A Rhythm of Bodies: Making the Impossible Plausible Through Physicality, Risk and Trust in A Simple Space
Circus artists embrace the desire to achieve the impossible through exploration of the possibilities of the body. In the Australian milieu, contemporary circus performers put their bodies, their creativity and often their political agendas on the line. Contemporary circus relies on creative and ideo...
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| Language: | English |
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Michigan Publishing
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Circus: Arts, Life & Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/circus/article/id/5002/ |
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| author | Kristy Seymour |
| author_facet | Kristy Seymour |
| author_sort | Kristy Seymour |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Circus artists embrace the desire to achieve the impossible through exploration of the possibilities of the body. In the Australian milieu, contemporary circus performers put their bodies, their creativity and often their political agendas on the line. Contemporary circus relies on creative and ideological risk just as much as the physical risk encountered in the execution of tricks. Nevertheless, it is the body that is central to the risk explored within circus performance. In this article, I will position my theory of “A rhythm of bodies,” which explores how notions of embodiment, as well as creative and physical risk, play out in the works of award-winning and internationally renowned Adelaide-based circus company Gravity and Other Myths—how impossibility is made plausible through risk and authenticity on stage.
Looking to Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s concept of a “body without organs” and Jondi Keane’s “Embodied cognition is a special kind of movement,” I will argue that in circus, bodily “impossibilities,” or the usual limitations of the body, are effectively disregarded. In drawing their own greatly extended limitations and boundaries around their bodies, circus performers do not—indeed, cannot—subscribe to the limitations that most people accept as normal. This article will discuss how circus artists use their bodies to explore the extremities of not only what a body can do, but also what a body can say.
Les artistes de cirque ont à cœur de réussir l’impossible en explorant les possibilités du corps. En Australie, les circassien·ne·s contemporain·e·s engagent leurs corps, leur créativité et souvent leurs intérêts politiques. Leur performance repose sur la prise de risque, tant d’un point de vue créatif et idéologique que sur le plan physique pendant le spectacle. Néanmoins, dans cette discipline, le corps reste l’élément central en matière d’exploration des risques. Dans cet article, je présente ma théorie baptisée « A rhythm of bodies » (Corps en rythme), qui analyse le rôle des notions d’incarnation ainsi que la prise de risques créatifs et physiques — c’est-àdire, comment l’impossible est rendu plausible par le risque et l’authenticité sur scène — dans les performances de la compagnie maintes fois récompensée Gravity and Other Myths, originaire d’Adélaïde en Australie et célèbre dans le monde entier.
En m’appuyant sur le concept de « corps sans organes » imaginé par Gilles Deleuze et Félix Guattari, ainsi que le corpus « Embodied cognition is a special kind of movement » de Jondi Keane, j’affirme que les artistes de cirque ne tiennent effectivement pas compte des « impossibilités » physiques ou des limites habituelles du corps. En repoussant considérablement leurs propres frontières physiques, les circassien·ne·s n’acceptent pas — et plus précisément, ne peuvent accepter — les limites considérées comme normales par la plupart des individus. Dans cet article, j’évoque la manière dont ils·elles utilisent leur corps pour expérimenter non seulement jusqu’où il peut aller, mais aussi ce qu’il peut exprimer. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6b4d8112dda2471ab9a091a0fb59a13f |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2836-6611 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Michigan Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Circus: Arts, Life & Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-6b4d8112dda2471ab9a091a0fb59a13f2025-08-20T02:54:18ZengMichigan PublishingCircus: Arts, Life & Sciences2836-66112024-12-013210.3998/circus.5002A Rhythm of Bodies: Making the Impossible Plausible Through Physicality, Risk and Trust in A Simple SpaceKristy Seymour0Humanities, Griffith University/Circus StarsCircus artists embrace the desire to achieve the impossible through exploration of the possibilities of the body. In the Australian milieu, contemporary circus performers put their bodies, their creativity and often their political agendas on the line. Contemporary circus relies on creative and ideological risk just as much as the physical risk encountered in the execution of tricks. Nevertheless, it is the body that is central to the risk explored within circus performance. In this article, I will position my theory of “A rhythm of bodies,” which explores how notions of embodiment, as well as creative and physical risk, play out in the works of award-winning and internationally renowned Adelaide-based circus company Gravity and Other Myths—how impossibility is made plausible through risk and authenticity on stage. Looking to Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s concept of a “body without organs” and Jondi Keane’s “Embodied cognition is a special kind of movement,” I will argue that in circus, bodily “impossibilities,” or the usual limitations of the body, are effectively disregarded. In drawing their own greatly extended limitations and boundaries around their bodies, circus performers do not—indeed, cannot—subscribe to the limitations that most people accept as normal. This article will discuss how circus artists use their bodies to explore the extremities of not only what a body can do, but also what a body can say. Les artistes de cirque ont à cœur de réussir l’impossible en explorant les possibilités du corps. En Australie, les circassien·ne·s contemporain·e·s engagent leurs corps, leur créativité et souvent leurs intérêts politiques. Leur performance repose sur la prise de risque, tant d’un point de vue créatif et idéologique que sur le plan physique pendant le spectacle. Néanmoins, dans cette discipline, le corps reste l’élément central en matière d’exploration des risques. Dans cet article, je présente ma théorie baptisée « A rhythm of bodies » (Corps en rythme), qui analyse le rôle des notions d’incarnation ainsi que la prise de risques créatifs et physiques — c’est-àdire, comment l’impossible est rendu plausible par le risque et l’authenticité sur scène — dans les performances de la compagnie maintes fois récompensée Gravity and Other Myths, originaire d’Adélaïde en Australie et célèbre dans le monde entier. En m’appuyant sur le concept de « corps sans organes » imaginé par Gilles Deleuze et Félix Guattari, ainsi que le corpus « Embodied cognition is a special kind of movement » de Jondi Keane, j’affirme que les artistes de cirque ne tiennent effectivement pas compte des « impossibilités » physiques ou des limites habituelles du corps. En repoussant considérablement leurs propres frontières physiques, les circassien·ne·s n’acceptent pas — et plus précisément, ne peuvent accepter — les limites considérées comme normales par la plupart des individus. Dans cet article, j’évoque la manière dont ils·elles utilisent leur corps pour expérimenter non seulement jusqu’où il peut aller, mais aussi ce qu’il peut exprimer.https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/circus/article/id/5002/EmbodimentrisktrustcircusDeleuzeincarnation |
| spellingShingle | Kristy Seymour A Rhythm of Bodies: Making the Impossible Plausible Through Physicality, Risk and Trust in A Simple Space Circus: Arts, Life & Sciences Embodiment risk trust circus Deleuze incarnation |
| title | A Rhythm of Bodies: Making the Impossible Plausible Through Physicality, Risk and Trust in A Simple Space |
| title_full | A Rhythm of Bodies: Making the Impossible Plausible Through Physicality, Risk and Trust in A Simple Space |
| title_fullStr | A Rhythm of Bodies: Making the Impossible Plausible Through Physicality, Risk and Trust in A Simple Space |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Rhythm of Bodies: Making the Impossible Plausible Through Physicality, Risk and Trust in A Simple Space |
| title_short | A Rhythm of Bodies: Making the Impossible Plausible Through Physicality, Risk and Trust in A Simple Space |
| title_sort | rhythm of bodies making the impossible plausible through physicality risk and trust in a simple space |
| topic | Embodiment risk trust circus Deleuze incarnation |
| url | https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/circus/article/id/5002/ |
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