When Circus Meets Dance

Well now I've been writing lots about festivals and fairs which I like to think you all enjoyed but all of these things need costumes and this past weekend we went to the UDMA. Or in layman's terms is a giant room full of more costumes than anyone actually needs. But they're pretty!!

Once again feeling out of my element I dove in to a world of glitter, spandex, grace and extreme pressure. I learned about running a studio and rhinstoning and fixing bad ballet habits. Did I mention I've never danced in my life? But who cares! We got to wander around taking a look at all the potential costumes for silks and stilts and contortion, all our circus needs. The other wonderful part was looking at all the other things that the dance world unintentionally provides us with to make our aerial studio even better. I can only speak for myself but sometimes I get so emersed in the circus aspect of what we do that I forget how many things the aerial arts share with dance. 

I found that looking at costumes is not only like playing imaginary dress up, it's also good inspiration. As I looked through catalogues and racks of all types of costumes I found some much needed inspiration for my small assortment of ground acts. I am not always the most creative of types so I will take inspiration where I can get it. 

My biggest take away from this is someting I already knew but when I experience it happening in front of me it surprises me every time. If you act like you belong, people just accept that you do. We were in the company of big, established and really intense dance studios and even though some venders didn't take us seriously, for the most part they were just as excited to talk to us and made our time super fun!

1. Rolling Meadows does NOT sell alcohol after 11pm

2. The head bitch always knows everything 

3. Tote bags come in many sizes and colors

4. Double 2s, double 2s, and double 5s do not equal snake eyes

5. Everything should be rhinestoned!!!

6. Put me on a convention floor and I will find the free stuff

7. The TV in the bathroom will always be more interesting than any other TV

8. Costume catalogues are heavy

9. The dance world is actually as dramatic as it appears on TV

10. Sabrina and I are pretty much shower planning geniuses

Summer Cirque Part 10 - The End

To every season there is an end and the first weekend in October brought an end to this years "Summer Cirque" season. Of course the gigs will not stop but there is a different feel to them.

Our last fair is one of extremes. On one hand it was cold and uncomfortable. 

On the other hand the vast majority of acts we love to share stages/fair with were here. Over come with nostalgia I realized several things about how far I've come in the 3 years since cirque was introduced to my life.

Fisher's Renaissance Festival was my very first Renaissance fair 3 years ago. We did not perform there last year so when I arrived back this year the differences in myself and my acts were clear to me. Then I was not part of the company, now I have two seasons under my belt. I am performing aerial and comfortable doing so in less than ideal weather conditions but I am also performing ground acts and making a presence on stage. Then I struggled to find clothing that was period appropriate and also warm, now I arrived with the multiple piratey layers needed to stay warm complete with boots and a cape. The cape saved my life! Then I was the strange newby that was meeting everyone for the first time and didn't wander about with out the safety net of my new possy, now I roamed the fair comfortably and visited good friends.

Stripey socks though, stripey socks are constant ;)

I am happy to have the season end. It will give me time to get back to all the other odd activities I do. I will get to spend some much needed time with friends outside my cirque world and visit family. I will also have time to work on new acts and making my current acts more exciting! It is time to take a break from fairs and turn my attention to other things. Here's to ending the season on such a positive and warm note!  So to all my faire friends:
Farewell where every you fair.

This years last lessons of Ren Faire:

1. Tentception = warm and makes you popular

2. When you have heater brownies appear

3. Wind cancels out spinning

4. Sometimes pumpkin ale just starts appearing 

5. Max is random

6. Squire Paul gets bored easily

7. You can spot an imitation  TARDIS because it is not bigger on the inside

8. The stripey sock market is no longer saturated

9. We are SO FAST at setting up the rig in the cold

10. The "eat what ever you want because it's fair weekend" policy catches up with you in the end.... 

Summer Cirque Part 9

"Good morning Baltimore!"

Last weekend KB worked a gig at the University of Martland for an all night event. Several things stood out for me on this one. The first was that Baltimore is really far away. 

I mean not just kinda far but bordering back seat induced insanity! Our car was full and everytime we stopped I feel like I stumbled out and crawled to the bathroom. At one point there was hysterical laughter for no reason at all. 

The ripleys museum in Baltimore is SO COOL! 

Some highlights that got me real excited, Popsicle stick hogwarts, won't lie I couldn't stop looking at it. 

Super model mirror that made me look awesome. 

Tight rope to play on, Woot! 

Small scale subway tunnels to crawl in. And a mirror maze! Shout out to the tactile kids for making it through!!!

This gig was great for me on a personal level because I did something I have never done and wasn't really sure I could do. We each went up and and did two 10 min sets each. I realize that doesn't sound so bad but 3 songs worth of aerial is a lot! Especially if you're not used to it. This kind of set requires you to slow down everything and be, for lack of a better phrase, "artsy". This is not my strength. My fears were this: 1. I physically wouldnt be able to handle  being in the air that long and 2. I would look stupid and like I was trying too hard. For my first fear, I did it! No falling, I made it through both sets and only normal sore feelings after! As for the second I very well may have looked stupid but it felt better than I thought and the second set felt better than the first so that's all I can ask for. 

But really, Baltimore is far away!!!

Summer Cirque Part 8

This year we spent the weekend of Sept 13-15 in Iowa!! That's right Des Moines Renaissance Festival! 

It was a blast, and castle. We met lots of new people and castle. Had to wear unitards and castle. Actually got running water for a change and castle. I got to see my friend from study abroad and... Yep you guessed it CASTLE!!!

So now that you're wondering ;) our stage was actually a castle. And I felt like a bad ass doing aerial in front of a castle. Look: 

Seriously though it was cool. 

I really enjoyed not being "the new kid on the block" this time around. This is different than what I wrote about from earlier this summer. That was more of a feeling of being accepted into a community of performers which I loved, and cherish the memory of that experience. But this time it felt like everyone in our troup was on equal footing. Yes it was clear that Sylver and Gwyd both lead the troup and have the most experience but we came into this new fair as a solid unit and the solidarity held. We were new as a group and they accepted us into their community as a goup. Now this is not to say that I am ungrateful for the performing community that was gifted to me in Michigan. I am celebrating the cohesion that has developed over this year that allows others to view KB as a unified troup and not individual performers clumped awkwardly together. I am excited to be a part of it and for this to continue

Things we learned in Iowa:

1. Captin James T Kirk will be born in an alley

2. Even bees attacking small children can't stop our show

3. Renny hair braids are amazing

4. The soup disappears

5. Every fair has doppelgängers

6. BEES!!!!

7. The Knotty Bits makes a great verse to "what do you do with a drunken sailor"

8. Every fair has participants with questionable morals

9. Watching a dragon eat French fries is awesome!

10. When the Pirates storm the castle the Jolly Roger looks amazing up top! 

Summer Cirque Part 7

FYI:  I should specify that my previous Cirque post due to some technical difficulties was delayed. Pirate Fest was actually August 9th & 10th. This post is about the most current weekend Aug. 23rd & 24th.

Yes that's right. I spent yet another weekend in the renaissance. And boy was it got and uncomfortable! But this weekend a company member that hasn't worked with us allll summer joined us and it was fabulous!! Got to work on my partner acro which is always a favorite of mine. I also got back on the Lyra this weekend which was a bit rocky but lots of fun. 

This weekend I spent a lot of time thinking about the future of my acts and various costume situations. If you have ever seen a sideshow or circus act and thought "how did they come up with that idea" I can only speak for myself really but for me there's a few options of how this goes down. The most straight forward is of course when my boss just tells me "I think you should learn this". Then I start trying. 

Sometimes I see another performer executing a skill and think "I could totally do that!" Usually what that really means is that with lots of practice and probably bruises I can work up to that. Most of the time it really happens too! 

There are also situations where my ADHD self gets bored with my act and starts researching how to make it more interesting. My favorite is when I see something totally unrelated and decide surely I can add that to my act! That happened this weekend. 

I have a specific act that needs to be made more interesting. Not because it's bad but more because I have a short attention span. In my selfishness I saw some belly dancers do a sword dance in which they balance swords on their heads and thought "that's what I need for my act!" I'll probably try it. Could go horribly, either way I promise to write abt it. 

I'll try to find something other than fair to write about for my cirque category. Till then...

Things I learned at Ren Fair

1. Eating all the food can make you want to take your clothes off

2. Wearing a security shirt does not give you a free pass 

3. Not all crochet dragons are created equally 

4. "Do you wanna do a sideshow?" (Song)

5. Everything's better when your spinning, just not too fast

6. People exist that have not seen Mean Girls

7. When it's humid everything sticks. EVERYTHING

8. Calories don't count on fair weekends 

9. All food tastes better when served on swords 

10. The female William Shatner of waitressing does exist

Summer Cirque Part 6

I spent this weekend at West Michigan Pirate Festival. I wish I could say it  was something new and adventurous for me but it was remarkably similar to the renaissance festivals. That being said I still had a blast this weekend and got to know even more performers vendors well.

I wish I could say it was lots different from the renaissance fairs but truth be told it was very similar. What struck me this time was how much the audience really does keep you going. Perhaps some of you are not up Michigan weather but it was super hot this weekend and we had the pleasure of working in the center of the fair. A fair that was in the middle of a field, so no shade. On days like this it's hard to remember why you spend your weekends dressed in spandex sweating. Until a small child comes up to you with big eyes and asks you how you stay up on the ropes, or the audience has just the perfect reaction to a skill you've been working on that's the moment you realize why you put yourself through the heat and the sweat and sometimes the freezing cold (I'll write that blog later). Maybe that makes us all attention seeking and spot light starved, but I choose to believe that it means we are people that have a gift. The unique ability to suspend reality and exist for a time as a pirate or back in the renaissance. Instead of being weirdos that are possibly diagnosable we share this gift with our audience to help them also suspend reality. Then hopefully everyone has relieved a little stress!

Enough with my sappy ramblings I have altered the title of the closing section to fit the theme. Catch ya later!
Pirate Lessons:

1. Rennies double as pirates 

2. Two men sometimes talk abt gag reflexes on Sunday mornings

3. "Susan B Anthony was the original. Thomas Jefferson was cool too. Ben Franklin was creepy." 

4. New KB roles Sylver: artistic director and le jefe, Sabrina: personal trainer, Gwyd: cat herder, Me: fashion and hair director

5. Blue Beard hides everything in his hat

6. In black, red, and stripes Sylver Sabrina and I are sisters

7. If stretching were a competitive sport it would have its own ESPN channel

8. We are strong as marines or amazons, you decide

9. Dragons have awesome ice cream

10. Rib cages suck when they are not in place

Summer Cirque Part 5

You may have been thinking that I quit the circus, but this is the post to remind you that's not true! I have written quite a bit about my Renaissance fair antics but I do other things as well. One of  my favorite gigs that keeps me busy in the summer is stilt walking at our local ballpark.

I have never been one for baseball. I don't understand it, and I get bored trying to watch it. I have done this gig for 2 summers now and only ever seen something happen twice. Working this gig has taught me to appreciate why Americans love it. This is a sport where you can show up halfway through and it's OK.  You can chat with your friends, eat, and drink all with out danger of missing something important. Because it never happens ;)

Baseball aside I love stilting there! The crowds are so friendly and the kids love it! The season ticket holders all look forward to seeing me and asking how I'm doing and make me feel so welcome. Last year they all said farewell on the season closer and when our ballpark was struck with a fire they all told me how worried they were that I would  not be back. My favorite part about stilt walking is the reactions I get from people which really never gets old.

There's the Toddler Reaction: Usually a child between 18 months and 4 years. They stare at you with and intensity that can only be broken by their parent picking them up and moving them, or food. They are trying to figure out why this is wrong. They can tell something isn't right about you but can't figure out what it is. Approach with caution though, these are the children most likely to scream.

The Young Child Reaction: This is typically a child between 5 and 11. They've picked you out as something strange and fun to play with. They love high fiving you, running between your legs and asking you all manner of questions from "How did you get so tall?" to "How do you drive?". My absolute favorites were "how do you get in bed?" and " What are you?"

The Middle Aged Man Reaction: These men are easy to spot they are usually drinking but don't have to be. Their wives are either not with them (they are with the guys) or they are the quiet sort of wife that laughs or scolds from the sidelines. These are the ones that are most likely to joke about knocking you over. They are rarely serious but best to be on your guard and squash the idea early. They are also lots of fun because they typically get sarcasm and want to joke with you. I would say most of the time these are bad jokes about playing basketball or liking women with long legs, on a good day I get puns :)

The rest of can be simply summed up they are either impressed at your skill or too cool to acknowledge you. I enjoy all the reactions I get and I love guessing what it will be in my head before I interact with a person. I work more than just baseball games if you are wondering. Once I worked at a corporate gig in a museum which was fun, partially because I love museums in general but this one had sentimental significance for me as well! Recently I worked a city festival which was also fun. there were of couse lots of kids but a fun band that gave me shout outs every time I walked by and lots of people running for state office that though I was pretty awesome. I absolutely love that I get to stilt walk it gives me an excuse to meet all types of people. I will write more soon we have a few more gigs coming up this summer!