We The Aliens | Ela Bartilomo and Cecilia Martin
They’ve moved us into the round, which for the most part works, although pieces down the far end of the room require you to crane your head. They are using segues that don’t entirely make sense on the surface. Which is good. I get tired of having everything spelled out for me, and when something is ambiguous and creative and exploring edgy themes I want the opportunity to let my imagination run wild. I want to see if I can figure it out. It’s what make art fun and interesting.
We The Aliens | Ela Bartilomo and Cecilia Martin
As I was watching We the Aliens, I kept on think about who are the aliens and how do we relate to them. Etymologically, alien means foreign, strange. It is the ‘Other’ to which we cannot relate. And yet, we do have a relation with the alien, albeit in negative terms. The alien is that which we negate from ourselves, that we make foreign to us, and that we perceived as strange and threatening. The body of acrobats and contortionists is a good representation of this concept and also an entry point to reflect on it.
Circus Delivery! | Vulcana Circus
After months inside, away from my people, to have a circus garden party was a such pleasure and a treat. We all wore hats. We ate 11 types of cake. We giggled and smiled and pointed and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the cute, hot, funny, stoopid performance by Vulcanista’s Abbey Church and Liv Porter.
Kurios | Cirque du Soleil
Amidst all the spectacle, the highlights for me were a perfectly performed cat in a moment of exquisitely awkward audience interaction, and a wonderful world made from dancing hands. The simplest pieces perhaps, but the ones with most warmth, and wonder, and otherworldly charm.
Under My Eye | Bianca Mackail
This work stands out in a mass of sexual-sequinned glamour pusses and full-frontal theatrical wonders. It is raw and fresh and utterly unique and when there is a second season don't miss the opportunity to check out an artist in full flight.
Statum | Flipside Circus and Counterpilot
Statum is a smashing show, a dynamic collaboration between Flipside Circus and Nathan Sibthorpe (Counterpilot). Setting the standard for high-quality productions from youth ensembles, Flipside have created a fun hour of high-energy stunts, fusing technology and circus tricks in a range of visually interesting scenes.
You & I | Casus Circus
You & I is a gorgeous piece of new circus from Casus. It’s not just about the breathtaking circus we expect from this Brisbane-based troupe, but a joyous celebration of the love, partnership and commitment between two men. It’s something my teenage self would have craved, and something that made my heart sing.
Cirquetry | Vulcana
Cirquetry’s 30min work in development showing at the 2019 Queensland Poetry Festival,is a gorgeous blend of circus and spoken word. It showcases the possibilitiesof how mixing them together can bring new depth and meaning to each art form,which begs to be explored further. I look forward to seeing how thiscollaboration develops.
Dwell | Collectivist
Collectivist’s first production, Dwell, takes this concept and runs with it. Twists it, turns it, mashes it and destroys it in the best possible way, turning the traditional cabaret into a whole new beast. Similar in concept to HBO’s Room 104, in the world of Dwell’s hotel, anything can and will happen.
As If No One Is Watching | Vulcana Circus
As If showcases the diversity of these women's experiences, including the mundane life that forced upon us, our inner demons and how we can take back the night. There is something that everyone will be able to connect with here, and I dare anyone to not be moved by what they see.
Hold My Beer | Half-Hitch
Like a good night out, dares and games result in the cast swapping roles, utilising two stages and much of the room and the audience being drawn into the show and into the fun on the stage. T his provides some of the best moments of the show, as the performers compete against each other and audience members to unexpected results.
Skyward | Republic of Song
We begin with a beautiful dreamy introduction, a delicate song performed on cello and piano as we watch a mesmerising timelapse. Throughout the performance, Bale explores the inherent urge to escape, to fly free into the sky, and the inevitable sadness that comes with the realisation of gravity, and impossibility, and mortality.
Mutating Roots | Mayu Muto
In Mutating Roots, common aerial apparatus are cleverly transformed beyond their traditional forms in circus. Muto has added interesting textures and shapes to each apparatus, creating new depth, light and shadows to explore these themes.
Elixir | Head First Acrobats
In Elixir, Head First Acrobats have created an almost perfect piece of bubblegum circus pop. Don’t let their glistening six-packs cheeky grins and buffoonery trick you. These three gents are smart and highly skilled entertainers who know how to work an audience.
WonderWombs | The Dust Palace (NZ)
This is top quality contemporary neo-burlesque. Full of provocations that subvert stereotypes of 'woman', it is righteously sex-positive and utterly refreshing for it. Yeah these girls are hot, but it's never about who is watching, it's all about how good it feels within.
Invisible Things | Alex Mizzen
The show pulls out a lot of darkness, a lot of deep hidden internal thoughts, and I realise about a third of the way through that this is very real for Alex, she is not acting this experience, she is having it.
Notorious Strumpet & Dangerous Girl | Jess Love
The show has enough pithy statements and throwaway jokes that those who haven't experienced mind-numbing addiction will find it funny, moving, an education even, an insight. But for those of us who have been down that path, it is a bittersweet cloudy mirror.
We Live Here | Flipside Circus
It's so good to see these stories on stage, in a world where every other show is about the artists own challenges, self-indulgent narratives of privileged lives. This show advocates for those that have no time to sing their own praises, and is all the more gorgeous for it.
BaBel | Backbone
A beautiful, rough, raw, crazy impossibility of show pulled together in two weeks, by international maestro Younes Bachir, a Belgium director renowned for creating amazing large-scale site-specific works.
Chasing Smoke | Casus Circus
What makes Chasing Smoke truly stand-out though is that shines a spotlight on each member of the ensemble. These intimate moments prove to be some of the most powerful of the show.