{"id":4815,"date":"2022-06-30T12:25:44","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T11:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=4815"},"modified":"2022-06-30T12:25:45","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T11:25:45","slug":"urban-circus-invitation-to-a-communal-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=4815","title":{"rendered":"Urban Circus: Invitation to a communal dream"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\nIn the city\ndreams can come true. In the city, you do what you have to but, you\ncan also find friends who are true. The urban landscape has higher\npeaks. It is where people learn how to exceed their own limits. The\nsaying goes, \u2018It\u2019s a jungle out there\u2019, but in Daniel\nBuckland\u2019s vision of the Urban\nCircus<\/em>,\nit is a community of fellow dreamers who meet to work just as hard as\nthey play. In the city as a circus, you see how dexterous people can\nbe. They not only meet higher and higher demands whilst hanging\nupside down, but they also do spins on a trapeze with one hand\nholding up a book or lipstick or broom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nUrban\nCircus<\/em>\ntells stories of success through heart-stopping acrobatics. It also\nshares the backroom tales of helping each other keep up with the\nlatest trends while walking a high-stakes tight-rope and trying to\nkeep the balance. This circus plays with clever clowning and fills\nthe imagination with whimsical visions of elevators packed with\nacrobats jumping and sliding into contorted positions. It is a\nwonderous toss of the mind into what the city can be if everyone was\na light-hearted trickster who knows the importance of neighborliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Live\nperformance elevates our hopes and dreams and makes our bodies tingle\nwith the feeling that anything is possible, indeed. When a group of\nnine highly trained performers dance together in bouncing unison and\nlift their smiling arms to invite everyone to bob in their seats as\nwell, a feeling of euphoria can wash over a room full of over 900\npeople. On opening night in the Guy Butler Auditorium, it was\ncertainly difficult not to tap a foot or clap both hands. The Cirk, a\nJohannesburg-based circus troupe, in collaboration with Makhanda-bred\nDaniel Buckland have raised the bar on family entertainment as the\nNational Arts Festival warmly welcomes the joy of live performance\nafter two years of uncertainty. Children, parents, older and younger\npeople in singles and pairs filled the auditorium with as much energy\nas they received from the stage. Every spectacular scene met\nauthentic applause, and the most meaningful, slick acrobatics heard\nthe sheer awe of their audience throughout the scene and not just at\nthe curated ending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nshow\nhas\nmanufactured a meeting between the art of theatrical clowning along\nwith the pageantry of people performing gravity-defying feats. This\ncircus brings the extravaganza home in a way that makes it seem\nwithin anyone\u2019s grasp to fly if you put in the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nare many heart-warming vignettes, such\nas a\nbusy elevator scene in\nwhich the performers are squashed in together, shoulder to shoulder,\nupside down, held by others, with hearty laughter when the comedy\nclocks in.\nThe rewards of scenes like this are on multiple levels; the comedy of\nthe absurd story told through the wacky dance of squeezing into a\nsmall metal box, and thee\nthe dream-like interlude of a performer lifting that\nbox, but we\u2019ll let you see the rest for yourself. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nUrban\nCircus<\/em>\nleaves audiences a high point. It truly is the dream of a landscape\nwhere anything feels possible. Fitting for the return to live NAF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nUrban Circus is\non stage at the National Arts Festival, with shows tomorrow (Fri 1\nJuly) and Saturday at 1pm and 11am respectively.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cast\nlist:
\nBrian\nNgobese
\nClaudia\nMoruzzi
\nDemi\nWentzel
\nNataniel\nPires
\nMarco\nVargas
\nRiver\nMakings
\nSipho\nMqotsha
\nTamsyn\nDexter
\nVaughn\nHurly\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the city dreams can come true. In the city, you do what you have to but, you can also find friends who are true. The urban landscape has higher … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":4816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4815"}],"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\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4815"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4817,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4815\/revisions\/4817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}