Podcast episode with Dr Sandy Belle Rosales Cadena
This autumn has seen a diverse range of new adventures come my way. Mostly, I've been in training in Berlin on a physical theatre course, but more about that in another post. This post is about a podcast- previous collaborator Dr Sandy Belle Rosales Cadena (Belle) got in touch. Belle is a doctor of psychology and her research is around female body image and she has had an interest in performance for a long time. We met back in 2018 when we collaborated on a project with The National Fairground and Circus Archive to create a performance to celebrate the 250th anniversay of circus in the UK. Mirrors & Ribbons was performed in Sheffield Cathedral as part of Festival of the Mind and is a circus theatre peformance about female body image in circus. You can read more about it on the Circus Theatre page of my website.
Belle got in touch saying she was creating a pop-up podcast with the University of Sheffield and would I be interested in being one of the speakers. Obviously, I said yes. The podcast is about body image in circus and focused on body image and body confidence, specifically around physicality, strength and functionality. Our episode talks about attitudes towards female bodies in circus, weight, training and how pressures of society can hinder performers achieving their true potential through concerns about size and appearance. I delve into some personal issues in this episode, in the hope that it will help others to conquer unhealthy attitudes and practices towards their bodies. Belle talks about her research into gratitude, body positivity and self compassion as tools to help those who struggle with body image and conventional beauty standards. In episode 2, Belle talks to Farrell Cox a black actor and aerialist about her journey as a circus performer.
https://player.sheffield.ac.uk/events/circus-confidence-body-image-revolution-episode-1