|
toby philpott last updated: 22 January, 2007 |
|
Hard to read in Internet Explorer? Use View / Text Size |
The early days of the Circus Space Back when we were just squatting and working on an abandoned building [The Timber Store in North Road], without any funding, we took turns at answering the phone. One day someone rang me to find out what was going on. I did a lot of talking, and then offered to send them the article I had written for Kaskade (European Juggling magazine). [Click here to see my original article] What was later published in the Local Arts UK, Number 7 August 1990 'New Circus Issue', was a slightly strange combination of samples from my article, and bits of what a journalist scribbled down as I improvised on the phone. It ain't my grammar. Magic
rings "There are magically powerful places on the planet's face, both
natural wonders like waterfalls and mountains, and human-built ones like the Taj
Mahal. To enjoy them we have to make the effort of pilgrimage. One of the
wonders of circus is that it creates magic in ordinary places. Arriving in a
park or a field, often by night, the circus erects a temporary building and for
a short period of time this arena generates magic with light, music and a
combination of human grace and intelligence and daring. "Circus is not a trick, like theatre", says Toby Philpott from
Circus Space, "it's 3D, like sculpture, what you see is what you get. It is
genuinely heroic, on the trapeze you are risking your life. The people are
themselves; the ringmaster really is bossy, the trapeze artists are proud, and
the clown wants to be like them, but he gets the same effects by fraud; he's an
Everyman figure. Circus is international, it's not elitist or classist, it
appeals to everyone, of all ages. 'Circus' is always new circus, it's
always changing. The 'lions jumping through hoops' only date back a couple of
hundred years, but jugglers and acrobats are primeval; and still popular. In the
middle ages the street performers joined with horse shows, and about two hundred
years ago, you got the sawdust ring, which came from the fact that if you want
to stand upright on the back of a horse, to get a certain angle and a certain
speed, without the horse getting dizzy, you need a circle of a diameter of 42'.
Philip Astley added variety acts and took it into theatres; and new circus is
really 'new variety'; in the States, the same movement is called 'New
Vaudeville'. 'In England, circus became isolated. In China, circus and theatre
never separated. In Russia, you are a hero of the Soviet Union if you work in
the circus. Circuses traveled the length and breadth of Europe and developed
rapidly. In England, only four or five families carried on the tradition in isolation,
and lacked inspiration. That's why in this country we think of circus as a seedy
menagerie connected with tatty fairgrounds, gypsies and vagabonds. In France
there are 73 circus schools with a three year course equivalent to a degree. The
only English school was nearly closed last year due to lack of funds. 'Fool
Time' in Bristol, is now well-established, but it's not precisely a circus
school, it's more like a drama school specializing in skills - commedia, masks,
mime, as compared to Circus Space, which is a drop-in rehearsal, workshop space,
skill based. Theatre comes second." The man who started a lot of this activity off, Reg Bolton, wrote two
essential books, 'Circus in a Suitcase', a workshop book, and 'New Circus' which
gives a good background to early development. Teo Greenstreet, circus
development worker at GLA has compiled a Directory of New Circus and Physical
Theatre performers, obtainable from GLA. Circus Space The Circus Space, which opened in June 1990, is a unique venture; there
is no other circus arts centre in the UK. It has been rebuilt and developed by
volunteer circus practitioners. All the users are involved in planning, programming,
policy and management. Its intention is to make provision for training, practice, rehearsal and
performance of the circus arts by establishing a regional circus arts centre.
There is a training programme, performances, festivals, a comprehensive workshop
programme, and the use of facilities such as the creche, construction
workshops, health and fitness studio and a painting/music studio. It also intends to provide as broad a based pool of resources as possible
in the non-performance aspects of circus art: administration, publicity, marketing,
design, construction, sound and light and film and video. Satellite circuses Circus Space will also provide a troupe of circus practitioners for the
region, meeting the needs of people and places interested in developing their
circus arts in an innovative fusion of performance, training and education.
These outreach projects will be called 'satellite circuses'. Recent activities Over the past few months, events have included two months of workshops
with Moroccan acrobats, residencies by Pierre Byland, a Swiss clown tutor, a
Polish slackwire master class, training and rehearsals for Ra Ra Zoo, Circus
Burlesque, Black Mime Theatre, Public Dreamers, who presented 'Sacred Earth'
dramas; and the Islington Festival of Circus. The Islington Festival included
the spectacular Kenyan group, Mapapa Acrobats, who are accompanied by Mandingo
who play Benga Beat; Siesta Puppets, Satellite and' Angelo' by Quentin Blake
with performers from the Cirque de Soleil. In February 1991 we have to give the building back, and what will happen
then is not certain. We may, like the circus, pack up and move to another place,
or like street performers, vanish into the crowd.
|