Circus culture rising in Waterloo Region
Posted Mar 2, 2019 04:30:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
If you've always dreamed of being in the circus, it may be easier to make that dream come true than you thought.
“I think the way that people approach circus or end up involved in it is a lot different than it used to be,” Lindsay Bellaire, the Artistic Director for Articus Productions, tells KitchenerToday.com. “I think it used to be very much like you were born into it but those traditions are changing a lot. I think now it comes out of something that you saw or you maybe took a class and kind of get bitten by the circus bug and you just want to keep training and keep pursuing it, so I fell in love with it that way.”
Articus Productions teaches, trains and holds open training times for local professional artists at Lot42. They are a circus-theatre company, working hard to blend those two different mediums. After five years of operating, they recently decided to call the Region their new home.
“I think there's an appreciation for culture and the kind of work that we're trying to bring here. I think there's already people here who are interested in being part of the circus community and growing the circus community so there's just more people around to work with.”
Bellaire and her partner come from a theatre background. While studying acting in Windsor, Bellaire saw a Cirque Du Soleil production and found herself intrigued. She joined a local circus group and began practicing. With Articus Productions, she wanted to focus on circus while bringing her theatre background as well in order to create rich characters and add to the storytelling.
The company accepts beginners, welcoming people as young as 8 years old. They hold both youth and adult classes.
“We love introducing people to it who have never even thought that this would be a thing in their life, but the cool thing about the aeriel world and the circus world is that it's becomming so much more accesible to people. People who never thought, who always wanted to try it who have always been intrigued by it but there weren't studios that you could just go to and give it a try. So the world has evolved now to the point where there are studios in almost every major city.”
Their current project is Forest/Fire, a production that will be held at Lot42 on March 24. The show will feature professional acts from throughout the circus world, including Fire Guy, who holds the Guiness World Record for the most fire eating in one minute. It will also feature Bellaire, along with her partner and other local talent including students from an Elmira High School.
For more information on Articus Productions you can email them at info@articusproductions.com or find them on Facebook.
