{"id":4289,"date":"2020-07-06T21:33:36","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T20:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=4289"},"modified":"2020-07-06T21:33:38","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T20:33:38","slug":"once-upon-a-circus-its-a-kind-of-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=4289","title":{"rendered":"Once Upon a Circus: It’s a kind of magic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\nLaura du Toit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once\nUpon A Circus<\/em>\nbegins as all fairy tales do; once upon a time, a young man named\nTrompie snuck into the Zip Zap tent. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nare compelled\nto watch, spellbound, as Trompie guides us through the cavernous\nspace where the air seems to be alive with magic. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unable\nto peel my eyes from the screen, I spent most of the show muttering,\n\u2018no ways\u2019 or gasping in unadulterated awe. As someone who\nstruggles with the most basic of ball skills, Jason \u2018Malanga\u2019\nBarnard\u2019s juggling left me speechless. Phelelani \u2018Remember\u2019\nNdakrokra\u2019s incredibly moving aerial acrobatics gave me goosebumps,\nand the controlled grace of Saskia \u2018Saseekia\u2019 van Rensburg\u2019s\naerial hoop performance belied her incredible strength. These are\njust a few of the breath-taking spectacles. The\nartists\nemanate such raw, captivating power that each performance feels\nprofoundly intimate. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nmusic accompanying each act is cleverly curated; the audience\u2019s\nemotions move with the music as we are taken on a rollercoaster of\njoy, shock and awe. Our hearts thump as dizzying heights are reached\nby the acrobats and smiles escape our lips during energetic group\ndances. Trompie\u2019s impish and clown-like character beckons audiences\nfurther into his magical world, which seems to be occupied by\nother-worldly beings. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nif the performances themselves aren\u2019t enough to make a grown woman\ncry, Zip Zap gives audiences a glimpse behind the scenes. Trapeze\nartists Brent van Rensburg and Laurence Esteve started Zip Zap during\nthe infancy of the rainbow nation, determined to make a difference.\nStarting with a trapeze swing on a tree and a tattered box of\ncostumes, Zip Zap grew to nurture the talents of children from all\nwalks of life. Trompie himself was one such child; he was living on\nthe streets before he found a home with Zip Zap, where he came alive\nas an artist. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It turns out that running away to the circus isn\u2019t such a bad idea, after all. Once Upon A Circus <\/em>is a uniquely South African fairy tale that reveals the magic in our nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once Upon a Circus is on the National Arts Festival vFringe programme, you can watch it here<\/a> until 31 July.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concept and Artistic Director<\/strong>: Brent van Rensburg
Videography, Filming, Producer, Editor<\/strong>: Nic Good
Artists<\/strong>: Jason Barnard, Jacobus Claassen, Aviwe Mfundisi, Phelelani Ndakrokra, Isobel Rossouw, Jemma Nelson, Jade Palmer\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laura du Toit Once Upon A Circus begins as all fairy tales do; once upon a time, a young man named Trompie snuck into the Zip Zap tent. We are … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":4290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[1118,1119,1117],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4289"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4289"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4291,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4289\/revisions\/4291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}