Circa's Leviathan: Art of Circus Movement

Catalog description

Stanford Live will host Circa's internationally-renowned ensemble and a local cast of circus performers, dancers and young people to perform Leviathan, a world premiere circus event. This Arts Intensive class will provide six students experience in movement, dance, and/or circus arts the opportunity to study the legacy of circus and join the rehearsals to ultimately perform in Leviathan with Circa on Sept. 30 & Oct. 1, 2022. Working with Circa's Artistic team and ensemble performers, students will be required to participate in three weeks of rehearsal to learn the show and perform. Students will also work with Circa's Artistic Director, Yaron Lifschitz, during final rehearsals and in season. Aleta Hayes will offer a supportive curriculum exploring the artistic themes of collaboration, movement, and using art to express the human experience. Curriculum will also focus on the emotional and physical aspects of mounting a complex performance.Circus studies within the academic field of performance studies is a heavily under-researched area. The 19th century circus offers fascinating histories of race and gender in performance. The history of the circus is also a history of technology and coincides with the industrial revolution's persistent push to merge the human and the machine - the constant attempt to test and push against the boundaries of humanity's frailties and mortality. Contemporary circus draws from current cultural aesthetics, street vernacular, movement improvisation-- blurring lines between dance, theater and circus. We will look at pioneers of the genre including Cirque Du Soleil, Pickle Family circus, Archaos and more recent examples like the Tiger Lillies, the Lucent dossier Company and others. The art of circus is taken in an exciting new direction as 36 performers hang from a grid suspended in the air and propel themselves across the stage, tumbling,…