Our Emerging Artist, Georgia, went to REAP!
Read about her time in Tasmania training with some of the best of Australian circus artists
In July, I had the opportunity to travel to Tasmania to be a part of the ROOKE Emerging Artist Program (REAP). ROOKE is one of the leading contemporary circus companies in Australia, and their fantastic show Interloper recently headlined at the Canberra Circus Festival in April. At the Festival, I was able to work with Lewie West on ‘jugglumbling’, or juggling and tumbling, which I loved! Through REAP, I was able to dive deeper into this skill and develop a new piece of work with Lewie’s help and guidance. Lewie is one of the pioneers of contemporary hard-floor circus tumbling, and also a Warehouse alumni, so it was awesome to work with him on this! REAP was funded by Arts Tasmania, and generously organised by ROOKE, so it was free for me to participate. I am incredibly grateful and super excited to be working with ROOKE in this program!
I flew to Launceston, where Freyja (a member of ROOKE) picked me up from the airport and dropped me off at Tasdance, where she had organised for me to stay. Later that afternoon, I met one of the other REAP participants, Ivy, and we did a hard floor tumbling workshop with Conor (another ROOKE member). Later that evening, Ivy and I went for a pizza and to watch the Barbie movie, which was fun!
The next morning, we were in Launceston’s Princess Theatre, bright and early, to assist with the bump in for Interloper. I met the other two REAP participants, Seth and Grady, and we all learnt how to lay a dance floor (a super helpful skill for future work in small circus companies!). Ryan, ROOKE’s tech wizard, gave us lots of practical insights and advice while we observed setting up the lighting, staging and sound. Freyja, Conor, Lewie, Mieke and Tony all arrived, and the tech run began. Later in the afternoon, I had an incredible opportunity to do a photoshoot with Gabriel, a talented photographer and dancer at Tasdance. Even though I only had a draft of my act, which Lewie and I would later refine and develop significantly, Gabe took some beautiful photos and videos of me in costume, doing skills which I planned to put into the act.
After warming up and trying some acro skills with ROOKE, we got ready to take our seats in the audience to watch the show. This was the second time I have seen Interloper, and I could watch it again and again. It’s such an authentic, warming show, with spectacular acrobatics and manipulation. After the show, we all helped to bump out and return the mats to Tasdance, before meeting for a very late dinner and debrief. There is something special about spending the day in a theatre, getting ready for a show. For me, the hours seem to fly by and I always enjoy it, even though it is often such a long day.
The next morning, Seth and I hopped in the car with Lewie, Mieke and their daughter Noa, and we drove up towards the coast. We dropped Seth off, and headed to Lewie and Mieke’s place, where they had kindly organised for me to stay. That evening, Mieke and I did a handstand session, and we all had a lovely dinner cooked by Lewie and Noa. It was great to stay at their house, as I had the chance to ask lots of questions about careers in circus, and draw on their experiences in GOM, Circa and other companies.
The next day, I came with Lewie and Mieke to Slipstream Circus in Ulverstone, where they were teaching the Performance Troupe that morning. It was great to see their space and meet some of the Troupe kids. In the afternoon, Lewie and I worked on my act, adding in lots of new tumbling skills and creating nearly half the act!
The next morning, we smashed through the rest of the creative development, nearly writing the whole act. It was wonderful to work with Lewie on this and I am proud of what we have created. I look forward to refining and practising it over the next few weeks, ready to show it for the first time in the Emerging Artists Risque Rendezvous Cabaret on 26 August at Flazeda!
Back in Canberra, I am inspired to dedicate more time to training, and I look forward to developing my skills and career as an emerging artist. Last week, Gabe sent through all the photos from the shoot in the Princess Theatre, as well as an edited show reel with music! This was above and beyond anything I was expecting, and I am so grateful for this generosity. Thanks to REAP and my time at Warehouse, I have a solid base to work from, and can’t wait to see what the future holds!
Written by Georgia - Emerging Artist at Warehouse Circus
Images by Gabriel Comerford