Circus / circomedia
Circomedia’s student circus directors prepare for end of year showcase
The second cohort of Circomedia’s student circus directors are preparing for their end of year performances.
Bristol’s renowned centre for contemporary circus and physical theatre is home to the world’s only MA in directing circus.
Thursday’s show will feature an excerpt from Janos Foldi’s post-apocalyptic eco-fable Rewind – Before the End and Katja Kortström will use physical comedy, live music and aerial acrobatics in Tirlittan.
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On Friday, Natalie Verhaegen will present a section of Multi Me, a trio aerial piece on the theme of multi-national identities. Acro specialist Rachel Baird will be discussing her work on the student show Dis-Connect and Jules Cooke will present her exploration of circus and sign language, Seeing Sounds.
In between rehearsals at St Paul’s Church on Portland Square, Katja, Natalie and Rachael discussed circus theatre and preparation for the shows.
Katja has been a circus artist since she was nine years old. Before moving to Bristol, Katja studied in Sweden with Cirkus Cirkor. She has also toured with Cirque du Soleil, performed on Dancing With The Stars in the USA and visited refugee camps as part of Clowns Without Borders.
Katja Kortström previously performed with Cirque du Soleil
“I accidentally ended up in a circus as a kid,” she told Bristol24/7. “There was a clown in my school and he kind of picked me up.”
Katja describes Tirlittan as “something for the whole family”
She said: “It will include professionals from physical comedy. There is a clown and then there’s aerials and some acrobatics, and then there’s a live musician who also composed the music and it’s mostly acoustic.”
Joining in our conversation, Natalie said that the MA course has been “brilliant”.
She said: “Having all these undergraduate students as a resource to play with and enjoy the communication and exchange with is absolutely phenomenal. You can’t really generate that in the circus world outside of Circomedia.”
Has the course challenged Natalie? “Only in a good way,” she says. “It’s really helping me to think deeper about my ideas, and to make connections that might not be made in such a through way before.”
Before studying at Circomedia, Natalie had completed a degree in contemporary arts and taken part in other circus theatre work.
She said: “I took together all of the different things that I’ve learned and put them into a theory of what I thought would happen when I put certain elements together. So, I’ve got a lecture, a video and a performance for my final presentation on Friday.”
Rachael, who as well as studying the directing circus MA, is also an acrobatics teacher with Circomedia, spoke about the challenges she has faced leading up to her final show, Dis-Connect.
She said: “There’s a lot of writing, and I would have never said I was very good at writing. That’s been the major challenge – trying to take what I know and put that out into a realm that other people understand.”
The final projects are at Circomedia in Portland Square on September 5 and 6. For more information and to book tickets, visit www.circomedia.com/final-projects-circomedia-ma-in-directing-circus
Read more: Circomedia launches scholarship for Master’s degree
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