Performer Lauchlan Binns, a founding member of Gravity & Other Myths, explains: “As a group we want to make our circus real. It’s less about spectacle and more about effort. We embrace our failure; we’re showing people how hard we work. It takes time and energy. You give everything to the audience and they give everything back to you.”
Gravity & Other Myths, described as producing circus that is ‘raw, frantic and honest’, previously performed a show called Freefall which they toured to great acclaim. This new work, A Simple Space premiered at the Adelaide Fringe in 2013 and was awarded the Best Circus Show at the 2014 Adelaide Fringe. How is A Simple Space different from their last show?
“It’s a lot different,” explains Binns. “We’ve gone back to basics, stripped it all back, and taken it right away from the theatricalised elements. We’re pushing our bodies to the limit,” Binns continues. “It’s about us as a group playing games, doing routines; we have made each piece with a recurring theme act by act, with a different set of rules. Some are obvious; some are only in our heads. They’re real games, games with a challenge, like having some bodies never touching the ground. One routine has stacked up bodies forming steps and a girl walks across our backs one by one, with each step she’s going higher and higher. She keeps walking. One of our routines involves a trio. We do a whole lot of choreography, balancing. Two people roll around, are lifted; it’s one of the highlights.”
A Simple Space is presented as part of Darebin Art’s Speakeasy, an ongoing and eclectic contemporary performance program in the North. This season is the only opportunity Melbourne will have to see the show. How is the choreography of each performance created? “Our shows are ensemble directed,” explains Binns. “We do group brainstorming, come up with examples of tasks to develop. We look at idea of games and challenges, think, create and create more material. Flesh it out. If someone has an idea and we support the idea then we start by building something. We are just a group of seven bodies. It’s an organic process.”
What are Binns’ strengths as a performer? “Me personally – I’m a group acrobat. My speciality is in group acrobatics.” Does he have any personal goals when it comes to performance? “There are always things I’d like to improve,” he replies. “But my feet are planted on the ground. I am always improving my acrobatics; tumbling, handstands.”
Binns says their biggest challenge was putting the show together in a very short space of time before their first performance. “A few of us were out of the country. We only had a week to put it together.” As well, the group really gave themselves a challenge with this show by drastically changing it only a few days before their first performance. “We flipped everything around, he says.”
Things are looking good for Gravity & Other Myths. After a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe they attracted the attentions of a European producer and are looking to tour. “We’ll be jumping around from place to place in the next six months,” Binn says, making an unintended pun. He’s inspired by the work of a whole bunch of independent circus troupes, including Brisbane’s CIRCA and a group from Canada called Seven Fingers of the Hand. It was seeing the latter years ago that gave a group of young performers who had grown up together in Adelaide Circkids the idea to create their own show and hence Gravity & Other Myths was born.
Binns once had a life outside of circus, but that’s all changed. No regrets. “I went to uni and studied graphic design for a year then this started taking off. I’m pretty happy to keep performing. I keep trying to improve, make new work; I want to keep making new shows.”
What advice would Binns offer to anyone keen to run away to the circus? “Find a place in your local town. There are lots of little classes, gym clubs, local schools, all over the country.” A couple of bonuses about a career in acrobatics, Binns reckons, is one, that you don’t have to have made a start by the age of four and two, there’s a supportive environment of performers out there willing to encourage newbies. “There’s no real age you have to start,” he notes. “You don’t have to start young; you don’t need to start as a little kid. Some acrobats I know didn’t start til they were 25. We’re a real big family, circus people, we love to help. If you think ‘I’d like to try this’ then people will help, get you involved.”
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
