CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS
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Artosphere: Circa’s Carnival of the Animals
Program 50 minutes
About
The Circa carnival comes to town with whimsical tales of creatures of land and sea, who tumble, fly, leap and spin their way through the many wondrous worlds of the animal kingdom. Our zebras juggle and flip… Our kangaroos skip and somersault… We’ve elephants with street-cred and rhythm… And even our dinosaur bones shake, clatter and roll to the music. Carnival of the Animals whisks you away on a thrilling circus escapade inspired by Camille Saint-Saëns delightful salute to feathers, fur and fins. Circa’s acrobats bring this classical music suite to life for a whole new generation of circus, music and animal lovers. With work that has toured to 30 countries across six continents since 2006, the company is relevant across cultures, audiences and venues. It’s the appeal of something that is skillful, but hasn’t forgotten that to be human is, in the first instance, to feel. Circa’s creations are stirring tributes to humanity: affirming the potential of our bodies, the depth of our emotions and our infinite capacity for wonder. It finds new emotional landscapes inside what is generally considered to be a spectacle.
The Company
From Brisbane, Australia comes a bold new vision of contemporary circus. A blending of bodies, light, sound and skills. A place where acrobatics and movement meld into a seamless whole. A celebration of the expressive possibilities of the human body at its extremes. Circa’s work has been rapturously received by audiences, presenters and critics around the world. Critics have raved about Circa calling the work “stunning... exquisite... heart-stopping” and “electrically charged.” Circa’s current touring shows span diverse contexts from works for families in traditional arts centers to European, contemporary arts festivals. Their works are highly innovative genre-bending pieces that stretch the practice and perceptions
of circus. Circa features a full-time ensemble, a concentrated administrative team and a dedicated circus studio. In 2013, Circa performed over 420 performances to audiences of over 150,000 people locally, nationally and internationally. Circa also runs a Training Center with an extensive workshop program in Brisbane at our professional studio, in schools and with partners throughout Queensland and beyond. On top of our term based and one‐off training activities, Circa has an impressive track record of producing quality workshops for children, young people and adults in a range of community contexts. In 2013, Circa’s Training Centre programs reached an audience of over 19,000 people.
Key credits Director Yaron Lifschitz
Circa Ensemble Rowan
Heydon-White, Gerramy Marsden, Conor Neal, Kathryn O’Keeffe, Paul O’Keeffe, Crystal Stacey and Shannon Vitali Costume Design Libby McDonnell
Technical Director/ Lighting Designer Jason Organ
International representation Tommy Kriegsmann, ArKtype (USA) David Lieberman / Artists’ Representatives (USA)
Circa acknowledges the assistance of the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body and the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
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Artosphere: Circa’s Carnival of the Animals
Creative
DIRECTOR YARON LIFSCHITZ is a graduate of the University of New South Wales, University of Queensland and National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) where he was the youngest director ever accepted into its prestigious graduate director’s course. Since graduating, Yaron has directed over 60 productions including largescale events, opera, theater, physical theater and circus. His work has been seen in 34 countries, across six continents by over 900,000 people. In 2016, Yaron was the recipient of the prestigious Australia Council Theatre Award. He was founding Artistic Director of the Australian Museum’s Theatre Unit, Head Tutor in Directing at Australian Theatre for Young People and has been a regular guest tutor in directing at NIDA since 1995. Yaron is currently Artistic Director and CEO of Circa and the Creative Lead of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games arts and cultural program. With Circa, Yaron has created works such as by the light of stars that are no longer..., CIRCA, Wunderkammer, How Like an Angel, “S”, Beyond, Opus, Carnival of the Animals and most recently The Return, which world premiered in 2015. His recent works have been reviewed as being “stunning,” “exquisite” and “the standard to which all other circuses can aspire.” Yaron lives in Brisbane with his son, Oscar. His passion is creating works of philosophical and poetic depth from the traditional languages of circus.
Acrobats
ROWAN HEYDON-WHITE started flying around on a trapeze at an early age. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Physical Theatre, she decided she wanted to actively delve further into circus and so moved to New Zealand to also complete a Diploma in Circus Arts. Over the years she has performed widely around both Australia and overseas for various events ranging from corporate and private functions, to festivals and many contemporary circus productions. Her highlights so far include touring with Circus Oz, Legs on the Wall, Awkward Productions and Catcher.
GERRAMY MARSDEN started his circus training at the age of 14, joining a youth circus based in Queensland. After discovering a natural talent for object
manipulation, it was not long before he found himself performing seasoned shows at different venues from The Brisbane Powerhouse to Adelaide Fringe Festival. He recently received a Bachelor of Circus from the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA), where he advanced his training in the art of acrobatic basing and Rolla Bolla.
CONOR NEAL was born in London, U.K. in 1989. Having always been a physical child, Conor grew up doing parkour, gymnastics, martial arts and theater, and generally jumping around and climbing on things he probably shouldn’t have. At age 17, he discovered diabolo and – after a year of obsessive practice – was able to combine his physical skills with a love of performance by attending The Circus Space in London (now the National Centre for Circus Arts). In 2011, Conor graduated from the Circus Space specializing in Chinese pole. He performed as part of the London Olympic Torch Relay in 2012 and has toured throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Africa with Cirque Éloize in their show iD. Off-stage Conor enjoys exploring, drinking coffee and solving Rubik’s cubes. Conor first saw Circa in 2009 and has aspired to work for them ever since.
KATHRYN O’KEEFFE originally trained in Canberra as a gymnast and dancer before going to the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) in 2003 to study dance. She later worked as an independent artist performing as well as creating works that mixed dance, physical theater and circus for festivals, theater performances and other events. During 2010, Kathryn was part of the sevenmonth aerial resident company that performed Airbourne – directed by Doug Tremlett and choreographed by Sue Broadway at the World Expo in Shanghai, China. Kathryn first worked with Circa in 2011 when she performed in the world premiere of Nocturne in South Korea. She has been a full-time ensemble member with Circa since 2012 and has performed in shows including “S”, How Like an Angel, CIRCA, Wunderkammer and Beyond.
PAUL O’KEEFFE aka “the human whippet, dexterous daredevil, neat freak and mister fixit,” had his first
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Artosphere: Circa’s Carnival of the Animals professional gig in 1996 playing one of the lead roles in Company Skylark’s, Wake Baby. Since then, he has toured the world from Australia to Broadway performing circus, dance, puppetry, musical and physical theater. Off-stage, Paul co-founded a circus company called Kronik, co-commissioned a professional circus training studio in Melbourne, co-managed Warehouse Circus, ran multiple independent circus troupes, and co-coordinated and implemented a number of circus workshops including one for 10,000 scouts over a 10-day period. Paul has performed with Circus Oz, Circus Monoxide, Kronik, Cantina by Strut & Fret Production House, The Australian Choreographic Centre, Jigsaw Theatre Company, Out Of the Blue Studios, Malcom C. Cooke & Associates and Legs On The Wall to mention a few. Paul used to believe in his own immortality, now he just believes he’s a nut.
CRYSTAL STACEY grew up in Broome, Western Australia and lived there for 16 years where she was well associated with local sports, dance and the Sand Fly Circus. In 2011, Crystal began studying with The Flying Fruit Fly Circus where she performed in Crunch and CTRL, ALT, DEL and the Merrugeku stilt dancing
show BURU, which she toured with internationally. After graduating, Crystal formed the circus ensemble Flipism with her fellow graduates where they explored contemporary circus, collaborative dance and alternative movement with their mentor Ben Lewis through a JUMP mentorship grant. Crystal recently finished a season of Hot Brown Honey, a cabaret show of remixed burlesque with the Briefs Factory. Crystal specializes in hulahoop, static trapeze and aerial loops. She aspires to continue growing her skills and experiences within the circus industry.
SHANNON VITALI dreamt of being on the stage from a young age. At age 14, she began dancing at the Graham Academy of Dance in North Queensland and has continued her dance studies ever since. In 2010, she pursued a Bachelors of Circus Arts Degree at the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) in Melbourne. Her passion for circus developed during her first year at NICA where she specialized in dance contortion, adagio, risley and aerial acrobatics. Shannon seeks to share her passion for circus and dance all around the world by working with contemporary circus companies and eventually choreographing and directing a combination of circus and dance shows.
Upcoming Events: ++ Trail Mix on the Razorback Greenway | May 14 ++ Frisco Trail Mix | May 15 ++ The Okee Dokee Brothers | May 15 ++ Chapel Music Series: The Barefoot
Movement | May 16 ++ Chapel Music Series: The Dover Quartet | May 18 ++ Egg | May 21
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SPONSORS AND FUNDERS
This project is proudly supported by:
MEDIA PARTNERS
INDIVIDUALS Bob & Becky Alexander Emily & James Bost June Carter Tom & Cynthia Coughlin Sandy Edwards Pete & Shirley Esch Hershey & Denise Garner Jeff & Lisa Gearhart Reed & Mary Ann Greenwood Orville & Susan Hall
Rick & Marybeth Hays Malcolm & Ellen Hayward Tom & Jill King Greg & Hannah Lee David & Deborah Malone Margaret & Dick Rutherford Frank & Sarah Sharp Barbara G. Taylor