3 media opportunities for Traces - North West premiere
Renowned young French-Canadian performers in exciting North West debut
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See the show on Thurs 18 Feb, 7.30pm
at the Liverpool Empire before it arrives at The Lowry on 8 Mar
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Mediacall at Liverpool Empire, Thurs 18 Feb, 4pm
Interview & film/photograph performers from Traces who will demonstrate tricks and help journalists to have a go themselves should they so wish! This is likely to be the wheel – visit the following link for a flavour
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4soIvbFN2Nc&feature=PlayList&p=074BE5FDF2B097F5&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1
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Utilise syndicated interview with Gypsy Snider, Artistic Director
See below
TRACES
Mon 8 – Wed 10 March 2010
Press night, Mon 8 March, 8pm
The amazing Les 7 Doigts de la Main will perform their high-energy urban acrobatics in
their hugely acclaimed production TRACES at The Lowry from 8 - 10 March, following their North West premiere at the Liverpool Empire mid February.
Performed by five young French-Canadian artists who demonstrate startling acrobatic brilliance, TRACES features dazzling displays of gravity-defying skill. Whether balancing casually on each other’s heads, tumbling through hoops or leaping spectacularly up giant poles without using their hands, the cast of four men and one woman soar through the show.
More than just a series of tricks however, TRACES pioneers a new brand of circus with a striking human element. Set in a makeshift bunker, five characters hide from an impending disaster outside the door. Using creation as their only antidote to the destruction outside, the cast use every mode of expression available to them, hoping to put down a last mark and leave their traces as best they can. Video, narration and music combine to show snippets of the performers’ real lives, gradually drawing the audience into their stories, as seemingly impossible acts take on a startlingly human nature. Set to a pumping soundtrack ranging from rock ‘n’ roll to blues to hip hop, TRACES mixes raw, classic acrobatics with theatre, skateboarding, street and contemporary dance styles.
Interview with artistic director, Gypsy Snider
Gyspy, give us an introduction to Traces; it's premise and the style of the production.
Traces is the second creation ever done by our company the 7 Fingers and it is a show that features five young, incredibly dynamic, multi-talented acrobats, circus performers. The idea of this show is to somehow create the most energising, electrifying hour and 20 minutes between five young people who are trying to share their creativity and themselves with the audience as if there was no tomorrow.
And the premise of the story is that there is no tomorrow, right?
Well yeah, but we tend not to focus on that. The show was created with the premise of 'there is no tomorrow' but it's not really a doomsday show. There's no concrete future for these youngsters and that became the premise. We were inspired by the political climate, the environmental climate we live in, the feeling young people live with today, that global 'what is the next catastrophe?' feeling. 'Is it a financial catastrophe, is it a catastrophe of terror?'
Then at the same time you've got this incredible movement of creativity by these young vibrant people and we based it on the five young people we were working with.
Can you explain where the Traces element came in and where this title comes from?
One of the most important meanings in our lives, or the meaning of our life is held in the traces we leave behind. When you live your life considering that; how you effect people, how you share with people, how creative you are, how responsible you are toward the world, the planet and the people around you, it becomes the meaning of your life. And this stays in the trace you leave. So this idea of them performing as if there were no tomorrow has to do with them leaving their traces, trying to touch people, trying to express themselves in very simple terms.
I think we're changed by every person that we meet and that's very much the case with this show; you leave it feeling energised, electrified, motivated.
Where did the inspiration come from and why did the company want to communicate this story and these ideas?
We were so inspired by our performers, their talents and their infinite amounts of energy. You'll be really surprised, by the end of the show you won't believe these five people have filled the space of an hour and 20 minutes by so many things. So we were definitely inspired by them.
Also, it was created at a time when we were thinking 'what are we going to talk about?' but we couldn't literally talk about global warming. We're not a political theatre company. And we can't talk about terrorism, it's such a huge and complicated issue.
All that has such an effect when we're being creative and when you get up in the morning it really drives the way you live your life. So we decided to create the show based on that feeling, but in contrast to that environment.
So, for example, the bunker, what's really interesting about it is, it's a place where there's no stimulation, it's baron cement, broken down, they have no real tools to be creative on stage so it's really about being as creative as you can with as little as you can. We tried to create a very contrasting atmosphere for them to perform in because that creates a tension for them throughout the whole show. There's no flashy video elements, beautiful costumes or special effects, it's all coming just from them.
And that really really really is incredibly touching to people in the audience, that so much is being given with so little.
As well as filling the space physically, the cast also share personal stories and experiences. Can you tell me more about that?
All the performers have text about themselves and each performer has these moments with the audience.
In the writing of the show we call them confessions, but it has become a piece of Facebook-like language theatre where you will have these acrobatics tumbling and flying, doing jaw-dropping acrobatics and then they stand in front of you with a microphone, and they can barely talk because they are completely out of breath, and they start describing themselves and the small incidences in their lives that have affected them.
It's really funny to see because the first number is this huge dance acrobatic piece with pumping music and then all of a sudden one stands up, the music is over, and in silence this guy stands up at the microphone and starts talking to the audience. And at every show, I watch the audience, and they go 'huh'. It's an almost uncomfortable, 'is he talking to me' kind of thing.
They have these simply-written pieces, which is why I call it a Facebook form of communication, to say 'this is who I am, these are the things that are important about me, and if you wanted to get to know me this is what I would have to say'.
The press release for the show talks a lot about the company's commitment to the 'human element' of circus. Does that include this interaction with your performers?
What does that mean? We're not just coming on stage to razzle dazzle you with great tricks and beautiful costumes and fantastic fantasy worlds, what we really wanted to was to talk about the human condition. All four of our shows are completely different, the only common thread is that we are talking about situations, human emotions and tensions.
This is not to say that these are not circus shows, because the seven founders of the company were and are all circus performers and we're passionate about high-level circus and passionate about impressing people with physical prowess. But what makes that all the more effective in our shows is that you are completely engaged with a person on stage; whether it is a character or they're playing themselves. Like in Traces, you're completely engaged and getting to know them and all of a sudden they do these incredible, almost inhuman, movements and the audience is completely attached to what is happening because they have developed a relationship with that person. And that has absolutely, without a doubt, been the goal for all of our performances.
You use a lot of modern theatre, dance and performance techniques, moving away from the idea of what traditional circus is. How did that style develop?
When I was a kid, I was raised in a circus family and the world at the time, in the seventies, even if it was a time of revolution in the world, it was still a time of traditional circus. All my peers and colleagues were still working with animals, sparkly costumes, fishnets and sawdust and like it or not that was what circus was. I learned how do a trick and present it to the audience with all the ta-da and fanfare that circus is. I grew up loving that, I think we all did, we were all still part of that generation where it was really fun to impress and audience with a trick and we have a great respect for that.
But we also all lived through a revolution where traditional circus went to what we now call contemporary circus. The company defines contemporary circus as becoming an art form the moment someone decided to express an idea or emotion through circus as opposed to just presenting a trick. We all were members of Cirque de Soleil, we've all been through the whole cabaret circuit in Europe, we all have vast experience and were all as performers very much inclined to the new way of looking at circus; we were passionate about dance, theatre, music and film and it was a goal of ours from the get-go to use any means possible to develop circus as a form of expression.
Traces has had the largest audience because there's classical music in the show, there's hip hop as well as 1940s jazz. They're also doing a skateboard routine, choreography with skateboard, to 1940s [Stephane] Grapelli musical jazz piece. So you've got all these older people enjoying the music and the teenagers loving the skateboards.
Your mash-up theatre and circus style has been popular though, the company was invited to the Royal Variety Performance last year. What was that like?
Err, I, I... I'm always speechless about it. We got the invitation with the golden letter head. At one point I lived in England for almost a year, in Farnham Common, Slough and London and I really love English culture and I was very fascinated with the history and the concept of the Royal Family. So the Queen invites us to perform and I said 'of course we have to do it' first of all.
You can't turn down an invitation from the Queen...
You can't turn down the Queen. I don't think I really realised how important the event was. They had told us we would be performing with some very important personalities and I knew Bette Midler was going to be there, and it was super exciting. But we get there for rehearsals and all the cameras are there and the curtain opens for rehearsal and Michael Buble comes out and sings Cry Me a River, or something, and I was completely floored. He is an unbelievable performer. Me and the whole Traces cast just sat there with our jaws on the floor.
Did you meet Lady Gaga?
We played right after Lady Gaga. We met everyone. It was beyond explanation, not to mention meeting the Queen. As an experience it was unbelievable. There were hundreds of people on stage it was so well organised, relaxed and professional. What they accomplished was astounding. And to be up there with such prestigious artists was an honour beyond an honour.
Not even mentioning the fact that we got to perform and meet the Queen of England. It was one candy on top of another. I watched it from the audience and thought 'okay, the company has now reached a whole other realm'.
It must have been such a proud moment.
It was an incredibly proud moment. I cried several times. We did a hoop-diving act based on the tension of the hoops falling. So you're already nervous enough but if they even brush past one of those hoops, if your hair touches the hoop it will shake, and if it touches it the slightest bit too much it will fall down. They actually did fall once in the act, right in the beginning but it was edited out for TV. It was perfect because right at the beginning of the act the audience saw that if they touch it the whole thing would fall down and then they finished the whole act. I like it if things fall once. It's a circus tradition and says 'see, this is really hard'.
Did the Queen say anything to you about the performance?
What was interesting was - our costumes are very minimalist - and she came toward us, passed by us, stopped for a second and then came back and said 'you were incredible'. After the myriad of performances she saw, just to remember what they did. She is such an impressive woman.
Let's talk about your training and background. You've been in circus pretty much all your life, performing since you were four years old. What's your relationship with circus now?
I was born and raised in a circus, my brother as well. It's such a magical lifestyle. We had such a incredible upbringing and my parents also managed to give us a normal education, when we could go to school we did so we could be with other students. And when we couldn't we took the work with us. Whenever we weren't performing our parents managed to find schools. I think our parents hoped that my brother and I wouldn't continue. At the time circus was not a career where you could make a lot of money. They struggled a lot; it's physically incredibly difficult and the lifestyle is harsh, especially when you're basically camping, living in trailers and moving all the time. My parents bought a home in San Francisco and that was incredible, they wanted us to have stability as well as knowing what the nomadic life was about.
We were always in the shows, always coached, I was always thinking 'God, what's my dad going to make me do this year'. Consequently my brother and I both had a rebellious moment and we both got really into theatre. We were both movie fanatics. I got into the American Conservatory of Theatre in San Francisco, he went to study film and I ended up going to a physical theatre school in Switzerland. We felt we were being so rebellious and intellectual getting into theatre - acrobatics of the mind and the soul - but really circus was going that way, so it just ended up enhancing our careers. We both performed with the Cirque de Soleil, but my brother did move onto theatre and just finished playing the Horse in Equus next to Daniel Radcliffe.
It's not something you can run away from very easily and we both thought at some point 'I wish we could run away from the circus' but then you've got so many people trying to run away to join the circus, what's the point! You can't fight it. It's a wonderful business that I'm really passionate about.
I sometimes fantasise that the world worked like a circus; that feeling of the show must go on and people from so many different countries come together to make it work and sharing, it's really magical.
How are you feeling about your show coming to the UK?
I'm so excited. This is a huge tour for us. It's not a place where circus has developed so much and to be invited to do this is unbelievable. We've done a lot in France and Germany where circus has seen a lot of development and I'm really excited about being part of the development of circus in the UK
The Lowry’s Circus exhibition
To coincide with the ascent of contemporary circus on stage, The Lowry has programmed an exhibition of striking circus-inspired photography by critically acclaimed fine-art duo Anderson & Low. Featuring a series of unforgettable images of a circus troupe working on Blackpool Pleasure Beach, shown in stunning detail both in performance and alone amongst the amusement park rides, Circus shows until 11 April.
The Lowry Centre Trust is a not-for-profit charitable organisation and registered charity (no. 1053962). All income supports our world-class Theatres and Galleries programme, the care and display of the LS Lowry Collection and our life-changing Community and Education work. Julia Fawcett, Chief Executive of the visual and performing arts venue, was awarded an OBE for services to the Arts in the Queen’s 2010 New Year Honours list.
Posted on Friday, 12 February 2010 under Press Theatre Press