What is a circus?
A travelling company of acrobats, trained animals, and clowns that gives performances, typically in a large tent, in a series of different places.
Is it still entertaining?
Yes, nowadays it is new and improved, I found this out after researching online. New circus focus's on acrobatics. Watching the circus live creates ery atmosphere because its a fear of knowing the unknown and unexpected. Of course the circus is entertaining and popular because it is still running till this day, although there is only one huge circus left (Cirque du Soleil ) it appears 3rd on the leader board for most popular world tours this year.
Circus is a form of escape to people for example, like magic and having no sense of realism, dreaming of fantasy with the phrase 'run away with the circus'. People are able to scream, shout and make noise. Circuses are visually spectacular with the dramatic mix of circus arts as well as the vibrant colours around creating the props and scenery.
What is the difference between traditional and new circus?
Contemporary circus conveys a theme or a story, in contrast to the traditional circus which fails to present a story of any kind, usually including a set of acts consistently one after another. 'Contemporary circus shows try to tell a story using circus and juggling disciplines as the narrative language'. Other differences include occasional use of animal acts and presentation of performances outside the circus tent.
Barnun and Bailey - Circus Show
New Circus
Both the eras for these circus are different and both bring contrasting views and outlooks into the ring.
Today's lesson we began with an intro exercise which is shown clearly in the video below. In this exercise we had to play our character from the script. Millie was the host and her job was to ask questions to each of us, with the reply of our interesting facts. The purpose of this exercise allows us to engage and focus onto our character, playing around with ideas and characteristic features we may or may not have, helping myself and class mates to gain full understanding of who I am playing in Don't Feed The Animals so everyone can start to think about reactions and relationships towards each other.
We started to block scene 1 with the class. It was a slow process as we were unfamiliar with the play and confidence issues with lines. Rachel had to explain to the class that blocking takes time and patience is needed. No one was grasping the concept of the play so we all got reinforced by Rachel that once we finished blocking we would be able to do a run through of scene 1 allowing the class to gain an understanding and feel to the play.
The majority of my lines are spoken in unison with Elle's line. This was a reason why we decided to make the relationship of becoming twins in the play. It is quite a demanding skill speaking every line in unison, this at first was a challenge and we never came in with the line at the same time, but at the end of the lesson we solved the problem by practising and marking the breaths and pauses for each line, this made it easier for us to follow.
What were the challenges?
Because there is so many of us on stage at the same time, it can easily become stationary. It is going to be a challenge for such a large group always be moving around BUT quietly as other characters have there lines and need to be heard.
Analysis - The banter is great within the group but slight more interaction otherwise movement and actions get dull and lost. This can be done by creating relationships with other cast members. I can improve these problems by speaking to Rachel so she can sort out a workshop based on character and relationship.
Targets
- Start to learn lines
- Read the script so that I'm aware of movements and have a clearer understanding with less confusion.
- Make relationships with other characters so when we feel ourselves going stationary as a group we can quickly fix the situation by talking to other characters.
