martyn coutts

Controlled Falling Project
This Side Up Acrobatics
North Melbourne Town Hall
Arts House
7.30pm Wednesday 15th April, 2009

There is one thing about circus art that keeps coming up time and time and time again for me. The tricks are great, the bodies are hot and the showmanship is undeniable (and refreshing). HOWEVER, where is the journey, the story, the characters?

I am not a poster child for the narrative arc, so it would be hypocritical of me to harp on about it, but there is certainly something lacking in the mix.

And so it was that I went to see Controlled Falling Project by This Side Up acrobatics at the North Melbourne Town Hall. This show is a display of some of the most strong yet fluid circus I have seen. Not just reliant on hard body bicep destroying wonderment, it also was at times dancerly in its execution. I am not surprised to see gymnastics as being some of the backgrounds of the performers.

The show opened with some bits of business and clownesque relational beats. I would have to say that not all of this worked – it could have been opening night nerves, or maybe the guys didn’t have the ability to pull it off. There is an inate timing and rhythm needed to make this stuff work – the type of material that Clare Bartholomew or Penny Baron do in their sleep (because they have been working at it for about 15 years). It wasn’t until half way into the show that we get the REAL characters coming through and the REAL character are actually just them – Christian, Casey and James. The care we have for them is the care that one would give to a character in a well executed narrative. We care about them because they will fall if we don’t.

Ok, so I have dug myself a hole a little because I said earlier that circus can’t contain a journey…and yes i still agree with this. There is a usual process;
1. I am about to do a trick, so I am mentally and physically re-arranging myself for this to happen
2. I am doing the trick, I am focused on the things I must do to maintain the trick
3. I have finished the trick and I am showing myself to the audience for affirmation
4. I am moving on to my next trick.
No matter how you wrap it up – thats what a circus show is.

How then can it be different? Australian circus ruffians Acrobat don’t bother themselves with trying to put it together – they just do tricks. And why not??? surely that’s more honest somehow?

The narrative in Controlled Falling was loose and not overly relevant. It provided a meek backbone so that the flesh of the tricks could be filled out. But it was in the quiet confidence of the three performers that we gained the most enjoyment, the subtle looks to the audience or a rare moment of failure opening up for us a beautiful insight into who these three young men are and what sort of time and effort has gone into their chosen field.

I don’t think every circus show needs a story, invariably it ends up being lame, but like trying to make dance theatre – there are inevitable traps that a work like this will fall into. I think in the end to sum it up what I would say is this;
I cared about them, i didn’t care for the story.