre-existing acts with the "Stagehands" previously described.

As well, there were two clown companies specialising in shows for children -"Trokolo" and "Nets I Polits" and four one woman shows.

A major highlight was De Castro's Big show on the opening night. She had been extremely tough with her group - cutting their numbers to pieces, inventing new material with them and shaping everything with a precise and demanding eye. They called her "The Sergeant" and complained for awhile - but through the process they came to regard her so highly, and the show was such a huge hit on the night, that all was forgiven. More than that - a group of disparate and inexperienced clowns was melded into a moving and inspiring show with astonishing speed. This was obvious to everyone there. The other two "Combinats" were more of a struggle.

Spanish Clowns seem to come from a text based tradition, and the result with both these shows was long-winded and gluey evenings punctuated with moments of brilliance. I'm sure that this is not only my opinion - a result of the language difficulty - the energy in the audiences made it apparent that the material wasn't carrying. It was very disappointing for me to see women who had done really challenging and inspiring improvisations in workshops, struggling through acres of text and languishing in embarrassed silences for a live audience.No-one chose to take anything from the workshops into performance, but stuck with their carefully prepared skits, and this, I felt, was a shame.

Perhaps we needed a less pressured performance space, where that difficult transition from the protective privacy of the workshop to the frightening bright lights of the arena could be traversed in more gradual steps. Other highlights for me were "Emma La Clown" - Mariem Menant, a Frenchwoman who plays in sort of girl guide persona and presents over an hour of completely captivating clowning. Nola Rae has a show about the life of Mozart which takes a look at early childhood development and the struggle with the muse through a clever combination of puppetry, mime and a really wonderful soundtrack. Laura Herts is an American living in Europe with great technical mime skills and a totally "out there" clown persona. She was at her best, I thought, when she moved away from classic mime sketches (A Night at the Disco) to more personally revealing material.

The final show featured Rachel Ponsonby - a genius musical eccentric in the best British Tradition, and Les Excentriques - a trio headed by Marceline Kahn (the other two are male musicians, in frocks specially for the occasion) who also work with music as their base, combined with lots of sight gags and finely honed timing. The Stagehands went out and improvised - we had a wonderful time doing it and the audience seemed to be on our side. The afternoon finished with a brass band and a circus parade - people who know me will not be surprised to hear that I danced ludicrously and at length, before being dragged off for a last minute dash to the airport.

Throughout the festival a major focus was lunch - provided by a local hotel. The dining room was just filled with women clowns and their friends and supporters. The food was plentiful (too plentiful) and rich (too rich), and the company was great. I didn't need to understand the language to feel completely happy.

This must have been one of the most exciting weeks of my life. The diversity of performance that I saw was really inspiring, and that it was all women really threw a lot of light on questions about clowning that I have been pursuing for years.

Those of you who know me will understand that to be bereft of language for a whole week was a real challenge for me - and I found it liberating in the extreme. It's a a great state of mind to be in when working on clowning; that is to feel constantly at a loss to understand the world around you. I am currently looking for opportunities to run clowning intensives, and I'd love to do one with only women.

They plan another festival in Andorra in 2003 - keep your eyes and ears open! Shall we aim for our own festival in 2004?

Sue Broadway
broadwaysue@ozemail.com.au

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On the Road

• Circus Oz in London |Abi Collins talks jabs| Circus Oz in Turkey

A Day with Circus Oz in London by Anni Davey, Tour Manager

This morning I was woken as usual by the phone ringing. A woman from a telly program here called "Glamazons" is scouting for talent. Wants to come to the show and see if any of our girls would be suitable to perform on the show full time from March next year. It's a sort of Gladiators but without the audience participants. I remembered that Mary Cominos auditioned for Gladiators but was apparently too short.When I asked her if she had any height restrictions she said no but was looking for someone about 5 foot eight! I have images of Sasi and Nicci in their tightwire dominatrix cozzies and towering heels cracking whips on British television.

Then downstairs to meet Mel (Hmmm, Mel as a Glamazon...now there's an idea!). A car is supposed to pick us up at 10am to take us to a radio station. No show! Dammit! No matter how many times you confirm this stuff the fact that it goes through a middle person every time, the publicity company, means these things still happen. Go back to bed! We're staying in a hotel about 15 minutes walk from Sadler's Wells.

So far I've seen the inside of my bedroom, the inside of the theatre and the inside of a supermarket where I shop for food for the company. Might as well be in Melbourne really, in some semi isolation ward in the secret circus laboratory. Not true really. Lots of old friends from previous wanderings have come to the show and hung out with us at the pub over the road afterwards.Jude Pascoe, Andy Bray and Rita, Azaria and Anje from R'nR, Angela De Castro, Sarah Jean from Glasgow, Mish Weaver, Mitchy Mitch, various Circus Space folk.

We've just signed a contract to go to Turkey for three weeks directly after London. I spend the morning on the phone to Travel Agents changing our flights out,determining which is the cheapest and most convenient way of getting 27 odd people (we've got four kids travelling with us on this tour) around Europe without risking falling from the sky.There's accommodation to arrange as well! So I didn't get to go back to bed.I'm looking forward to Turkey. Somewhere exotic and different.It's great to go somewhere and work,a sort of fast track to finding out about a place. The show always feels fresher and more energetic when the company is stimulated and interested. That's rewarding...I must find out about contemporary circus in Turkey...is there any? At the Managers meeting in the afternoon, Lisa (Stage Manager), Kevin (Production Manager), Mike (Artistic Director) and I talk Turkey. Yeah, we've all heard that joke a lot now. I lecture Mike and Kevin about their being responsible for insisting that local crews afford the women in positions of responsibility due respect. I feel a bit heavy handed but word has it that Turkish crews can be particularly dismissive of women...and even the best men forget to help sometimes.

Maybe we'll be lucky.... Then to the Theatre.

Restock the merchandise counter, place the company comps with the Box Office,buy milk and water and a huge bunch of flowers for Pete Humble who has been filling in for us as drummer. It's his last show tonight so I make up a gift package and arrange for champagne at the pub after the show. Another press call for BA Inflight radio. She turns up 20 minutes late which is annoying but she's nice. Download all my emails; answer a few important ones. Most can wait until during the show as it's the middle of the night in Australia and they won't be received for some hours yet. I'm trying to organise a quick trip to Edinburgh to see some of the Festival. With only one day off a week it'll be seriously quick too!

Michael has been a bit ill. He regularly updates me as to how his stomach is feling as he wants me to arrange a doctors visit for him if it's too bad. It gets this intimate! I sort of like it. It's a bit like these people turn into a surrogate family. I think it's the London water! Meeting on the mat and we all get notes from Mike, I let people know where they're meant to be for the press call tomorrow AT 8AM IN THE MORNING!

Then it's showtime. Almost! Always the last minute comps requests,some facilitating of interpersonal relationships, hey, this mob's been on the road for 8 months now. Some of them are not talking to each other. I have to think of something nice to do for them.

I reckon that keeping the company happy and fed are my most important jobs. Everything else stems from there. I don't know why we do this. There's an idea that the more influences and cultural stimulus you're exposed to the more open minded and tolerant you will become. The truth often is that touring with the circus means that the only people you see,the only influences you're exposed to,and the only stimulus you get is generated from within the company itself. You have to work hard to find the time and energy to take advantage of the different cities you find yourself in.

Nevertheless the Tate Modern was fantastic on Monday,and Islington in the sunshine, or the bathing ponds at Hampstead Heath...I'm slowly inserting myself into the show. Just a moment in a frock and a bit of music so far.... ha ha! Full House! That's Good! They Clap! This is Fun! Sometimes it's just that, a very simple equation. We do it because they like it. And we like that....Champagne in the Shakespeare's Head after the show for Peter.

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On the road - in Turkey with Circus Oz by Anni Davey

So,

Tuesday 29th August

We arrived in Istanbul at 6pm. Got off the plane, bought tourist visa's (!) as we had been instructed by the Turkish Promoters, Reysas Sanatsal. There's a TV camera and a woman with a large microphone and Ebru to meet us. Ebru is the publicist who we have already met as she brought a posse of 17 journalists on a junket to see our show in London last week. She usually has a hang over as far as I can tell.Michael and Seb chuck a high arm to arm in the airport lounge, we all get into a group and look at the camera and said "MARRABAR STAR TV" or something like that. They keep asking for more acts.

Pepe (4 years) has had it with Turkish women cooing over his angelic blonde locks. He stands determinedly with his back to the woman with the microphone who is plucking his sleeve saying "let me kiss you!". Seb and Mel do a sit on a traffic sign and then we get out of there. Volkan is our translator, a bubbly young guy who prefaces everything with "I'm sorry". He says we can call him Volcano! The hotel is a five star hotel called Radisson just near the airport. Same as usual! It sounds blazé but every hotel room is the same after a while. Five star means you don't get a kettle and the mini bar is exorbitantly priced.

Some of us go straight to the venue which is an enormous three peaked permanent tent called MYDONOSE SHOWLAND which was erected for David Copperfield about a year ago. We're understandably worried that our bump in schedule won't work because they've scheduled a huge dance party for Saturday night right in the middle of our exclusive access period. Kevin is immensely stressed as he's just watched all our requirements go out the window. The stage was supposed to be in and finished by yesterday, stuff like that... We meet Mustafa, a production boss and Ilgin who is the Head of Programming, a bigger boss! Then back to the hotel where Kevin, Lisa, Mike and I sit over beers and expensive hamburgers (remember it's about 10pm by now) and try to put contingency schedules together. I put half per diems together in US$ and people visit my room to pick them up. I'll go and change the other half to Turkish Lire tomorrow.

Wednesday 30th August

This morning I wake up to the phone (of course! They're really loud in Turkey). It's 8am, Volkan is coming with a bus at 8.45 to take the crew into Showland. You can see the tent from here but between us and it, is a complex maze of Freeway. In Turkey the sovereignty of the pedestrian doesn't exist. If you get hit by a car they're likely to blame you (this holds legally as well). So we get a bus to ferry us back and forth. I go with the crew and then on with Volkan in a taxi to Ishilkžy to change the per diems. I'm feeling very sleep deprived but these days I think of Maude, my sister, with her new baby and don't feel so bad. Volkan thinks it will be difficult finding a change shop because it's a national celebration/holiday, but the first one we try is open. I get 1,300,000,000 TL for my $2,000! All these zeroes are very confusing. You have to look carefully to know if a note is five million or five hundred thousand. Ten million is about a pound.

Volkian walks me to a cake shop and then to an outdoor tea shop on the sea. We drink black tea in little glasses with lot's of sugar. I buy fat peaches and a big bottle of water and head back to the hotel where Volkan is to help Kate with her translations. I can't log on to collect my emails. Turkish phones are cranky. Very frustrating! At 2pm we have organised to have a meeting with Ilgin, Hande (Production Manager) and Mustafa about the problems we're experiencing. We go to the venue and sit in the seats looking grim. Mike puts his head in his hands and shakes it slowly saying "I'm just doing this because Ilgin is looking at me and I want her to think I'm very upset".

At the meeting they light up (smoking is everywhere!) and we offer them a compromised schedule which is our bottom line. They can have the dance party but our stage must be as we leave it after work on Friday by noon on Sunday. If it's not we cancel the first show! They mumble and balk, we say that's our last offer and they agree. We shake hands. Ilgin then tells me that there is a very important press call that has come up at the last moment. At 8.30pm there will be a live cross from the Mydonose stage with this TV star called Halilibor presenting and Circus Oz doing spectacular acts. I explain that all of the performers have already gone off on their own journeys around Istanbul as the stage has not been ready for them to work on, and that we have no props or costumes as the freight doesn't arrive until tomorrow. She emphasises again the importance of this particular publicity. Mike and I talk about standing on eachothers shoulders.... Mike and I try and have a power nap. He naps, I can't keep my eyes closed so wander through the hotel pushing notes under people's doors saying PLEASE ring me as soon as you get in.

At 5.30pm Ebru rings, Halilibor is here at the hotel and we must make a plan for this evening. Halilibor is a giant. No serious, he's a fair dinkum Phineas T. Barnum Giant. His hands are like two of mine, he stands about 8 feet tall and he can't speak a word of English (then, I can't speak a word of Turkish). Nicci and Seb are into the call, and about half way through the meeting Per walks in the front door. Excellent! We've got the Tango routine that Seb and Per can do and there's a whole lotta height jokes to be made with Nicci and Halilibor. We go down to the venue and try and rehearse for the cameras. Ebru is very hung over and a bit drunk I suspect as she's been celebrating the public holiday until she got called in to this one. Mike is getting edgy coz every time Halilibor starts to rehearse his lines Mike thinks it's starting. We wait.... Then we go, height gags, Tango, they keep rolling, frantic gestures from various people to do something more spectacular. Per balances a chair on his chin. Seb does a hand spring, Nicci waves her hands in the air.... more, more... Seb and Per do some chair take aways (the worst I have ever seen!)... eventually the whole excruciating thing comes to a halt. Halilibor bends down to kiss Nicci. I avoid it and shake his hand!

I ask Ilgin who was watching on the telly how it went. Apparently it offends religious sensibilities to see two men dancing together. Oh well!! Finally, eventually, we get on the bus to go home, leaving Kevin, Gina and Luke there to continue. We go around the corner to Star Kebab to eat. It's good food! Familiar! Like Sydney road only fresher and yummier. Lot's of meat.

Turkey is one of only seven countries which produce more food than they need, and the tomatoes are old stock and vine ripened. They taste divine! During the day Hande has come to me and introduced her assistant, Birol, a young man who will be working with me as Hande will be mainly back at the office. It occurs to me that maybe Hande and Ilgin are concerned that the Australians don't respect their authority because they are women and she has put a young spunky bloke in as a buffer. After all, if you were to describe the prevailing Australian attitudes to women, the representation of women in positions of authority within Australia, our general regard for indigenous peoples rights, and etc., it wouldn't surprise me if the Turk's were having conversations much the same as the ones we were having amongst ourselves about dealing with sexism in the work place. And then I imagine their first impressions of us, Kevin, Luke, Mike, all big blokes throwing their weight around to try and get the stage ready.... It makes you think.... I go to bed but have to field phone calls from performers who ring me as soon as they get in.... as instructed. Toni is the last one at 2am.

Abi Collins Talks Jabs

Claiming the Benefits Of Hindsight…
I have been overseas for quite some time now. As an independent performer issues of insurance and healthcare have often been sadly low on my list of priorities. Just making sure I can get enough gigs to survive has been the driving force (no social security for Aussies in my current base of Antwerp, Belgium!).
Also the fact that I am a British Citizen has made me rather lax, “I can be in London in a couple of hours if it’s anything serious …” So that was my lax approach until a recent accident.
I’ve been renting a grimy room in a crummy share house for some months. And in the basement is an uncovered mechanic’s pit. Recently I fell into it and took a huge gouge out of the front of my shin. We’re talking, “Oh, so that’s what bone and sinew look like”.
Somehow I managed to drag myself up four flights of stairs and grab things to take to the A&E; passport, bank cards, money, health care cards. When I arrived at the hospital I was asked whether I had Belgian Social Security, “ Er, no” I responded “but here’s my British Passport” (I already knew that there was no reciprocal healthcare agreement with Oz but thought that flashing the magic EEC club card might do the trick).
Nada. I was told to hand over €25-00 (approx $45-00 AUD) and go wait with the drunks. I have no idea what would have happened if I didn’t have the cash on me. I was then seen by a nurse who asked me when was the last time I had a tetanus shot was. I thought back to my last stupid accident (I never get injured during shows, it’s always while I’m doing something simple, like walking or breathing …). “Hmmm, four, five years ago?” The nurse told me I better have a booster, and then he disappeared.
A few other medics appeared and all had a good look inside my shin, and then a nurse sewed me up. As nobody had actually called a surgeon or even asked me if anything was numb I told them “yeah, it’s okay I can move my toes if you’re wondering. So what about this tetanus jab?” I asked. “Oh, no we can’t give you one in case you had one in the last few years and have a bad reaction to it. Maybe you can remember in the next week and tell the doctor when you get your stitches taken out. Wash that in iodine twice a day and keep it covered. Bye”.
Given that I had arrived with a panty pad stuck to my leg secured by a torn bed sheet and that it was now 8pm I wondered what exactly I was supposed to do now. But I was more concerned about my tetanus situation, and managed to terrify myself for several hours on the internet. I wracked my brains trying to remember when I had my last jab and made myself stay awake until 5am so I could call Australia. I called St Vincent’s A&E in Melbourne, and I also called my GP.
I have to say that the staff were totally fantastic and actually found records from 5 or 6 years previously. “Big deal” you’re thinking? Well yes it is actually because many medical records are still kept on paper so the staff from the hospital and the health centre really went through a lot to help me. Go, Aussie, Go! It’s really made me nostalgic for home…
Anyway I digress, because the whole point of this sordid little cautionary tale is that a lot of the anxiety could have been avoided if only I’d bothered to keep a record of my inoculations. And fortunately I had the foresight to grab some cash before I got to the hospital otherwise I might have had to ask the drunks to do some macramé on my shin.
All I can say is that everyone needs to know his and her inoculation history - your complete history. You need to know what you had as a child, if there was anything missed, and also your history of jabs for more exotic locations. That nurse wasn’t really being difficult. She was simply warning me that over-inoculation could be just as fatal as not being vaccinated at all. Don’t underestimate the toxic potential of modern science because sometimes being safer than sorry can kill you.Whether you’re traveling overseas or just juggling in your back yard you need to know your vaccine status because while rare a disease like tetanus can be picked up from a simple prick from a rose thorn. Don’t be wooed by tales of rusty nails, because tetanus thrives in soil and poo. Once contracted tetanus is often life threatening and very occasionally fatal. It’s the rabies of the vegetable-mineral world.
Okay, enough with the fear already, cos lord knows the government have got the monopoly on that. But really, don’t be a dumbass. Check your medical records. Keep a copy with you. Leave a copy with someone else. If you’re unsure of your status contact your GP or visit the Medicare website for information and advice;
http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/
And if you are going overseas make sure you check out the reciprocal healthcare agreements with Oz;
http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/yourhealth/going_overseas/to.htm
This site is also useful and can point you in the right direction for an internationally recognized immunization card – an essential if you’re traveling beyond the English-speaking world;
http://www.tmvc.com.au/
Did you know that you can easily receive free treatment in the Netherlands but your shit out of luck in Belgium – even though these countries speak the same language, are next door to each other, are both in the EEC and are in fact in their own region “Benelux”? Don’t rely on the fact that in the civilized world (except the USA …), the MO in the ER has until recently been “treat first, ask questions later”. It seems like more and more the motto is becoming “money talks, the uninsured walks”, if they are able to, that is …
When in doubt sort some insurance out. This is a must for independent performers, but even if you’re in a company it’s wise to check exactly what you’re covered for and from when. If you flit off to Greece for a drunken week on the islands in between gigs and break your leg doing handstands on a moped is your company insurance going to cover you?
Oh yeah. And why not make life easier while you’re at it? Why not carry a basic medical kit? Peroxide, gauze, plasters, etc. You will find these infinitely more useful than panty pads and an empty bottle of tea tree oil. And don’t see it as extra weight to carry. If you don’t have an emergency you can always use the tourniquet as a bandana and the alcohol swabs will come in dead handy when the bottle shop’s closed … Happy travels!

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This project has been assisted by the Federal Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.