Week Three - Week Four
Week Three: Circus Skills
(Reg has quite a 'forceful' way of getting students to pay attention!)
The following is the transcript of an interview with Reg Bolton, coordinator of the special 'Circus Skills' workshop...
Q. What is the first thing that got you into circus skills?
Reg - …I’d been running an art centre for young people in Edinburgh, and we prided our selves on having the widest spectrum of Arts, but I still felt there was a gap. And the gap was for kids like I was when I was ten-years old… didn’t want to do anything ‘arty’, didn’t want to do any pretending, any acting, any dancing any singing…but I still wanted to show off. And that’s where I realised there was a gap in our spectrum. It was for those kids… and it just suddenly occurred to me nobody ever taught circus skills. So I set myself to learn it all.
Q. What was one of the first tricks that you actually learned?
Reg - Three-ball-juggling, but that wasn’t until I was 21…I learnt that from a friend. Then I saw another person I knew on the stilts and I thought ‘I know this person’, so stilts can’t be that hard. So I followed him till he got off, and I had a look at him and worked [it] out, and the first stilts I made were about that high [gestures at chin level] ridiculous hight …really dangerous…but I mastered them!
Q. How long would it take you to master something like that?
Reg - About half a day…everything’s easy! … It took me about a month and a half to learn unicycle…
Q. Would that be the longest one it took you the learn?
Reg - Anyone who is any good knows that I have mastered nothing…I’ve mastered nothing…I’m really basic at just about every thing, but I’m good at teaching the basic level…by the joy of circus is that you stand at the bottom among the people who can’t do it, you see a huge rock face… at the top is somebody who can do it; you clamber to the top of that, you feel good ‘cause you look down, ‘they can do it, I can do it!’ Then you look around …bloody hell…’cause there’s peaks and some pinnacles and impossible heights still there to be conquered… and that’s what’s so nice about the circus stuff. I focus on what I can do but I’ve hardly started yet.
Q. Just like Theatre in Education, what is the importance of Circus in Education?
Reg - Circus is astonishingly underrated as a learning tool. Why is it so good? ‘cause it makes up for all those things that are missing in current childhood…hard work, self-design, risk, trust, aspiration and fun. All of those things that you get the least out of childhood, circus pulls it back in.
... and find out more at Reg's website @ www.circusshop.net
Performance by its very nature places your mind and body into spaces not normally entered. Even if the performance is walking down a street, you may have done it before, but as a performance. The road, the noise, the potholes and people aren’t there. Correct movement and delivery however can create the illusion. Children’s theatre and all other forms of Pantomime, require this same skill in a more unique way than other theatre performances. The actor is not only walking down a street, he's carrying a piano, walking a dog while having cream pies thrown at him and juggling with one foot... Too much? Week 3 of children’s theatre covered 'Circus Skills' and with every skill it required a good balance of discipline and juggling. There was a specific focus on stage combat, where the victim is the one in control of the fight, groundwork was laid out and over the rehearsal process we will develop a fight sequence involving multiple people and a lot of nose grabs and kicked bottoms. Adaptation and improvisation were key in this class as not only were we able to problem solve using our bodies we were able to carry statues around the classroom. ‘Circus skills’ seem to follow the theory of shifting energy not stopping it. In either combat or diablo sticks, in a transfer of energy from person to person, or person to object, or even floor to person, energy must be accepted and incorporated into you next action. This class is extremely useful not only for those, in the performance world, but everyone; as it gives you insight into comical techniques, balance, interpersonal skills and a touch of magic.
Paul
Grabovac
Check out Paul's website @ www.skp.homestead.com
(Trust exercises are crucial for working with such a large ensemble)
Well now,
I bet you all thought that the actual performing was going to be the toughest
thing about Children's Theatre, right? The thought of getting up in front
of all those kids and saying all the right lines, in the right order and not
walking into the furniture, was the worst it was going to get, right? Ha!
You all forgot about the audition, didn't you? I bet you thought all you
needed to do to get a role was to ask Jenny very nicely to give you one, huh?
Unfortunately, it's not that easy. Auditions, or cattle calls as we like
to call them, are an evil necessity. You get up in front of Jenny and
Darren (and possibly the rest of class, depending on how the auditions are run)
and in a short space of time convince them that you are the best person for a
certain role. I can tell you not to stress, that it's actually not that
big a deal and can be a lot of fun, but you're unlikely to believe me. So
I'll give some more practical advice.
1. Wear
comfortable, neutral, clothing. I personally prefer to present what I call
"a blank slate" so that a director can see the potential. You
want them to see what you can be as opposed to what you are.
2. Don't
try to learn the lines. No one expects you to know them off by
heart ten minutes. Focus more on character, voice and physical movements.
3. If
asked to read again, in a different way, don't take it as a bad thing.
Obviously Jenny sees some potential in you, or it could simply be that she's
looking to see if you can take direction. So don't argue artistic
integrity or any other such thing and just do it.
4. Don't
read for just the one role. Of course there's going to be one
character that you feel you absolutely must play, but don't limit yourself.
The more you read the more versatility you can show.
5. Don't
be afraid of making a fool of yourself. This is Children's
Theatre, you have to work pretty darn hard to make an idiot of yourself.
If you think the character you're auditioning for would run around, barking like
a dog, then, by crikee, do it!
6. Bring
water and avoid chocolate and caffeine. You want your voice to be at it's
absolute best.
7. Have
fun. Seriously. You'd be amazed at the difference between those
auditioning who are enjoying themselves and those that clearly are not.
(Teamwork is vital in 'constructing' a Children's Theatre production)
Alexa Taylor
The following is the transcript of an interview with Salmiyah, choreographer for this year's Children's Theatre production...
Q. How long have you been doing movement and dance for? And why did you start?
Salmiyah - I did ballet like any little girl, my best friend was in ballet, so I went into ballet but I hated it. I hated every second, I thought it was really torture… the price of beauty was really extraordinary. So at fourteen I was expelled… I thought never again, I would never dance again. It was the opposite of the natural movement, of what I love to do…and then…in fact I never stopped, I realised I never stopped, I really danced my own way. Until eighteen… and I met contemporary dance, when you dance bare foot. It’s an expression of the contemporary fold…a lot of improvisation and freedom, I love the freedom. At the same time there was this discipline about it, very artistic… very explorative too, extremely creative… especially as this was the end of the sixties. All was going hand-in-hand, fighting against the establishment, so I loved all of that.
Q. Is there one particular element that gives you passion?
Salmiyah - Exploring! Exploring the body, exploring movement with children…I just love it. That would be the very start of a workshop. I would start with that…we would dance and create movement.
Q. With the importance of the neutral stance established, are their any activities that we can do at home to develop this element?
Salmiyah - Your neutral position is a state of meditation, to be one with yourself and one with your spirits. That’s the essential… that’s the blank page from where you’re going to write what ever your creativity is going to. It’s more than that… it’s when you listen to your intuition, so it really stretches very, very far. At home, I love Tai Chi because it brings me back to the breath… just to find your breathing again.
Q. When teaching children through movement, what would be your essential activities to focus on?
Salmiyah - Body parts, for body awareness. When you see the problems some children have with coordination and moving their body. So just to learn and see their body parts moving, that’s an essential one that their aware of their body and where it is in the space. Another one… I like stop and go, because with that you can do the shape and that goes very far, concentration, listening skills. They have to listen when you give the signal of stopping and from the stop you can do so many things… some people would call it musical statues. That is infinite with what you can do with those two exercises.
Q. What are the benefits of movement in a Children’s Theatre production, from the point-of-view of the audience?
Salmiyah - First to see the body, what the body can give. Your body’s your tool; it’s like an instrument…so there’s the beauty of shapes, especially with the costume; the visual art there. Also a key to body language. If I’m hunched, we are expecting a certain type of personage. If the line is straight and open, we are expecting, especially with Children’s Theatre…it is very straight forward, the message is very straight forward… a body which is open should indicate a person which is going to be open and ‘nice’ compared to the baddy who would always be a bit twisted…I feel body language is very, very important. I wish children were quite aware… in school we learn so much about words and forget so much about the body. That would be the message.
Salmiyah
(Salmiyah (pictured first from the left) watches the days auditions)
I have been trying to write my essay. I chose Ethics in Children's Theatre, but can find very little on the subject. What I do find is either from right wing moral crusaders or left wing trendy totally permissive crusaders. Where do I fall? Somewhere in the middle, I suppose. I don't think children should be subjected to theatre which embarrasses them, makes them feel uncomfortable, or conflicts with their own family values or religion (unless, of course, their family values are those of the Addams family). But is it wrong to have a message in the play that not everyone would agree with? It happens in movies all the time. I will always remember watching Free Willy 2, which paints oil companies and their ships as bad, when at the time (and now) our family was being supported by a husband working in that industry. We can't all have jobs planting trees or working with wind and solar power generators.
Valerie O'Neill
(Auditions go on all morning...)
I didn't audition because I already had the job of stage
manager. Which, of course, means that I had a totally different
perspective on the auditions, particularly the singing ones, which were not held
in public.
I was really impressed with how positive and supportive the auditions panel was.
There was no question of anyone being criticised or receiving adverse
comments - even though they weren't there to hear them. It was an
extraordinary example of consideration, fairness and genuine kindness.
Valerie O'Neill
(...so focus and consistent attention is essential)
Casting is crucial, what we are looking at is that overall dynamic between you as a presence on stage manifesting yourself in the character with other people. It's not about the specific length of the part you get, it's what you do with it, how you realise your character, how you work with the backstage people.
Jenny de Reuck
View other Notice Board entries... Week One - Week Two Week Three - Week Four
Week Five - Week Six Week Seven - Study Break: Week One Study Break: Week Two - Week Eight
Week Nine - Week Ten Week Eleven - Week Twelve Week Thirteen Week Fourteen
View other 'Quokka' production extras... Draft Music - Act One Music - Act Two
Script and Music - Act One Script and Music - Act Two Photo Gallery Production Wrap-up Cast and Crew Party
Go to Children's Theatre: My Journal History Notice Board Your Work
Contact Andrew @ thechaseison@optusnet.com.au
This page last updated: 22nd December 2005