THE BALLOON MAN

EXCLUSIVE: Circus Gypsy Takes PIPPIN to New Heights at A.R.T.
from: broadwayworld.com

There's an interesting irony that's informing The American Repertory Theater's daring revival of PIPPIN currently in previews at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, Mass. According to circus choreographer Gypsy Snider, the co-founder of Les 7 doigts de la main enlisted by A.R.T. artistic director Diane Paulus to incorporate circus acrobatics into her bold new staging of the iconic 1970s pop musical, it is the very "magic" that Pippin seeks in his quest to become extraordinary that Snider sometimes dreams of escaping.
"The choice Pippin has to make is whether or not to run away with the circus," she says. "For me, sometimes I would like to run away from the circus."
Born and raised in her parents' San Francisco-based Pickle Family Circus, Snider has been in the ring since the age of four. Her life has been one death-defying act after another. But it wasn't until a few years ago when she faced her greatest nemesis - stage 3.5 colon cancer - that she realized her happiness didn't depend upon the thrills and chills of her unusual career.
"Why do we all search for lives better than what we are?" she ponders. "Why do we have to climb Mt. Everest or jump out of an airplane for adventure? For me, why was 'ordinary' not enough? But cancer changed all that. I forgot the circus and just focused on healing and being with my family. In that stage of total illness I realized that 'extraordinary' is what's inside of us."
PIPPIN marks Snider's full-scale return to work since her recovery. As she creates high-flying circus feats to emphasize the young Pippin's harrowing journey in search of personal fulfillment, she draws upon her own unique life-and-death experiences to achieve the right balance between physical daring and emotional expression.

"The acrobatics are not incorporated as skills but as a way to seduce Pippin to a life less ordinary," Snider explains. "The pull is to 'join us,' to push Pippin further and further on his quest. But when he meets Catherine (a widow with a young son), and she asks, 'Can you help me?' he faces an existential crisis. Will he be enticed to go out in a literal blaze of glory or give up everything to care for others who need him? In the end maybe real life just isn't all that thrilling. And maybe that's okay."
Read more:
http://broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-INTERVIEW-Circus-Gypsy-Takes-PIPPIN-to-New-Heights-at-ART-20130102#ixzz2IDQGAoHl