The human body is a magnificent thing.
Created by Yaron Lifschitz, Circa Contemporary Circus' 'Humans' explores it and tries to comprehend just how far it can be pushed.Heart-stopping and thrilling, 'Humans' brings ten acrobats together and strips a stage bare to expose our limits and explore our beauty.
Here, Yaron answers questions about the performance.
As the creator of 'Humans', what was your main goal with this show?
In 'Humans', our goal is to ask questions. I asked our ensemble of artists “what does it mean to be human”? How can you express the very essence of this experience with your body, with the group and with the audience? Where are your limits, what extraordinary things can you achieve and how can you find grace in your inevitable defeat?
Where does the idea for a show like this come from originally?
The starting point of the show was how I was interested in how we, as humans, move, groove, pulse and beat with rhythm through us, and how this connects us (and defines us) as a species. So, the core of the show was to explore how we are connected through rhythm – a sort of species heartbeat.
And further to that, how do you get it up on its feet, how do you bring it to life?
'Humans' comes to life through the interaction between the artists on stage and the audience reciprocating – it’s by connecting the bodies and the pulse, blood and viscera of our artists with that of the audience. While it’s full of ideas, in many ways 'Humans' is communicating is that we, as humans, collectively share a breath, our hearts skip a beat at the same time – 'Humans' is a political and poetic work, which is incredibly enjoyable and highly virtuosic at the same time. We spend a lot of time playing, making things up, acrobating like no one is watching.
Image © Pedro Greig
What have been some of the best memories when it comes to performing this show?
Just over one year old, 'Humans' has already had a rich touring life, performing on some of the world’s greatest stages and festivals. We’ve performed 'Humans' in seven different countries to sold out crowds in Sydney Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, on the QPAC stage and beyond. We are looking forward to performing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music later this year and also embarking on an Australian and USA tour.
It's all about exploring our limits physically as humans. How will you portray this?
Anything we can achieve physically can be easily surpassed by a well-trained monkey. An injured pigeon can fly higher and longer than the best acrobat in the world. A snake can bend infinitely more than the most flexible of contortionists. But it is precisely because we are human that our physical achievements acquire dignity, meaning and poetry, and those movements on stage explore the highest, fastest and strongest we can go.
What have been some of the rewards of putting 'Humans' together?
Seeing the show come to life through our performers has been one of the most astonishing experiences. Our performers need to be extremely skilful, work in an ensemble, be self-reliant, resilient, and be tough, tough people. I’m lucky enough for young men and women to give me some of the best physical years of their lives to work with, so it’s my job to honour that can craft beautiful, long-lasting work. 'Humans' is no exception.
Image © Sarah Walker
And on the flipside, how about some of the biggest challenges?
As with all contemporary circus, circus takes so long to develop skills and languages so it tends to evolve quickly then stagnate. It’s Circa’s role to be avant-garde and at the edge, and push those boundaries what audiences expect and experience with what they see on stage.
What are you hoping audience members take away from seeing this production?
Contemporary circus is a free form – there are few roles written and rules aren’t defied. Hopefully they will take away their own meaning to the work – we want to create circus that has a deep art form, brimming with poetry, ideas and feelings.
Describe the show in three words.
Stirring, physical, powerful.
