Australian Circus and Physical Theatre Association::January 2007 Newsletter

Welcome to the first newsletter of the New Year. Hope you enjoy the new format which will hopefully be a better way to handle the growing number of items we seem to have in the monthly newsletters.
We are starting off 2007 with 3 fantastic additions to the ACAPTA committee of management all of whom bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in circus. Sue Broadway will take on the role of Chairperson, Jane Mullett is the new Secretary and as Treasurer we have Naomi Inwood. As soon as we can compress their extensive CV's into short paragraphs you will be able to get to know a bit about them at: ACAPTA - About Us

The following link is to an article from Arts Hub - "Want to Join the Circus?"
For those unfamiliar with Arts Hub you will find that it is a valuable resource for news, jobs and networking. Articles about circus appear frequently and are easily accessible through the searchable archives.

ACAPTA will again be hosting a series of panel discussions as part of this year's Tasmanian Circus Festival training week.
The talks start at 7pm each night and finish at 7.45 The talks are as follows (apologies for any misspellings):

Saturday Feb 3rd -Business and Circus - 'Can you make ART and MONEY?'
Panelists:
Allie Wilde
Trent Baumann
Frodo Sanven
Chair: Joel Salom

Sunday Feb 4th -Youth Circus 'Where are the career pathways after community circus?'
Panelists:
Simon (Spaghetti Circus)
Kate Reid
Alex (Trick Circus)
Chair: Kane Peterson

Monday Feb 5th - Activism and Circus - Is circus performance still a usefull medium to instrument social and political change?
Panelists:
Alicia Battestini(Monoxide)
Michelle Grant-Iramu (Vulcana)
More TBC
Chair: Anni Davey

Tuesday Feb 6th -NICA - From the Acrobats Mouth Experiences from the circus school
Panelists:
Kyle Raftery
Kane Peterson
More TBC

Wednesday Feb 7th -Debate - Street Performers are Un-Original
Panelists:
Leeroy Hart
Mr Spin
Shep Huntly
More TBC
Chair: Jeff Turpin

Thursday Feb 8th-Australian Style vs The Canadian and European Wave-Creating the Antipodean Circus Manefesto
Panelists:
Anni Davey
Sue Broadway
Bill Blaikie
Chair: Kim Kaos

You will notice that this year there is not an installment of the Great ACAPTA Clown Debate but don't despair! Instead enjoy the following article by our foreign correspondent and ACAPTA committee member- Abi Collins - in which she introduces us to the remarkable clown and teacher, Kevin Brooking.

Pompidou, Pigs & Provocateurs – The Kevin Brooking Story (so far!)
If Shakespeare had a physical image of Puck when he created ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Kevin Brooking wouldn’t have fallen far from the frame; sinewy, ageless with elfin features, electric eyes and a mischievous smile, Kevin clearly had a genetic head start when it comes to clowning. The man positively beams with warmth, ideas and a genuine interest in humanity.

From an unlikely introduction to circus arts by his high school gym teacher (an ex-military man whom Kevin describes as a ‘Fascist juggler’), in his hometown of Atlanta, USA, this performer, teacher and clown advocate, 48, is now based in Brussels where he lives with his wife, the British performer Rachel Ponsenby, 2 kids, 2 cats and an atelier bursting with bizarre props and other paraphernalia.

Kevin describes his career as a happy accident, “life just unfolded this way – but I always knew I wanted to be a clown”. After leaving school in the late 70’s Kevin fell into a 2 year mime course at Atlanta’s Company K where he met renowned clown Avner The Eccentric. Avner told Kevin about some intense guy in Paris (Jacques Le Coq) who was pioneering new methods in physical theatre, but for the present this seemed a galaxy away from ‘The World of Sid and Morty Croft’, the amusement park where Kevin shared the stage with the largest cast of midgets ever assembled.

This was a joyful and productive time, that Kevin describes as, “almost a University of the Marginalized”, where performers shared skills, ideas and became a community. Kevin briefly rejoined the mainstream when he enrolled at Webster University’s Conservatory of Theatre, although was asked to leave after 2 years because his desire to be a circus clown was at odds with the academic highbrow approach of the school. Kevin’s wish became an immediate reality when he joined the Clyde Beatty Cole Brother’s “World’s Largest Circus” (possibly with the world’s longest name). This was traditional circus at its gaudy best with Kevin decked out in red nose and big shoes alongside elephants and a full-scale sideshow, that included a fat man and a sword-swallower. Unfortunately the circus wasn’t big enough to fill its own outsize shoes and went bankrupt, a story that Kevin was to see repeated throughout his experience with traditional circus in North America.

At Canada’s Tivoli Circus Kevin was teamed up with a pig called Oli, only to be separated after the swine kept escaping and eating all the popcorn. The Tivoli came to a darkly comic end when during a press gala a bear attacked the audience, a rider fell off his horse and the show went on for over three hours. Imagine ‘Fawlty Towers’ set under a Big Top and you get the idea.

From Canada Kevin hopped across the big pond and found himself in the UK at Chessington World of Adventures, an open zoo and amusement park all rolled into one, followed by a stint as a stiltwalker with Germany’s famed Circus Krone. However, Kevin began to find the confines of circus at the time too restricting; he had wanted to make his character a pirate with a wooden leg but the idea was vetoed on the grounds of being possibly offensive to victims of WW2. Kevin describes these as the dark days “before circus-theatre”.

In 1982 Kevin enrolled at the Le Coq School of Mime in Paris and supported himself with street shows at the Pompidou centre. David Shiner, who went on to become a Broadway comedy star, was a colleague. Kevin began to make his own mark, receiving a prize in the finals of the Cirque Du Demain Festival alongside clowns from Cirque Du Soleil. Ready to pursue his own full-scale work Kevin returned to the UK where he co-founded Mummer & Dada with a team including Bim Mason, now co-director of Bristol’s Circus School ‘Circomedia’.

The group produced groundbreaking work: the integration of circus skills with character, scenario and narrative, an organic, total circus-theatre experience hitherto unseen in the early Eighties. Performance could involve anything from juggling to levitation and the group toured to great acclaim throughout Europe from 1984-88. This was where Kevin met Rachel; aptly enough he was playing a prince and she the princess.

In 1987 Kevin began his enduring relationship with the Belgian city of Brussels when he became part of a circus-theatre trio Les Petits Putsch. Kevin began to teach at the Brussels Circus School (now ESAC). Rachel also made the move, joining LASSAD, a physical theatre school set-up by a Le Coq devotee. From this base Kevin toured his hugely successful solo show, “Inside Out – A Comedy Of Accidents” for five years, to festivals and theatres throughout Europe.

Also during this period Kevin founded Zirk Theatre, a company still very much active in the scene. Their most famous work, “The Apex Moving Company” was a roving comedy spectacle involving two removal men and one couch that would never, ever be delivered. Kevin describes the act as controlled comedy and chaos, “How can two men with so much to do take so much time to achieve so little?!” The show is full of slapstick anarchy and it’s not difficult to see why Kevin cites Leo Bassi as one of his favourite performers.

With his tongue firmly planted in his cheek Kevin blames the show as being directly responsible for his move towards teaching, “that sofa just got heavier every year”. In reality Kevin’s desire to teach comes from an ability “to do” and have the desire to pass on the torch. He began teaching workshops at juggling conventions with the aim of encouraging performers to inject theatricality into their routines – “sure it’s a juggling club, but it might also be …”

Kevin taught his first clowning workshop in Brussels in 1985. Under the banner of ‘The Art of Accidents”, Kevin continues to develop this idea as a teaching and performance tool. “How can a clown be more open to the idea of accidents?” asks Kevin, “How can he or she make them happen and play with them?” Moreover, Kevin advocates, “letting the clown happen to you” in a bid to move away from “result-oriented theatre”.

Kevin has continued to successfully combine teaching and performing with shows such as the musical military marching men of “Babazouka”, and “Click”, a trio using old fashioned photography apparatus with members of the public as their subjects. Kevin and Rachel have collaborated on a number of these projects and have played at festivals, theatres and in cabaret together all over the world, from London to India. A consummate musician, Rachel is about to re-join France’s famed Cirque Plume for a short season.

Kevin’s energy is increasingly devoted to Clowns Without Borders, and in fact he was responsible for setting up the Belgian chapter with two colleagues. Having just returned from Darfour, Sudan, the organization is also sending two groups out to Bolivia and Kenya, plus a one-man world tour that may call in on Australia.

Kevin says his deepening focus on this project came from a desire to move beyond clown as entertainment. He says he sees the role of clown as a social healer, demonstrated in the byline for his chapter of Clowns Without Borders, “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people”. He says that above all the project demonstrates the universality of the clown, “Take human themes of hunger, nudity, all the tensions that we have”.

Kevin points to this universality as key to the success of the clown in countries torn apart by war or ravaged by poverty; places that may at first glance seem culturally inaccessible to western eyes. “Accidents are universal” muses Kevin, “And of course so is breathing”. One of Kevin’s routines involves getting the entire audience to breathe together and blow on him. He of course falls over and the audience is thus united in a task completed and the shared laughter that ensues.

Kevin has enlarged upon this theme by getting the audience to sing a note, which he then puts in his pocket. When he re-opens his pocket the audience comply by making the sound come out again. The literal harmonizing effect of this exercise is clear and Kevin can cite numerous examples where audiences as diverse as businessmen and slum kids played the game with equal joy and complicity. In this way says Kevin, “the clown engages the audience in a theatrical catechism. The clown becomes the shaman” and social status is suspended, albeit it temporarily, in the pursuit of a common, shared goal.

Kevin has also seen the magical power of the clown to ‘lift’ audiences in the developing world above their reality. “In India for example, audiences with handicaps really respond to the low status of the clown. Sick people respond to clowns because these performers deliberately play low status and this automatically raises that of the viewer”. To this end Kevin is also a huge advocate of Clown Doctors.
“Why not have the best of both worlds?” asks Kevin, citing the combination of entertainment and healing potential as a real tool for social change. This is particularly valuable in places like Darfour says Kevin, where the atrocities of conflict can be exorcised by the presence of the clown, “the idea of mistreatment is presented in slapstick form by the clown, but the kids have the status and conduct events. They have the control and gain a real sense of self-worth. It is genuinely healing”.

Kevin says that he does occasionally feel torn between the demands of performing, teaching and the organizational workload of Clowns Without Borders but is quite clear that he will continue all of these pursuits. The relentless pace is driven by his unerring belief in live performance, “people need live art, real interaction. We need to unplug our i-pods and reach out to what is happening around us”.

Yet Kevin remains undaunted by the prospect of a world that is increasingly organized on non-human, technological terms. “Circuses are always full” he reminds me, “And street theatre in Europe continues to blossom. People will always crave the ‘circle’, the action of gathering in “the round” to watch a show, to watch each other. It’s an innate, primitive part of our nature to do this”.
Well said, Kevin! Long may the monkey business continue!
by Abi Collins

The Leaping Loonies are touring "The Crate Show" and will be in Melbourne in April.

Adults at Children's Prices $15.00
When: Wednesday 11 April 10am and 12pm
Thursday 12 April 10am and 12pm
Friday 13 April 10am and 12pm
Saturday 14 April 10am and 12pm
Where: Alexander Theatre, building 7, Clayton campus
Contact: boxoffice@adm.monash.edu.au or telephone +61 3 9905 1111

Antonella's (unofficial) brief report on Fabulous Risk - the December 2006 National Circus and Physical Theatre Conference.
Congratulations to Circus Monoxide and the University of Wollongong for hosting the ACAPTA National Circus and Physical Theatre Conference for 2006 entitled "Fabulous Risk". The combination of academic and industry input was a great achievement, and I hope this cross-disciplinary dialogue continues. The highlight of the conference for me, ultimately, was the final night's circus celebration in the Monoxide tent. It brought tears of joy to my eyes, and reminded me about lots of the things I value about Circus in Australia.
From my point of view, the Monoxide show celebrated the role of Australian circus in empowering the less powerful or marginalised in society, of being part of a social justice agenda, of being about making the world a better place. Here are some examples of the elements I saw in the show that represented my values:
•teaching skills to build confidence (women's and youth circus);
•celebrating the unique and eccentric (the solo clowns like Heidi Hillier and Trent Baumann);
•re-presenting women's bodies as beautiful in different ways (WOW Circus);
•placing circus in a local community context/being culturally specific, valuing local culture (Monoxide in it's tent at home in Wollongong, featuring companies from the area);
•being creative on limited resources (all involved);
celebrating the body through pure physical skill (NICA graduate, Kath Thomas, doing a backflip on the wire);
•parodying mainstream social conventions (just about every act);
•maverick attitudes (most companies present);
•exploring different ways of life (itinerant tent with caravans on site);
•artistic experimentation, rejection of mainstream artistic practices (most companies present);
and an ability to encompass all of the above in one show/site.

Well done everybody, looking forward to more exciting dialogue and performance in Tasmania at the National Circus Festival, and at the next conference!
cheers,
Antonella Casella
ACAPTA development officer

ACAPTA welcomes other views and reports on Fabulous Risk for the next newsletter.

Flipside Circus' General Manager - Debbie Wilks - has taken the step of including an ACAPTA youth membership in workshop fees at Flipside Circus. This means that ACAPTA will have about 250 new youth members from Brisbane. Not to be outdone - Paul Woodhead will be doing the same for all participants in after-school circus programs in Dubbo. We look forward to any other groups who are encouraging youth membership in ACAPTA in the lead up to the ACAPTA National Youth Circus Day in September.

Please take the time to read the following information on Warehouse Circus and their plight. Lower down there is a 'build your own lobbying letter' kit for you to cut and paste and send off.

Dear Circus Industry Friend,
Re: Warehouse Circus is seeking your support

Warehouse Circus is at risk of losing its training space and office – Again! So we are seeking your support to help us maintain a permanent facility in which to operate our programs.
Warehouse Circus is Canberra’s Youth Circus! We have been offering training and performance opportunities to young people in Canberra since 1990. You may know some of our graduates and ex-trainers including; Jeremy Davies and Noah Marley from Out of The Blue Studios, Melbourne; Paul O’Keeffe – NICA Graduate; Christina Bond – NICA Graduate; Lewis West – NICA Student; Chris James – Crazy Critters, Wollongong; and Schmick As, Canberra.

This school has been the home base of Warehouse Circus since 2003 when changes to the provision of youth services in the Belconnen area meant the Circus had to leave Belconnen Youth Centre, having been a program of the Centre for 13 years. Determined that the benefits of our circus programs would not be lost, a band of volunteers formed a not for profit Incorporated Association to save the circus, and set about finding a new home. After about 8 months of relying on the generous support from Northside Community Service, the Orana School and those who allowed us to train in their backyards, a partnership was formed with Rivett Primary School. This win-win arrangement meant that learning circus skills became part of the school’s curriculum – and a regular activity for every child enrolled at the school, and Warehouse Circus was able to grow as an organisation and meet the growing demand for circus skills workshops in the ACT. Since settling at Rivett the demand for our programs has seen the number of participants attending weekly workshops increase from approx 50 participants to more than 300.

On December 13th 2006 the ACT Government announced that Rivett Primary School would close at the end of 2006.

The potential consequences of this decision include but are not limited to; an increase in rent (should the circus be offered the choice of remaining on the premises) due to the partnership with Rivett Primary School no longer existing; or, having to once again relocate the circus to an alternative site (should an appropriate venue become available).

The ACT Department of Education has publicly stated that it will support the circus and other community organisations operating from within schools in obtaining suitable alternative accommodation.

More recently, (On December 5th, prior to the announcement) the ACT Department of Education advised us that if the school was to close the facility would be handed over to Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS) and the circus would be contacted by that department to begin negotiations about the continued tenancy – which would take us back to the beginning of the process again.
Background
On 13 December, the ACT Minister for Education, Andrew Barr, announced the final list of schools to close under the ACT Government’s “towards 2020” plan. One of these schools is Rivett Primary School. This school has been the home of Warehouse Circus since it last lost its accommodation, also precipitated by government action, in 2003.
Basic Situation
The Circus has been given verbal assurances that the Department of Education will “look after it” and assist with any relocation. We have also been told that no action will be taken to remove us from the school until after the first week of February 2007, and that we will remain under our current rental arrangements until the time we leave. We have written to the Minister in an attempt to get this commitment in writing, and are actively engaged with the Government in an attempt to ensure we don't "fall through the cracks", as we did last time. However, recent indications have been that the Department of Education will pass us quickly to the Department of Territories and Municipal Services (TAMS), and we will have to negotiate with them for accommodation, which poses a whole new set of problems.
What is Warehouse Doing?
The Circus is currently trying to firm up its options, including relocating to another school, and the possibility of remaining in a closed school facility, alone or with others. We are continuing to negotiate with the government, and continue planning to minimise disruptions to our operations.
What are the Concerns?
Our primary concerns are that:
• we will be left homeless again,
• our programs will be disrupted, or
• any alternative we are offered will be so expensive that accepting it will place extensive burdens on the Circus in meeting payments.

We are also very concerned about the stress levels involved for our staff and volunteers in keeping the Circus running under these circumstances, and the threats to their continuing employment that come about from the school closure. Finally, we are concerned for our Circus students and their families, and the effects moving locations may have on them mentally, physically and financially.

What Can I Do?
Write, email, or fax the Minister for Education, Andrew Barr, and the Minister for Territories and Municipal Services, John Hargreaves, to express your support for the Circus. Contact details are shown below.
Andrew Barr
Minister for Education
Legislative Assembly for the ACT
GPO Box 1020
CANBERRA ACT 2601
barr@act.gov.au
Fax. (02) 6205 0157

John Hargreaves
Minister for Territory and Municipal Services
Legislative Assembly for the ACT
GPO Box 1020
CANBERRA ACT 2601
hargreaves@act.gov.au
Fax. (02) 6205 0495

The more letters, emails and faxes we have supporting us, the stronger our negotiating position and the better our chances of an acceptable outcome for the Circus.
Some paragraphs you can “mix and match” to compose your communication are shown below:

Openings:
1.
Dear Minister;
As the parent of a young person involved with Warehouse Circus, I am writing to express my support for the circus and ask you to assist them in obtaining a permanent, affordable and functional circus space for the Canberra region.

2.
Dear Minister,
I am writing as a representative of (name of organisation) to encourage you to find new accommodation for Warehouse Circus. With the closure of Rivett Primary School, the circus is again threatened with losing its home, which in turn influences many other Community Organisations which they support.

3.
Dear Minister,
I was shocked to see that Warehouse Circus is once again on the brink of losing its accommodation as a result of government action – this time the closure of Rivett Primary School. After spending the last three years building up to their present strength after the last time this happened, are you going to again set back this top class youth organisation by asking them to rebuild yet one more time?

4.
Dear Minister,
I go to Warehouse Circus, and it rocks! I’m pretty upset that your government closed Rivett Primary School, and that means we might lose the home of the Circus. If that happens, and the Circus has to move, I might not be able to get to the new spot, or it might cost more and I might not be able to go.

5.
Dear Minister,
Are you guys crazy? You have a top organisation like Warehouse Circus in town, and instead of doing all you can to support and encourage them, you keep taking away their base! Do you realise how hard that makes it for them to keep supporting youth and community in the ways they do so well?

Middles
1.
Warehouse Circus has been going for 16 years. From starting out as a small community project, in the last year they taught over 300 young people each week. They regularly perform at large events around town, and I know that this year they performed at the opening of Floriade, and the National Multicultural Festival, just as starters. They also support many local community organisations by providing gratis performances which enhance their events or contribute to their fundraising.
2.
Warehouse Circus is well regarded nationally. The last manager of the Circus filled the position of Secretary for the Australian Circus and Physical Theatre Association (ACAPTA), and three students of Warehouse Circus have attended the National Institute of Circus Arts. In fact, the 2006 entry, Lewis West, has just won NICA’s Con Colleano Award for the most outstanding first year male student. Many Warehouse Circus members have gone on to arts based careers, including Jeremy Davies and Noah Marley, who started “Out of the Blue” studios in Melbourne, and Jeremy has also performed with Circus Oz. What other great youth role models are coming from “circus kids” from Canberra?
3.
Warehouse Circus contributes greatly to the ACT community. The Circus provides fun, healthy, active and exciting programs for young people which support them physically and mentally – it is a Healthpact Health Promoting Organisation. Many schools and after school care programs have taken up these programs to support their children.
It runs programs for some of the less advantaged in our society, including young people disengaging from society, young people with a disability and young people who may be suffering financial hardship or at risk of homelessness. It has trainers specially trained in Social Circus skills to support these programs, having attended the National Institute of Circus Arts Social Circus Training Program.
The Circus runs events like the World Juggling Day Canberra Festival which make Canberra a fun place to be, and brings in tourists. Warehouse Circus also supports many local community organisations by providing free performances which enhance their events or contribute to their fundraising, and the Circus people are known around town for their supportive “can do” attitude.
4.
It seems that Warehouse Circus are great when they can be used by the Government, such as to launch Floriade or be presented as an organisation which is “doing it right” at the launch of the ACT Mental Health Plan. However, they were poorly treated by the Government three years ago when they last lost their accommodation, and this seems to be about to be repeated. I can’t understand how such a well managed organisation, which contributes to our community in so many ways, can be treated in such a cavalier fashion by politicians and bureaucrats. I’m upset about this, and I vote!
5.
Young people in the ACT need organisations like Warehouse Circus, which provide them with fun, healthy activities at a time everyone is crying out about “childhood obesity”. Not only does Warehouse do this, but it does it really well. It also provides a much needed entertainment form for Canberra and the region. I have seen the guys from Warehouse perform, and they’re awesome! I know they do a lot of stuff for other places as well, because they’re always turning up at charity days and community festivals. These guys need our support to keep this sort of good stuff going in Canberra!

Ends
1.
Warehouse Circus is an important part of the ACT’s artistic, social and cultural landscape. If they end up losing their base as a result of school closures, it will damage not only them, but the whole community. Please support the Circus by ensuring they come out of this with a permanent, suitable and affordable base for their organisation.
2.
Warehouse Circus does good things for young people and the community. They produce excellent circus performers. They help the less advantaged in our society. They provide good entertainment. I think they should be supported, and you can do this by ensuring they don’t lose out as a result of the school they operate from being closed. They need a permanent pace to live that works for them and which a community organisation can afford. Its organisations like this which make “social plans” work, so please do the right thing and make sure they are supported in this way.
3.
We need a place where we can go to circus without worrying all the time that we might have to move again. My parents, and the Circus, aren’t rich, so it needs to be somewhere that doesn’t cost a lot. And we need to be able to get there easily and have all the things we need to work with available – we haven’t had aerials, like trapeze and tissue, for three years now and we’ll lose these skills if we can’t practice them. The Circus needs a real home it can call its own, and I hope you can help.
4.
Give these guys a break! They don’t need the hassle of moving and starting all over again. Find a place for them to live, and have a permanent base. And it shouldn’t cost too much! Warehouse do good stuff, and we should be supporting them.

.:top:.

Circus Oz Perth Festival season will run from Feb 21 to March 5, 2007. For Venue, times and booking details go to www.circusoz.com

After a very favourable response to the first edition of the ACAPTA online Youth Circus Newsletter we are now cooking up the next issue. We welcome stories, photos, links and information on upcoming shows to include. Please send your submissions to the ACAPTA office.

Jan 2007 Newsletter