A local circus studio is hosting their first-ever event in the United Commons event space on Balmoral Road as a summer’s-end event for the performers who have been working all season to hone their skills and show them off.
The Island Circus Space has existed in Victoria for seven years now and has trained over 1,000 performers in various skill-sets.
“This space has taught thousands of locals how to juggle, handstand, go upside down on aerial silks, try the trapeze,” said Josh Nobleman, Co-owner of Island Circus Space.
“There’s no concrete-set discipline of skills like there is in gymnastics for example, like, you’re a level ‘X’ if you’ve completed these skills and people generally agree there’s sort of a standard. In circus, the nature of these disciplines are more open ended and creative.”
He added that the performers who train at Island Circus Space are enabled to create their own act and their own character using the skills they learn through the studio.
The studio’s upcoming event is their Summer’s End Cabaret, and is taking place on Saturday, September 13th.
The Summer’s End Cabaret show will bring together 11 local performers who trained all summer in aerial silks, trapeze, juggling, straps, rope, cube, hoop and poi.
For those who don’t know, poi is a performance art where a person swings tethered weights on cords in rhythmic patterns around their body.
“Poi originated with the Māori people of New Zealand, who use poi as a cultural expression and physical training, but it’s grown since then into a global art form,” explained Nobleman.
Furthermore, cube is another unique performance art audiences will be able to see at the cabaret event.
“We’ve got a fairly talented contortionist among the performers, and they were connected with a welder who custom-made a cube out of metal—like a frame—that will be suspended on a swivel at the 20 foot mark and the artist spins within that cube,” said Nobleman.
“Because they are a contortionist, they can fit inside this cube structure while doing lots of different movements.”
Nobleman says that the venue of this show will let the performers reach new heights while showing off their talents.
The vaulted 40-foot ceilings will allow many stunts and performances to be done at a height of 20 feet, which is a tricky building feature to find. This will be the first time Island Circus Space will have a show that features performances at these heights.
The Summer’s End Cabaret will have a capacity of 200, and tickets cost $30 for attendance, with proceeds going towards the performers in the show.
“I hope [the audience] feels surprised, inspired and connected,” Nobleman concluded.
Island Circus Space’s Summer’s End Cabaret
- When: Saturday, September 13th, at 7 p.m.
- Where: United Commons, 932 Balmoral Road
- Tickets: $30, plus GST
