CIRCUS OZ

Circus Oz is naughty and nice

 

Circus Oz. Picture: Robert Blackburn
from:  au.news.yahoo.com
by STEPHEN BEVIS, The West Australian
July 17, 2013
The wild, untamed larrikin child of the circus world turns 35 this year but still refuses to grow up. Cheeky and audacious, Circus Oz was already touring the world and reshaping the meaning of circus a decade before Guy Laliberte took his Cirque du Soleil from the streets of Montreal to cities around the world.
Thumbing its nose at the prevailing circus conventions of sequins, sawdust, floppy-footed clowns and miniature pony acts, Circus Oz found new audiences with its high-octane mix of rock'n'roll burlesque and extraordinary physical feats.
The Melbourne outfit heads west for the first time since it pitched its tent on the Esplanade during its Laughing at Gravity tour during the 2007 Perth International Arts Festival.
Circus Oz prides itself on its DIY ethos, with shows that are an expression of the personalities of its ever-changing ensemble.
Six years ago, Laughing at Gravity came across as a chaotic cabaret but the new show, built from the ground up by a largely new cast, is based on a bunch of building-site workers whose antics tip over the edge of absurdity.
"It is a bit more theatrical, with more through-lines and narrative and probably stronger characters but not at the expense of the circus, of course," says Circus Oz juggler, magician and acrobat Jeremy Davies.
Speaking on the phone from Melbourne, Davies guffaws when told that his talk of "through-lines and "narratives" makes him sound like one of the artistes from Cirque du Soleil. "It is always going to be Circus Oz, rock'n'roll Australian 'kulcha'," he says.
On the troupe's last tour of the US, Davies and the rest of the cast swapped backstage visits with the performers of Cirque's resident Las Vegas casino show Ka, Davies says.
read more:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/18021688/circus-oz-is-naughty-and-nice/