It’s considered folklore within the world of performing arts that to achieve mastery with any skill, an artist must spend up to 10,000 hours of focused, intensive practise on their craft before being considered a virtuoso in their field.
Based on a theory by English-born Canadian journalist and author, Malcolm Gladwell, there is speculation whether this holds its weight in gravity or whether it's another myth.
The Director and Co-Founder of circus company Gravity & Other Myths, Lachlan Binns, has cultivated a brand-new show, going back to the roots of where it all began. The show, 'Ten Thousand Hours', has the ability to adapt and be presented to smaller audiences in the venues they started out in and played so often in, with shows like ‘Freefall’ and ‘A Simple Space’ back in 2010-2016.
“We would be at The Adelaide Fringe every year and it’s almost our favourite place to perform. Audiences are so fun and the venues are so good and it’s our hometown as well, so our friends and family are all here,” Lachlan says. “We intentionally wanted to make a show for Adelaide Fringe. . . And hopefully it tours to many other places afterwards, but this show is for this festival and this town.”
Since the group of young, passionate acrobats formed in 2009, they’ve spent the past 13 years growing their repertoire and creating six critically acclaimed mainstage works which are performed worldwide and have achieved phenomenal success.
Image © Simon McClure
Like all Gravity & Other Myths shows, this one is predominantly group acrobatics. It is a highly physical show, with eight acrobats and one live musician. Nick Martyn composed the music for the show with Shenzo Gregorio who also wrote the music for 'Backbone' in 2017. It’ll have a live soundtrack played by Nick on percussion/drums, accompanied by electronic backing tracks.
“As we’ve grown, we’ve brought more musicians into the fold to add to the different skills and kinds of sounds that we have in all of our works, and this is going to be no different,” Lachlan explains. “It’s going to be a different sound to anything we’ve made before. It’s going to be high energy, awesome music.”
Harbouring a concept so close to home for the performers, it is only fitting this show begins at home where the journey started.
“We’re acrobats and we’ve been training our whole lives, so this idea felt relevant to us. This show is about all of the time and energy, sweat and tears, the sacrifice and relationships and joy that you’ve poured into training something that you love. For us, that’s group acrobatics, for Nick it’s music and everybody has a different thing that they’ve had to learn and master at some point in their life so we think it’s really relatable.”
“It’s the excitement when you first pick it up and then the frustration when the learning curve starts to hit, and all the ups and downs, and then finally getting to a level where you have such creative expression and freedom and play. I think it’s an amazing thing to do and it’s been awesome to build a show based around it.”
Image © Simon McClure
Gravity & Other Myths is presenting a short season as the company has been booked for tours in Europe, but Lachlan explains that they couldn’t resist the opportunity to get a show in the Adelaide Fringe this year.
“I’m blown away by the level of skill of this group of artists in the room. They’re some of the highest skilled acrobats that we’ve ever had in the company. . . And also. . . I would say, the world. They’re amazing, and the kind of things they’re going to put on stage are going to blow audiences away I think. Every day I watch them in the rehearsal room I can’t look away.”
Lachlan assures us that it will have the same playful, joyous and slightly cheeky vibe that the shows have had since the company started making them.
Everything audiences know and love about the group will be in this production, and the show is great for all ages and families, especially inspiring for kids who are learning new skills.
'Ten Thousand Hours' plays The Peacock at Gluttony – Rymill Park (Adelaide Fringe) 16-25 February.
