Roll up roll up… just the mere mention of the word ‘circus’
has to be one of the most evocative in the English language. Whether from
personal experiences or from the multitude of cultural references in which the
circus plays a key part – mine include trips to Blackpool Circus in infant
school (the water!!), this frequently chilling Doctor Who story and of course
Dumbo – there’s something undeniably persuasive about it, a sense of magical
escapism that means the brain never quite discounts running away to the circus
as a potential life choice ;-)
But times change and so too has the circus, or at
least some parts of it, as can be seen in the rise of the incredibly popular strand
of contemporary circus. Companies like NoFit State and shows like La Clique and
La Soirée, and Cantina (which is still running at the London Wonderground) may
have left the animals behind but in doing so have focused the attention onto
the often breath-taking, boundary-pushing physical endeavours of their human ensembles.
So when I was invited to come and preview NoFit State Circus’ upcoming show at
the Eden Project in Cornwall, it was something of a no-brainer. I’d never been
to this part of the UK before, the offer to teach us some circus skills
intrigued and the clips on YouTube looked frankly amazing.
NoFit State partnered with the Eden Project last year,
creating the site-specific show Labyrinth which proved to be a huge success and
so producers Tom Rack of NoFit and Tom Critchley of the Eden Project decided to
continue that relationship for a second summer. This year’s show – Bianco – is being
written and directed by Firenza Guidi and has been designed with a view to
taking the show on an extensive tour after its run here in Cornwall. The full
company of artistes had only just come together before our visit, but the 10
minute snippet of the show that we were privileged to witness already had a
pulsing, vibrant energy and the makings of something really rather spectacular.
From flying trapezes to Chinese poles, extreme trampolining
to feats of extraordinary gymnastic ability, the talent of this company is
evident from the off. But the combined effect of the physicality with a throbbing
soundtrack and Guidi’s acute direction, teasing out further commitment from
everyone, is to create something quite dramatic, in all senses of the word. After
a hilarious hula-hoop lesson from our most tolerant and talented instructor, I
chatted to the Toms over cake and it was fascinating to hear them talk about one
of the main strengths of NoFit State being in their ability to blur the
dividing line, such as it exists, between theatre and contemporary circus to generate
the kind of profound experience that one might argue stands this apart from
something like the shiny but ultimately rather soulless La Clique.
So if you're headed down towards Cornwall this summer, then I'd heartily recommend making a booking for Bianco. Sadly, I don't think I'll be able to make it back down there for the actual show as my own summer holiday will see me decamp to France for three weeks and leave precious little time for anything else. But should the show come to London on its tour, I'll be sure to pay a visit.
Runs from 28th July-2nd September
Labels: Blogged, Cirque