There are plenty of times when we’ve had the urge to ‘run away with the circus’ but rather than a never-ending cycle of fun and adventure, the reality is that working in this challenging arena requires focus, determination, strength and a hell of a lot of hard work.
Emma Serjeant is a contemporary circus performer and co-founder of Casus Contemporary Circus, with whom she has toured the world and garnered a string of awards and rave reviews for debut show Knee Deep. Far from the cliché of what circus entails, the show balances subtle fragility with breathtaking displays of strength, combined with stunning acrobatics and aerial tricks.
Ahead of their upcoming Irish tour, which runs from July 2nd to 12th, we caught up with Emma for a chat about challenges, terrifying decisions and defining risky circus.
How did you get into the circus business? Is it something that you wanted to pursue growing up?
I would say that circus found me, rather than the other way around. I had a background in gymnastics when I was very young but I moved to Australia when I was 12 and I decided to give it a break. I missed it so much that I came back to it and that led me to the path of circus. When I realised you could actually do what you love, make people smile and, with a bit of dedication, successfully travel the world, I never thought about doing anything else!
Was it hard to break into the industry?
I trained at a circus school in Melbourne (National Institute of Circus Arts) and I was very lucky to train with a Mr Guang Rong Lu, a very renowned teacher and performer in his time. He started me on the right foot.
From the first year of circus school, I was performing around Australia at corporate gigs. I then set up a couple of training spaces in Melbourne, which kept me in touch with the community and engaged with different art forms.
After that, I was with a contemporary circus company full time, which took me around the world performing in sought-after venues and often pinching myself to remind me that it was actually my life! This gave me the curiosity in the industry to learn how the process works, from someone seeing your show to putting a tour together and successfully negotiating your way around the world. Then Casus Circus was born and I realised this was where I could put into practice everything I had learned over the past nine years.
What are the most important traits needed to be successful in your chosen profession?
An open mind, a willing heart and the ability to be flexible while remaining very focused on the things that actually matter. Easily said but in practice, it can be incredibly difficult.
What is the biggest challenge you encounter in your job?
Hmmm… that depends on what day of the week it is really!
I wear a lot of different hats in my professional career, as many people do that work in the arts and entertainment industries. The challenge that seems to be a constant is balancing my focus and knowing when you have to be the performer, when the time is right to be the manager, what takes first preference and when.
Something else that I find more and more important is the ability to manage people and relationships and figuring out how to empower the people around you. The nature of our work is very personal so we need to make sure everyone is being cared for on a personal level as well as professionally for them to work to their maximum capability and, of course, enjoyment!
What is the greatest thing about what you do?
Many! The thrill of the stage, the constant travel and the amount of wonderful situations I find myself in. We work very hard for the skills that we acquire in Circus so many hours of training are needed. When the moments of pure joy happen, be it onstage or off, the risk, the tears, the injuries and the mistakes are all worth it.
Why did you decide to found your own company?
I had evolved an idea of the kind of work that I wanted to create and came past the point where I could achieve this working under someone else’s direction.
I thrive on challenges and making decisions that are truly terrifying. I had been working in a number of amazing shows and found myself wanting more, so I listened to that and jumped in the deep end, threw caution to the wind and started paddling!
Has that made you think differently about the industry that you’re in? What are the benefits/drawbacks of being your own boss?
Now, I certainly have a huge amount of respect for every aspect of bringing a performance alive and the little nuances that can throw the balance of delivering a wonderful show. Every aspect from the very first inception of the idea to opening on a big stage is a delicate ‘eco system’ that needs much care and attention.
What is the biggest misconception about what you do?
The biggest misconception in our current show Knee Deep is that the nail that I stick up my nose is not real and that the eggs that we stand on are hard boiled.
The nail is real. It took me a long time to learn to insert a nail of that size into my nose and the eggs are not boiled. Every night, we are not sure how many we will break and that is the beauty of the unknown; it creates a tension that you couldn’t replicate if there was no risk involved.
What is it that makes Casus different from its contemporaries?
Casus is developing a flavour of contemporary circus that is not afraid to have the true personality of its performer on the stage. As the search for humanity and the display of our fragility is not necessarily a new idea on the stage, especially in circus, we do not shy away from a narrative when we feel the need and a conversation when we want to. We strive to create the type of work where the audience feels like it has understood how it is done, such as what it takes to be able to have three men on your shoulders!
The underlying theme of Casus work is to be able to take a risk, be it mentally, artistically or physically. We want the audience to recognise the Casus collection of work as ‘risky circus’!
Is it a difficult process matching the choreography of the show with suitable music, lighting etc?
We very much collaborate on this level. We work with people that are able to inject their flavour and input ideas so that the two worlds meet, rather than one dominating the other.
What is a typical day like for the Casus team?
A day on the road for Casus usually involves a decent breakfast, a bump in (as we say in Australia) of the show, a three-hour rehearsal and show preparation, then the performance, followed by a quick bump out of the show. This is closely followed by more food and a round or two of the beers, wine or vodka, depending on the flavour of the town!
Something we do try and do is make sure that, no matter how quick the trip, we manage to sample the local cuisine and get a bit of knowledge about the place. Otherwise, there is no point to be on tour. You could be in any hotel in any part of the world so the more we can experience the local people, the better the time we have!
What is your ultimate goal in your career?
There are lots of little milestones that I want to achieve but to sum it up, I would say to get to a place with Casus where I can dream a big idea and have the budget to realise it with the people I want to work with. Nothing is more satisfying than seeing an idea unfold in front of your eyes and to collaborate with the best in the world on it. Oh and, of course, performing on a tropical island at least once, as circus always feels better with the sand underneath your feet!
Casus Circus will visit Newbridge on July 2nd, Blanchardstown on July 3rd, Dun Laoghaire on July 4th, Ennis on July 5th, Sligo on July 6th, Longford on July 8th and Clonmel Junction Festival from July 10th to 12th. For more information and tickets, see www.casus.com.au.
