tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/circus-oz-30720/articlesCircus Oz – The Conversation2021-12-10T01:02:02Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1735862021-12-10T01:02:02Z2021-12-10T01:02:02ZCircus Oz is to close after 44 years. They irrevocably changed Australian circus, and brought it to the world<p>In 1980, I was in London and working at the Roundhouse performing arts centre.</p>
<p>Thelma Holt, the legendary director of the Roundhouse, told me she had booked an Australian circus to perform. She asked me had I heard of them. I said no. I had been in England for a few years, so I was out of touch with what was happening in Australia. I knew though, of some former peers at Flinders, who had formed something called <a href="https://acapta.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Re-routing-traditional-circus-performance-towards-a-cultural-history-of-community-circus-in-Australia-G-Arrighi-2013.pdf">the New Circus</a>. But I had not heard of Circus Oz. </p>
<p>Given I was the only Australian working at the Roundhouse at the time, I was self-conscious about who this group was, and what they would be like. Typical cultural cringe.</p>
<p>Of course, they were a revelation. So joyous, funny, imaginative, talented and witty. I felt so proud to be an Australian. They took something that was intrinsically Australian and showed it to the world. It was a moment in history when expatriate Australians such as myself could feel proud about who we were, and no longer needed to apologise for being lesser beings.</p>
<p>Established in December 1977, Circus Oz showed the world Australia was unique, Australians were capable of doing incredible things, and they had something special to offer on the world stage.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436832/original/file-20211210-19-attrjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C8%2C2702%2C1686&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436832/original/file-20211210-19-attrjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C8%2C2702%2C1686&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436832/original/file-20211210-19-attrjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436832/original/file-20211210-19-attrjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436832/original/file-20211210-19-attrjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436832/original/file-20211210-19-attrjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436832/original/file-20211210-19-attrjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436832/original/file-20211210-19-attrjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Circus Oz brought something uniquely Australian to the world stage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alan Simpson - PA Images/Getty</span></span>
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<p>It brought to the stage a model of circus that didn’t exploit animals but joyously celebrated the human form. Outstanding individuals such as Jonno Hawkes, Robyn Laurie, Tim Coldwell, Anni Davey, Sue Broadway and numerous other wonderful performers, designers, musicians and directors were part of this world. Then there were the individuals on the administrative side, such as Linda Mickleborough, who committed herself to nurturing and supporting the company for more than 20 years.</p>
<p>Today, we heard <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/culture/theatre/circus-oz-to-close-doors-for-good-after-tumbling-from-funding-favour-20211209-p59gfi.html">Circus Oz is to be no more</a>. Why this is happening, I am not sure. The official statement is rather full of management language that obfuscates rather than clarifies. No doubt a backstory will come out, but nevertheless it is very sad. It suggests the funders want the company to become something that is against its very nature. It may also be another arts victim of the past two years.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rock-bang-is-a-highly-charged-fusion-of-music-theatre-and-circus-107094">Rock Bang is a highly charged fusion of music, theatre, and circus</a>
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<h2>The end of an era</h2>
<p>Circus Oz has been doing Australia a service for many years. We have all come to take it for granted. It has been travelling around the world promoting what is unique about Australia and winning acclaim in New York, London, Paris and everywhere in between. It has also been travelling around Australia making Australians feel proud about their culture.</p>
<p>It has shown countless young people there are alternative careers to being stuck in a factory or office. It has celebrated <a href="https://artsreview.com.au/circus-oz-investing-in-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-circus/">Indigenous culture</a>, and <a href="https://artsreview.com.au/circus-and-politics-a-very-australian-mix/">protested</a> about the things Australia is least proud of. </p>
<p>It has encouraged the creation of new circuses and the beauty of physical theatre around the country. Circuses such as the <a href="https://fruitflycircus.com.au/">Flying Fruit Fly Circus</a> in Albury/Wodonga, <a href="https://www.gravityandothermyths.com/">Gravity & Other Myths</a> in Adelaide, <a href="https://circa.org.au/">Circa</a> in Brisbane and numerous other groups that have been so important to the making of physical theatre in Australia. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/circus-ozs-model-citizens-is-a-triumph-of-skill-and-political-satire-89761">Circus Oz's Model Citizens is a triumph of skill and political satire</a>
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<p>Generations of performers have trained with Circus Oz and then gone on to work with them and other circuses around the world. The <a href="https://www.nica.com.au/">National Institute of Circus Arts</a> in Melbourne would not exist without Circus Oz, nor would <a href="https://www.cirkidz.org.au/">Cirkidz</a> in Adelaide.</p>
<p>Circus Oz also pioneered how a performing arts group could be organised and be self-managed. Everyone earned the same wage, and everyone participated in decision-making. It was a role model for collective and collaborative leadership. It gave performers a sense of being more than a performer: the artists were treated as adults who had something to contribute to how their world was constructed and managed.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436834/original/file-20211210-25-b4i8q0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two trapeze artists dressed like cockatoos." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436834/original/file-20211210-25-b4i8q0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436834/original/file-20211210-25-b4i8q0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436834/original/file-20211210-25-b4i8q0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436834/original/file-20211210-25-b4i8q0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436834/original/file-20211210-25-b4i8q0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436834/original/file-20211210-25-b4i8q0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436834/original/file-20211210-25-b4i8q0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The artists were always an integral part of the company’s management.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Mick Tsikas</span></span>
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<h2>Business, or creativity?</h2>
<p>Circus Oz was a pioneer in being acknowledged as a major player in Australian performing arts by being accepted into the hallowed framework of the Major Performing Arts Framework at the Australia Council. This meant it joined the opera companies, ballet and theatre companies and was granted on-going guaranteed funding.</p>
<p>But perhaps this acceptance into the mainstream has also been its downfall. It then had to conform to management expectations, that as an entity, are foreign to its own culture and framing. The corporatisation of the arts has been an ever-increasing challenge for arts practitioners. It is foreign to the very making of art when business paradigms rule instead of creativity. It is particularly foreign to an entity that was founded on worker entitlements, collective management models and democratic principles.</p>
<p>Circus Oz has been a special gift to Australia and the world. We will all miss it deeply.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173586/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jo Caust is a member or the Arts Industry Council (SA) and NAVA. She has previously received funding from the Australia Council. </span></em></p>Circus Oz was a revelation: so joyous, funny, imaginative, talented, witty – and so Australian.Jo Caust, Associate Professor and Principal Fellow (Hon), School of Culture and Communication, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1070942018-11-19T04:58:32Z2018-11-19T04:58:32ZRock Bang is a highly charged fusion of music, theatre, and circus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246143/original/file-20181119-44249-1n3g5nd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rock Bang tells the story of Astrid and Otto from Die Roten Punkte as they flee to Berlin. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Turner</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Review: Rock Bang, Malthouse, Melbourne.</em></p>
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<p>In this, their 40th year performing, Circus Oz have combined their many talents with German musical duo Astrid and Otto (aka Australian comedians Clare Bartholomew and Daniel Tobias from Die Roten Punkte). Their show, Rock Bang, fuses music, theatre, cabaret, comedy and acrobatics.</p>
<p>In our world of hyper-sensory experience, there is almost an expectation that we are able to juggle such diverse forms. But the most rewarding aspect of this show, under the artistic direction of Rob Tannion, is when a particular artform is given the space to shine.</p>
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<span class="caption">Pizza dough becomes a juggling act.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Turner</span></span>
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<p>It is built around the narrative of Astrid and Otto’s (fictional) lives: their escape from dire childhood circumstances in rural Germany to Berlin, just as the wall is coming down; their absorption into the city’s music and cabaret scene, and the formation of their band Die Roten Punkte (The Red Dots), which features the tiniest of drum kits and other errant sound-making objects. Astrid and Otto eventually “wake up in Wagga Wagga” (as you do)!</p>
<p>One of the standout scenes in the telling of this narrative is the use of the audience as forest, where Astrid and Otto seek reassurance and shelter after fleeing home. It’s a simple, but effective metaphor.</p>
<p>Circus Oz’s acrobatic skills provide many highlights. The juggling of pizza dough balls, in a scene set in a Berlin pizza parlour begins with one ensemble member dressed as a baker. Gradually, all are drawn in. The use of sight gags - such as flying pizza trays and dropped pizza balls being picked up, dusted off and placed back on the tray - and the coordination of it all, is highly skillful and provides great comic theatre.</p>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Turner</span></span>
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<p>Otto has a pivotal moment when David Bowie visits Berlin in 1990. With Bowie’s theatricality and mixed musical genre approach, it is easy to understand the influence he has on Die Roten Punkte. It is, ostensibly, from this point that the duo decide to get into rock and roll, with Bowie as guardian angel. The impact of the experience is explored when a Circus Oz member in golden garb aerially performs beautifully choreographed movements largely within the confines of a large metal hoop. This angel appears as different phases of the moon, shining down on Otto as he sings.</p>
<p>Bowie’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYYRH4apXDo">Space Oddity</a> is also referenced when Otto becomes somewhat estranged from reality in a scene that sees him aloft in a spaceship, lost in another world. All hands are on deck for lighting and musical effect. It works incredibly well. The scene echoes the Australian band Jet’s earlier exploration of this theme in the song, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OM6mV8PbFk">Timothy</a>.</p>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Turner</span></span>
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<p>Astrid works effectively with the Circus Oz ensemble in a range of scenes. But two juxtaposed sections in Rock Bang point out the need for the arts community to always think innovatively and beyond clichés when depicting those who are marginalised in society. </p>
<p>They are set in rehab unit where Astrid finds herself in detox. In the first scene, perhaps with a desire for a setting that will enhance the acrobatic spectacle, it is unfortunate that caricatures of those suffering from mental illness are used. </p>
<p>The next scene, however, as Astrid seeks an escape route from this confinement, is wonderfully inventive. All cast members assume Astrid’s persona. We are privy to multiple Astrids and a medley of beautifully choreographed and executed movements as she manoeuvres her getaway.</p>
<p>When Otto and the Circus Oz cast explore the growing techno music scene that developed in Berlin and other parts of Europe in the 1980s and 90s, Otto takes on the persona of a robot. Musically, visually and theatrically, the scene - featuring the song, Robot/Lion, about a robot who wants to be a lion - works very well. It is pure Daft Punk (who themselves have have drawn on Kraftwork), with a touch of Bowie. </p>
<p>Otto and Astrid’s musical exploration of Kraftwerk’s ambivalence towards the positive and negative impact of technology on humanness, is also explored in this song. A toy lion is Otto’s motto of resilience and love throughout the opera. It is used as a substitute when there is no human to fulfil the role. And we remain aware that despite the intrigue of robotics, this one is the very human Otto.</p>
<p>Musicians Tamara Murphy, Casey Bennetto, Dean Matters and Shannon Bourne ably perform across the vast array of rock genres, from techno to punk, as they accompany Otto and Astrid’s songs and experiences. Rock Bang is a highly charged and rewarding multi-sensory experience.</p>
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<p><em><a href="https://malthousetheatre.com.au/whats-on/rock-bang">Rock Bang</a> is being staged at the Malthouse until November 25.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107094/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mandy Stefanakis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new show pairs the acrobatic skills of Circus Oz with the local comedians Die Roten Punkte.Mandy Stefanakis, Sessional lecturer in music education, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/992932018-07-06T01:50:50Z2018-07-06T01:50:50ZCircus Oz serves spectacle in garden-inspired Precarious<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/226213/original/file-20180705-73312-1gaaa0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Emily Gare, Tara Silcock, and Lachlan Sukroo perform a 'precarious' shoulder balance. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob Blackburn</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Circus Oz is 40 years old. Some shows in the company’s extraordinary history of annual productions stand out in memory for the comic play, the political commentary, the outrageousness. The circus form is distinguished by the effort to connect with the audience and Circus Oz has always excelled at creating connections. </p>
<p>Even with a subversive undertow to the company’s work, it generates affectionate loyalty among audiences and this partly explains its longevity. Circus Oz fosters a sense of community in Melbourne, and among the hundreds of performers who have worked with the company over decades.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.circusoz.com/shows-and-tickets/book-tickets/list/10015-precarious/134/precarious.html">Precarious</a> is the first of three new Circus Oz shows in 2018 as the company undergoes a process of artistic renewal, and it will work with an orchestra and a rock band in shows opening later in the year. Precarious, directed by Rob Tannion and Kate Fryer, presented the Circus Oz ensemble in a thematically linked production of acrobatic display. Its young performers will have grown up with contemporary circus — in contrast to earlier generations of Circus Oz performers who helped invent it. </p>
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<span class="caption">Dylan Singh and Jon Bonaventura.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob Blackburn</span></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/circus-ozs-model-citizens-is-a-triumph-of-skill-and-political-satire-89761">Circus Oz's Model Citizens is a triumph of skill and political satire</a>
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<p>While circus arts have become synonymous with the famous larger companies including Circus Oz and particularly Cirque du Soleil, there are numerous accomplished acrobatic troupes. Segments of Precarious reminded me of a show by the Canadian <a href="http://7doigts.com/">Les 7 Doigts de la Main</a> (7 Fingers) presenting interchangeable performers in pared-back acrobatics with minimal theatrical artifice. But Circus Oz continues to engage an audience through circus spectacle.</p>
<p>While Precarious delivered a more harmonious, balanced group of acrobatic performers in contrast to the rambunctious argumentative characters of yesteryear, it retained the company’s trademark tone of cheerful fun and silliness. The production may not be vintage Circus Oz but it did offer a different type of viable small tent show, and it was developed in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. </p>
<p>Hence the narrative about the loss of fertility in the Ministry of Seed Management, Nature Division, and the urgent search for a fertile seed. This is a short show clearly intended for family audiences during the school holidays and, in the interests of audience renewal, this production will especially please the younger members of the family.</p>
<p>Uncle Colin Hunter’s powerful, heartfelt welcome to country opened Precarious on June 30. The performers who had greeted the audience reappeared in costumes with a retro-look suggesting a turn-of-the-20th-century circus. As they balanced, tumbled and leaped forward in acrobatic falls and catches, they used cardboard boxes and then wooden boxes as apparatus. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/226214/original/file-20180705-73306-116drub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/226214/original/file-20180705-73306-116drub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/226214/original/file-20180705-73306-116drub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/226214/original/file-20180705-73306-116drub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/226214/original/file-20180705-73306-116drub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/226214/original/file-20180705-73306-116drub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/226214/original/file-20180705-73306-116drub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/226214/original/file-20180705-73306-116drub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Tara Silcock in Circus Oz’s Precarious.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob Blackburn</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sequins-and-symphonies-how-opera-ran-away-with-the-circus-64125">Sequins and symphonies: how opera ran away with the circus</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>But it was the various combinations of two and three person-high, standing shoulder balances that were the highlights of the action. There were familiar acts such as foot juggling or ball juggling or hula hoops while other acts such as a swinging pole were less typical. In a metaphoric effect the trapeze turned into a lift in a building at the press of an imaginary button. </p>
<p>There were recognizable character-types: a scientist appearing through a trap door; a mailman delivering a seed packet with difficulty. The newly discovered seed was hidden up a hollow pole and then inadvertently swallowed by the female clown working in a slapstick duo and had to be recovered. In the one direct concession to adults-only Circus Oz, Emily Gare appeared with an innocuous lunch box and took out the hardware to hammer a nail up her nose.</p>
<p>Precarious presented fluid acrobatic action as male performers moved with sensuous lightness and female performers inverted the body’s axis in angular handstand balances. This action will inspire younger audience members to want to run off and join a circus skills class after school. </p>
<p>A scaled down two-person band accompanied throughout drawing the focus during its jazz influenced score and live vocals. Aerial acts included Tania Cervantes Chamorro’s demanding aerial sling act with its adjustable configurations, which she made seem simple and completely effortless so that a spectator felt like he or she could easily join her in the air. Overall, Precarious was an enjoyable show.</p>
<p>The use of facial and gestural pantomime is a stylistic choice that may work better for younger audiences. Those expecting the company’s confrontational style might have been bemused and because it was possible to miss the short verbal statement about the loss of seed fertility that underpinned the gentle clowning action. </p>
<p>For anyone looking for Circus Oz legends, Tim Coldwell was entertaining – right way up – by selling programs, and Matt Wilson by selling popcorn. This show might have shifted away from the political outrage and larrikin shock value of the early Circus Oz repertoire, but it offered instead the dynamic strength of a younger generation of circus performers working in equitable unison demonstrating a new type of politic of shared co-operation. Precarious suggested Circus Oz is 40 years young.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99293/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peta Tait has previously received ARC funding to establish the Circus Oz Living Archive.</span></em></p>Precarious, the latest offering from Circus Oz, centres around the tale of a missing seed. It is suitably staged in Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens.Peta Tait, Professor of Theatre and Drama, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/897612018-01-08T19:34:08Z2018-01-08T19:34:08ZCircus Oz’s Model Citizens is a triumph of skill and political satire<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201092/original/file-20180108-195534-1h5w1e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Circus Oz's Model Citizens seamlessly intertwines entertainment with political and social commentary.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jaimie Williams</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Model Citizens, the latest show from Circus Oz, playing as part of the Sydney Festival in Parramatta, is not to be missed. It continues the Circus Oz tradition of high energy entertainment combined with political commentary, and introduces the fresh new artistic vision and aesthetic sensibility of the company’s incoming artistic director Rob Tannion. It is a politically savvy, entertaining, and polished work. </p>
<p>Tannion returned to Australia last year to take up the position after 22 years working in Europe and South America as a choreographer, director and senior creative in dance, theatre and circus. He takes over from former Circus Oz director Mike Finch. After 17 years, Finch left a significant legacy, which saw the company move into a new purpose-built space in Melbourne, increase its international profile, develop important initiatives such as the BLAKflip training program for young Aboriginal performers and uphold its 40-year commitment to politically driven circus, diversity and gender equality. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201094/original/file-20180108-195539-ul700g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201094/original/file-20180108-195539-ul700g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201094/original/file-20180108-195539-ul700g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201094/original/file-20180108-195539-ul700g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201094/original/file-20180108-195539-ul700g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201094/original/file-20180108-195539-ul700g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201094/original/file-20180108-195539-ul700g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201094/original/file-20180108-195539-ul700g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A martini glass becomes a setting for a juggling act.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">JamieWilliams</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So it was with a great deal of expectation that the Sydney first night audience of circus community members, festival directors, politicians, funding body representatives and general public gathered to see Tannion’s debut for Circus Oz.</p>
<p>Model Citizens features production designer Michael Baxter’s gigantic everyday objects, which dwarf the performers. These create a sense of spatial disorientation for the audience and serve as means of re-imagining traditional circus apparatus.</p>
<p>An enormous safety pin doubles as a pair of Chinese poles on which the dynamic acrobats Lachlan Sukroo and Jake Silvestro perform. A giant clothes peg becomes a spring board for acrobatic tricks. Over-sized model credit cards - in a contemporary take on the traditional chair balancing act - are stacked into a high tower by performer Mitch Jones. He then climbs it, before the whole flimsy structure collapses. It is a physical metaphor for the dangers of living on extended credit. </p>
<p>Highlights in this high energy show include acrobat/musician Alex Weibel Weibel in an extraordinary rope walking act. He plays violin while balancing on a rope on one foot, and performs mid-air aerial cartwheels by holding on to four ropes simultaneously. Annalise Moore is a standout artist showing precision and poise in her hand-balancing and her fearless partnering work. </p>
<p>Jarred Dewey grabs the attention in a witty and inventive contortion routine in which his feet are attached to giant steam irons, and in a gender-bending solo trapeze act in red high-heeled shoes.</p>
<p>Freyja Edney twirling hula hoops impresses with her control and dynamism. Tania Cervantes Chamorro on aerial slings and Rose Chalker McGann on tissu are both outstanding. Tara Silcock moves effortlessly from clown, to acrobat, to a foot juggler balancing large scale cocktail umbrellas while lying in a giant Martini glass.</p>
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<span class="caption">Annalise Moore flying through gigantic scissors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">JamieWilliams</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Circus Oz commitment to gender equality is alive and well in this show. At one point at the end of an all-women acrobatic sequence, Edney bases Silcock on her shoulders who in turn bases Moore at the top to create an all-female human pyramid. Not content with that, Cervantes Chamorro and Chalker McGann then step up onto Edney so she is, in effect, supporting four women. Not surprisingly, this demonstration of sheer strength and willpower brought the house down. </p>
<p>The real success of Model Citizens lies in the seamless intertwining of entertainment with political and social commentary. Satirical songs include “I love diversity … just not in my backyard” performed by Freyja Edney and “Worship my Weber” by musician Jeremy Hopkins. Another scene features a flaming “Adani-fired barbeque” which threatens to roast Mitch Jones alive for “not paying his bills” as he attempts to escape from a straightjacket whilst hanging upside down above the flames. </p>
<p>The onstage action is well supported by the live music driven by Hopkins’s powerhouse percussion and musical director Ania Reynolds’s inventive keyboards, with appearances by Weibel Weibel on violin, and the show stopper, an electric guitar solo from the show’s sound engineer and operator, Reuben Hopkins.</p>
<p>The final scene involves a rope bridge, spanning the entire width of the stage. This unusual and bespoke apparatus transforms into an aerial jungle gym for the whole ensemble to perform unique forms of partner work, acrobatics, balancing and contortion. </p>
<p>By the time the entire cast of circus artists and musicians took their bows at the end of this act on the Sydney opening night, the entire audience were on their feet, whooping and cheering.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/2018/model-citizens">Model Citizens</a> will be performed as part of the Sydney Festival until January 28.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89761/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon Burtt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Circus Oz’s latest show furthers the company’s commitment to politically driven, gender balanced circus.Jon Burtt, Lecturer, Dance and Performance Studies, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/641252016-08-29T20:06:14Z2016-08-29T20:06:14ZSequins and symphonies: how opera ran away with the circus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135770/original/image-20160829-17854-1it8xak.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Circus and opera crash together in Cirque de la Symphonie. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Aulsebrook</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Circus has always shamelessly borrowed from other performance forms. It has coopted all types of music to sit alongside its signature brass band sound, so that music and circus are synonymous – although not necessarily thought of as such. This union allows body-based acrobatic performance to create emotional mood and sensory impact.</p>
<p>Perhaps mood isn’t what comes immediately to mind for circus. But creating a pleasurable mood has been fundamental to its success. The circus delights and excites, as it induces visceral thrills and anxiety about risky feats.</p>
<p>One of the major innovations of the 40-year-old animal-free circus movement has been the diversification of its hyper-cheerful emotional quality. From the French circus <a href="http://www.archaos.info/">Archaos</a> with its terrifying Mad Max aesthetic and machines to the danced and sung, nonabrasive gentility of the Canadian <a href="https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/">Cirque du Soleil</a>, circus arts now span a full range of theatrical moods.</p>
<p>Three recent productions in Melbourne combined circus and classical music to foster emotions ranging from amusement to pathos. They worked for the audiences but not completely in favour of each art form. How might performance forms that have evolved separately come together in an artistically coherent way? More crucially, why bring them together? </p>
<p>As well melding circus, opera and symphony music, each production involved an additional performance form: respectively illusionist magic, Commedia dell’Arte and image-based contemporary performance. A delineated form has practical and artistic justifications, as well as informing audiences what to expect.</p>
<p>But blurring the distinctions can also be artistically productive. There’s something magnificent about artists working “live” and in large numbers; playing instruments, singing opera and doing circus feats.</p>
<h2>Cirque de la Symphonie and illusion</h2>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cirque de la Symphonie.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Aulsebrook</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performed in Cirque de la Symphonie in Melbourne’s Hamer Hall concert venue. The strenuous muscular technique behind circus usually remains unseen, camouflaged behind easeful grace, smiles, sequin flashes and the “styling” or held poses between each sequence or trick – all contributing to conventional mood effects. </p>
<p>Does the circus need the orchestra or vice versa, I wondered, to justify the leap in scale from circus band to the high status, full orchestra? After all, an acrobatic act can be artistic and athletically accomplished within low status, gaudy spectacles. The underlying imprint of this populist aesthetic might have been evident in Cirque de la Symphonie, but it delivered virtuoso performances of both circus and music. </p>
<p>Circus is body-based performance with apparatus, which might only be a weight-bearing belt or a special floor mat. Orchestra, too, might be considered body-based performance with instrument equipment. Both forms involve training intensely and repetitively to master the skills.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135768/original/image-20160829-17845-19la0gz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135768/original/image-20160829-17845-19la0gz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135768/original/image-20160829-17845-19la0gz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135768/original/image-20160829-17845-19la0gz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135768/original/image-20160829-17845-19la0gz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135768/original/image-20160829-17845-19la0gz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135768/original/image-20160829-17845-19la0gz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135768/original/image-20160829-17845-19la0gz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cirque de la Symphonie.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Aulsebrook</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Highly accomplished solo or duo acts in acrobatic balance, juggling, and illusionist costume change acts, and acts on aerial silks (hanging fabric) and aerial straps were performed in front of the orchestra, which played music by Dvorak, Saint-Saëns, Bizet, de Falla, Khachaturian and others. </p>
<p>There were several stand-alone orchestral pieces by Glinka and Strauss, and at times the music seemed to soar high in beautifully invisible motion. In this union, orchestral solemnity and circus brashness were discarded as the conductor Benjamin Northey began to act like a ringmaster. He was eventually incorporated into an illusion rope trick from which a female illusionist emerged wearing his jacket. </p>
<p>The atmosphere was warmly light-hearted, and the imperative to please an audience still distinguishes much contemporary circus – such as Circus Oz – from other theatrical and dance performance. </p>
<p>Cirque de la Symphonie’s familiar formulaic effects were not particularly demanding to watch; the audience clapped each accomplishment like a circus audience even while the orchestra was still playing.</p>
<h2>Laughter and Tears and Commedia dell’Arte</h2>
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<span class="caption">Victorian Opera, Laughter and Tears.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeff Busby</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A collaboration between the Victorian Opera, Orchestra Victoria and Circus Oz with Dislocate might seem unlikely. But their large production, Laughter and Tears, made opera entertaining like circus in Act I and circus moments heartfelt like opera in Act II.</p>
<p>There are precedents for this <a href="https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/25611">opera and circus combination</a> and the production directed by Emil Wolk deserved a full house. It featured accomplished orchestral performance under conductor Richard Mills; strong operatic performances; truly funny clowning; seamless acrobatic action; and lovely aerial movement. The production solved the problem of two completely different art forms by emphasising one in each act. They were linked together by a play-within-a-play structure presented by Commedia dell’Arte stock characters. </p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Victorian Opera, Laughter and Tears.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeff Busby</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“Laughter”, set in 1938 in Sicily, presented a commedia narrative in acrobatic slapstick. It was accompanied by 23 pieces of 16th to 18th century music from minstrels to works by Scarlatti, Vinci, Banchieri, Vivaldi, Monteverdi and Gesualdo. </p>
<p>“Tears”, set after World War II in 1945 in Sicily, was the opera Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo, in which a tragic love triangle among travelling performers is played out during their commedia performance.</p>
<p>The early action soon turned into Circus Oz larrikinism complete with male-to-female cross-dressing. Three men and one woman appeared as stage hand characters in 1930s overalls. Five singers appeared in commedia costumes. The character of Nedda sang from the balcony where she was imprisoned by el Capitano, with her lover, Arlecchino, watching from below. </p>
<p>Act I involved repeated clowning efforts to climb up to the balcony and unite the lovers and culminated in three-person-high shoulder balances executed with seeming ease. </p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Victorian Opera, Laughter and Tears.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeff Busby</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In some hilarious acrobatic sequences, el Capitano’s leg was caught in a collapsing balcony rail and the female stage hand character became the Commedia character, Columbina as she flew up in an aerial harness. Capitano descended to chase the acrobats around the stage brandishing his sword as they somersaulted in and out of windows, and through doorways. </p>
<p>As the male stage hands appeared in the glorious commedia dresses of the singers, the surtitles wittily advised: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Health warning: anyone musical, please leave now. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mayhem ensued in familiar Circus Oz style as Nedda escaped with Arlecchino. The mood shifted to wariness as a Mussolini blackshirt announced war, and that “commedia is finished” – a line from the Pagliacci opera. </p>
<p>In Act II’s opera the clown, Canio, murders his unfaithful performer wife, Nedda, and her lover, Silvo, witnessed by the audience crowd created by a large opera chorus. </p>
<p>Nellie Melba famously sang Nedda early in the opera’s history in London, but I questioned this choice. Such repulsive brutal (domestic) violence needs to be challenged by a clear critical perspective in contemporary staging – for example, being framed by stylised freezes in the action.</p>
<h2>Il Ritorno and contemporary performance</h2>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Circa, Il Ritorno.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Herzfeld/Camlight Productions CLP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Circa’s performance, Il Ritorno reinterpreted the narrative of Ulysses returning to Penelope, with contemporary physical theatre and opera by Monteverdi, Grant, Mahler and others. Circa’s intricately choreographed acrobatic movement and operatic music were in contemporary performance style and, even though segments were framed by projected surtitles outlining the basic narrative, this was not a story. </p>
<p>Il Ritorno had seven acrobat performers, three opera singers and three musicians who played violin, accordion and flute, and the piano, harpsichord and cello. It started with slow figures in half-light accompanied by haunting vocal and cello music.</p>
<p>Then acrobatic bodies crumbled and collapsed as if attacked by invisible forces as the performers moved across the stage in hand-stands, somersaults, balances – including two-person and three-person-high shoulder balances – and full body throws and catches. Bodies were hanging, falling, catching and grabbing. </p>
<p>Clearly, the myth suggested boats unable to reach Mediterranean shores and homeless wandering, and the performance conveyed the impression of an epic. Not only was the sorrowful mood completely different from the other two shows, but circus and opera were fully integrated. The acrobats and singers moved across the stage together so that Il Ritorno developed as a theatrically coherent whole. </p>
<p>The sparse poetic classicism was evocatively melancholic, and delivered with a sensibility that was beautiful and yet disturbing. The eerie effect, while masterful in its hint of suffering, may not have pleased the spectators who came wanting more cheerful circus or a more explicit message.</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Circa, Il Ritorno.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Herzfeld/Camlight Productions CLP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The production had a rhythm in which the performers moved, paused, then moved again. The grey-brown tones in combination with the music and jumbled bodies suggested a medieval world – or perhaps its painting – rather than the sculptural perfection of Ancient Greece.</p>
<p>Alongside the singers, the mobile acrobats seemed more neutral, less personality but more body. The art was in the pauses, holds, and bodily montage imagery refined by Circa director Yaron Lifschitz. This was a director’s text developed with the artists and composer-arranger Quincy Grant. </p>
<p>The body training was unquestionably acrobatic but not straightforward circus as multiple effects blended together. Acrobats worked in pairs momentarily, male with female, male with male, before dissembling and reassembling; a cloud swing appeared but not for a full act. Female performers were lifted or turned or bodily thrown or presented spread-eagle in leg splits on the ground, in a lift, and suspended from trapeze, but they were also the base of a balance. Male performers stood on female chests among multiple variations in the fascinating movement. </p>
<p>Invisible hands seemed to tear at a solo female performer in extreme thrashing, stabbing and writhing until she left, precariously walking on bent toes. Three female acrobats hung from a wide trapeze in slow stretches and held poses, and two held a third performer suspended below. The poses flowed into each other rhythmically like beautiful stanzas of verse.</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Circa, Il Ritorno.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Herzfeld/Camlight Productions CLP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the Chorus of Farewell, the acrobats worked impressively in shoulder balances. In one instance, a performer was swung into the arms of a second one, who stood on the shoulders of a third. Three women stood stretching out, fan-like, on top of the shoulders of a male acrobat like an illustration from a Greek vase. At the end, the performers slipped away one by one through a back-lit doorway as if through time and memory.</p>
<p>The coincidence of these three shows happening within a month has drawn public attention to the artistic possibilities of such collaborations. But perhaps the companies might have preferred that they were not competing with each other for audiences. It’s unlikely that this synchronicity could have been foreseen by the producing organisations. </p>
<p>The lead times on the development of such large productions and the scheduling into major venues would have been at least two years, and Circus Oz has been in discussion about an opera circus production for some years. It’s not possible to say whether this type of artistic expression might be attributed to a zeitgeist effect or the myriad of ways in which artists and productions indirectly influence each other.</p>
<p>Cirque de la Symphonie delivered a cheerful enjoyable show with a well-tested audience-pleasing repertoire from both art forms. By interval, however, I wondered if the sensory preference for either music or circus divided spectator attention.</p>
<p>Laughter and Tears aroused more laughter than tears as the comedic narrative of the unfaithful lover was not easily flipped into pity despite some powerful operatic singing. Il Ritorno sought sensory immersion as it evoked a solemn response; that is, it demanded the undivided serious attention of its spectators. While the requirement of work and commitment from an audience might seem an anathema to circus, an intense mood is completely integral to circus artistry.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64125/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peta Tait does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Barriers between artforms are tumbling down in three recent productions that mix circus and opera. The shows range from sombre to silly, but all hit magnificent high notes.Peta Tait, Professor of Theatre and Drama, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.