Catherine Daniel's recent production Aakashan is a fusion of Australian and traditional Indian aerial acrobatics arts. She told Iknoor Kaur that such shows help empower people from low-income backgrounds
It’s always a delight to watch people do acrobatics, dance on aerial silk, twist around a trapeze or do pole gymnastics. But what if you get a chance to watch the same not just as a form of physical entertainment but as a part of an integrated theatrical performanceIJ We don’t mean stunts one does during a dance performance but professional acrobatics incorporated with puppetry, contemporary dance, theatre and clown mimes. Performed by artistes supported by the Kalakar Trust, Aakashan is a fusion of Australian and traditional Indian aerial acrobatics arts. It is choreographed by Vikram Mohan and directed by Catherine Daniel, who is the leader of Vertical Circus, an organisation which empowers people from low-income backgrounds by teaching them circus skills and physical theatre.
“We make circus and music accessible to people who otherwise won’t be able to afford training and tuition. We predominantly work with people from humble backgrounds who live in slums and ghettos. We have done two projects in Kenya and are now doing a project here. Our entire cast lives in the Kathputli Colony which is a developed slum,” explained Daniel who will showcase her anthology on March 13 at Kamani Auditorium. Through this initiative, Daniel has brought in aerial arts with trapeze, aerial silk, the Spanish web “which is the spinning rope and acrobatics. Since we do developmental circus we don’t just look at circus as a performance meant for earning money. That is a part of it, but we look at providing skills to young people so that they feel empowered and gain self confidence,” she said.
Daniel, who herself is an acrobat, feels that acrobatics work well for such kids because they begin to trust each other. She shared, “If you are standing on someone’s shoulders, you need to trust the person and that physical trust translates into personal trust which adds to personal strength.” She also uses sports acrobatics which is what people do at the Olympics. She elaborated, “We do a little bit of concept improvisation from the 70s. We do all different things where people have to work together in a group.”
Gaining perfection in such acts isn’t a cakewalk, added Daniel. “The difficulty level is high because we teach some risky and spectacular tricks,” she said. However, she’s never had to experience any instances where people have been badly hurt. “We use mats and take other safety measures,” she said.
Kids she’s been working with have an amazing capacity to recover after falling on concrete. She elaborated, “This was the only challenge I had when I first came here. I had to tell them that they can’t just let go when they are hanging mid air doing aerial act from the trapeze and the silk or if they are holding someone and they get tired, they can’t drop the person. I’ve never seen people so willing to fall on concrete, but these chaps are very tough.”
During the show, Daniels will present 12 scenes. “End of Wedding will be a drumming fusion. Daily life will be a contemporary dance piece based on the spatial reality. Triple Trapeze will show three aerialists explore a greater world beyond their immediate domestic surroundings, a clown mime, an indigenous dance solo by Carly Sheppard, acrobatic dance, aerial silk, malkhamb, puppet dance, stilts where three performers on stilts will enter stage dressed as birds and spinning trapeze,” she summed up.