Have you ever shared an intimate experience that touches you, stirs something within you, and makes you feel entirely aroused… with 900 other people in the room?
Last week I was fortunate enough to have this very thing happen to me when I went to see Circa Wunderkammer at the Canberra Theatre. This exotic, erotic perhaps even neurotic 90 minute show was a bizarre but beautiful mix of burlesque, cabaret, contortionism, muscle upon muscle, and of course, circus.
It began with an almost naked woman putting her clothes back on, and I can assure you that getting dressed has never been sexier. The show presented a variety of acts involving a man of strength managing to pick up almost the entire cast (six out of seven people), and then a much smaller woman proceeded to pick him and the rest of the troupe up – incredible. The show had elements of more traditional circus practises such as rope tricks, hula-hoops, great jumps, leaps, as well as acts that defied gravity. In spite of this, somehow everything the performers did stepped beyond the traditional, and became modern and sexy.
On their official website Circa claim that:
“At Circa we create circus that moves the heart, mind and soul. We discover, cultivate and present works and experiences from the living heart of circus – vital, challenging and delightful. We believe circus is a rich artistic territory that can deeply touch audiences and participants. To achieve this, we progress with ceaseless inventiveness (in all aspects of our art and operations) guided by safe danger and fuelled by love and respect.”
Following the show at a meet and greet, it became apparent that many audience members thought that this amount of raw and organic talent could only come from the more exotic parts of Europe such as Sweden or Russia and were greatly surprised (clearly not having read the program) to find that the cast were all-Australian. Not just that, but also that the troupe had been performing since 2006 and had toured 24 countries across five continents.
Circa Wunderkammer was one of those rare and incredible shows that make you forget to clap because your jaw is on the floor, and you almost can’t move because your eyes are as big as the saucers the performers are balancing on the most unusual parts of their body. 10 out of 10.
We acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, who are the Traditional Custodians of the land on which Woroni, Woroni Radio and Woroni TV are created, edited, published, printed and distributed. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. We acknowledge that the name Woroni was taken from the Wadi Wadi Nation without permission, and we are striving to do better for future reconciliation.