If there was ever an art form that could excel at boundary pushing I would put a large amount of my trust in Aerial arts. Not to be taken for granted (it pains me to say I have only seen live aerial art in a late night spot) Aerial artists are highly skilled, they require in-depth training, patience, and of course those wishing to do it need the correct facilities and a few special people to help take this dream into reality.
Step into the Jendubbz Office...Wac Arts, a highly important organisation known for nurturing diverse talent.
Wac Arts reside in North London and have seen successful past alumni such as Courtney Pine, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Ms
Dynamite and Sophie Okonedo, who all originally paid £1 a lesson to be taught
by industry experts. Wac Arts are renowned for supporting young people
through performing arts and media. They believe The Arts should be available to
all and advocate this ethos by focusing on innovation, inclusion and driving
for excellence.
InFlight From Home will be performed
at three separate times
during the afternoon and evening. A promenade piece,
audiences
are guided through intimate interactions and larger, image-based,
physical scenarios throughout the atmospheric Grade 2 listed
building.
InFlight is a professional
development project for people already involved in physical sports or art forms
who would like to expand their skill base with aerial work. Wac Arts celebrates inclusivity and
diversity, working in engaging and innovative ways to provide performing arts training for all young people. The students were recruited to the Inflight programme as they aspired to train in aerials but lacked opportunities due to their personal circumstances.
diversity, working in engaging and innovative ways to provide performing arts training for all young people. The students were recruited to the Inflight programme as they aspired to train in aerials but lacked opportunities due to their personal circumstances.
Running part-time between April 2015 and
July 2016, the project has provided students with intensive training in
trapeze, cocoon, silks and rope as well as harness techniques such as abseil
and bungee harness. Students are also given an opportunity to take part in the InFlight final performance at the end
of the programme. The course is funded by Wac
Arts and the Arts Council and delivered in partnership with professional
aerial theatre companies: Scarabeus and Upswing.
I got to ask Steve Medlin, the Head of drama at Wac Arts some
questions about the process of InFlight and the Wac Arts organisation:
A highly challenging but constantly rewarding role. For many of our part time courses classes are offered at multi levels which means that in some cases a student can be with us for a number of years. Being able to watch their progression, often from early first steps on stage to fully rounded performers is a wonderful thing. The full time professional diploma often throws up a vast array of individual obstacles, from English as a second language to high levels of dyslexia. However, the end goal has to remain that they graduate as highly skilled performers ready to work in the industry, so each person will often have a different set of requirements that need addressing. We have managed it so far and I genuinely believe that helping to overcome these obstacles instead of seeing them as reasons to not engage in the first place means that the end result is an artist with real character and drive.
How was the idea for InFlight conceived?
Wac Arts is known for its high levels of diversity and offering pathways to training for those that traditionally struggle to access the arts. These are two areas that the professional world of Aerial is struggling with, a lack of diversity and typically an art form that you have to be financially supported through. So it seemed a natural issue to explore although it has been a lengthy journey. We have large dance studios but they required feasibility studies and a lengthy fundraising process to equip them for Aerial work. Relationships with Scarabeus and Upswing (Aerial companies) were developed and then a partnership formed to make an application to the Arts council. Our first tier of funding looked at training and then dissemination of the developing skills base, which included some teacher training and an exploration of working with disabilities, plus additional delivery across our part time courses and summer schools. Tier two that we are currently coming to the end of continued with the training and looked at placing our young artists into a performance scenario which we are hosting here on the 23rd July. We advertised for an Artistic director and felt the pitch made by Leo Kay was the outstanding concept, it resonated with both the work we do here and the current social and political environment.
How have the performers found the process of working on InFlight?
For the most part its all very new to them, they are applying a recently developed and blossoming skills base to a highly collaborative process. Whilst we are working safely, we are not playing safe but pushing the boundaries of how much they can achieve both with this new skills base and the conceptual material itself. We have a big old building and we are going to be taking the audience around it in as innovate a way as we can possibly achieve, plus flying off the outside and transforming some traditionally non performance spaces into some exciting arenas. I don’t want to talk for the performers but they certainly seem excited and up for the challenge.
What has it been like working with Artistic Director Leo Kay?
Ha, its been great. Feels like we have come full circle as myself and Leo were actual Wac students ourselves back in the 1980’s. We both originally went into the world of physical theatre and eventually lost touch over the years, so it is lovely to be back working together.
How did you work with the performers to embed their experiences and stories into the piece?
What has it been like working with Artistic Director Leo Kay?
Ha, its been great. Feels like we have come full circle as myself and Leo were actual Wac students ourselves back in the 1980’s. We both originally went into the world of physical theatre and eventually lost touch over the years, so it is lovely to be back working together.
How did you work with the performers to embed their experiences and stories into the piece?
This is more a question for Leo that myself. I have a project leader role on this production and after spending the last year watching the participants develop we at Wac and the other partners felt it was important that the students have a taste of responding to the demands of an outside director. I do know though that right from the start Leo was clear that he wanted to draw on both researched work and the personal experiences of the performers. Collaboration and devising as it should be. The themes explore the difficulty’s involved in the forced movement of large groups of people and their experiences. It seems quite specific until you explore our common understanding of fear, displacement, confusion and as a human experience to feel that you are being lessened and marginalised.
Wow, big question. If it’s the ideal in my mind then an industry that represents the wide array of people that populate our existence, genuine diversity on stage and screen. One in which an audience are happy to suspend their disbelief just that little bit more so that we can really play with race, gender, age and physical ability to the point that the only thing that really matters is whether the actor can successfully deliver the characterisation required. Not sure if this will be a reality as it’s a discussion that seems to have been around for many decades. What certainly is true is that the demands of the industry is ever changing and currently Aerial work, Puppetry, Motion capture and a wide variety of world dance and movement techniques are required skills in productions throughout the west end and national stages as well as the screen. These skills among many others are not seen as the cornerstones of a traditional arts training but are growing in their use and if embedded in the student can often go on to make them highly employable.
WAC arts endeavours to allow people from various ages and backgrounds to access the arts which I believe is so important. What do you think the future of performing arts looks like?
Wow, big question. If it’s the ideal in my mind then an industry that represents the wide array of people that populate our existence, genuine diversity on stage and screen. One in which an audience are happy to suspend their disbelief just that little bit more so that we can really play with race, gender, age and physical ability to the point that the only thing that really matters is whether the actor can successfully deliver the characterisation required. Not sure if this will be a reality as it’s a discussion that seems to have been around for many decades. What certainly is true is that the demands of the industry is ever changing and currently Aerial work, Puppetry, Motion capture and a wide variety of world dance and movement techniques are required skills in productions throughout the west end and national stages as well as the screen. These skills among many others are not seen as the cornerstones of a traditional arts training but are growing in their use and if embedded in the student can often go on to make them highly employable.
Finally, why should people come to see InFlight?
The themes are current, the work is innovative and the performers are emerging into and pushing their personal boundaries of an exciting art form. Certainly three ingredients that would make me want to see a piece of theatre.
Thank you to Steve Medlin and Abstrakt publicity.
If you want to come and explore one of North London's performing arts gems (I'll be there and I can't wait!) You can get your tickets at the link below. Come and support Wac Arts. Without these institutions there would be fewer people whose dreams have been allowed to soar.
Thank you to Steve Medlin and Abstrakt publicity.
If you want to come and explore one of North London's performing arts gems (I'll be there and I can't wait!) You can get your tickets at the link below. Come and support Wac Arts. Without these institutions there would be fewer people whose dreams have been allowed to soar.
