A sudden realisation dawned on me the other day, that these last two years, I've been in a very succesful touring show, and hadn't yet written about it on my website. So, here I am writing about The Swings by All or Nothing Aerial Dance Theatre. Conceive pre-covid, the show then had ot be adapted to comply with the ever-changing restrictions. Despite this, it has been a roaring success. The show is a light hearted aerial performance with a sound installation and then the opportunity for the public to have a go on the swings.
As you may have guessed, the show centres around a swing set, much like you would find in a playground, except our swing set is a giant one, and the swings are suspended on very long trapeze ropes, rather than chains. The two performers start very high up at the top of the ropes, descend before playing around on the swings in a set that builds up to a very big swinging section at the end, with trapeze tricks being performed on the apparatus.
"Swings" is now being prepared for its 3rd season of performances, having toured Scotland extensively in the summer of 2021 and England and Scotland last summer. We are hoping to take it abroad before the year is out. The success of the show is a credit to Jennifer Patterson, the mastermind behind All or Nothing and the show. Long may it continue!
I spent a large part of 2019 in Wales, not visiting family and friends, but working on a show.
Drudwen is a bilingual (Welsh-English) circus theatre show. Written by Kate Driver-Jones for North Wales based company "Cimera" it is a dark and twisted fairytale, that charts the destruction of the natural world by the forces of evil, and the eventual triumph of the reluctant heroine over this evil.
The show was a brilliant challenge for me as a performer, and was a hugely ambitious achievement for the company. It combined circus, theatre, live music, 2 languages and one hell of a story. We toured the length and breadth of Wales,and although it was challenging at times, it was also a lot of fun, the company was lovely and I had a great time.
https://www.facebook.com/cimerahon
Earlier this year, we went on tour with Tarzanna, a show I have been in since it was first created back in 2016. The show has changed a bit since then, has a new cast (apart from me)and has been reworked to make it suitable for theatres. We had a great time re rehearsing and going on tour this time around, and I think the show works really well indoors. We went all over the country to places such as Aberstwyth, Oxford, Stockton, Derby and 2 venues in London.
In every venue we were swamped with kids wanting photo's with us afterwards, and had lots of lovely audience feedback. I think the blend of story, visual theatre and circus, with a strong heroine works really well. I'm hoping we can tour it again next year.
https://gramophonestheatre.wordpress.com/tarzanna/
I was presented with an exciting opportunity in the autumn, which was to put together a show for an event that was part of the Being Human Festival. Professor Vanessa Toulmin- Fairground and Circus Historian (amongst many other things) was putting on an event about ground-breaking historical, female and BAME performers.
The original idea was a circus cabaret, but after chatting with Vanessa, we decided to put together a show that explored identity, ethnicity, gender and community in circus. The result was a 30 minute show, performed by myself, Samara Casewell, Jess Abouzeid, Rebecca Soloman and Emily Rose Greenwood and directed by Eleanor Hooper. Making the show was a really enjoyable experience and a great opportunity for us as Sheffield performers to work together on a theatrical circus show. We used aerial, acrobatics, hand balancing, dance, text and personal narratives. The event itself- Sisterhood of the Ring, was sold out and included a talk and slideshow by Professor Vanessa that just scratche the surface of her extensive research and knowledge, a talk by Sarah Fielding of Invisible Circus, our show "Who Do They Think They Are?" and a post show discussion with questions invited by the audience.
It was a great night, although I was (as usual) too nervous to listen to the talks before our show. It was all very well received and the audience feedback was very positive. I was proud of our show, and even more pleased to be encouraged to apply for further funding to develop the performance. The funding application has just gone in, so fingers crossed, and watch this space!