Local dancers and aerialists are creating a spectacle in their biggest performance of the season.
Okotoks’ Spectacle Blue Performance Company is combining aerial acrobatics with a freak show act in its presentation of Peregrina’s Circus about an unwanted girl wandering through a circus during the Great Depression. The story, written by the performance company’s creative director Robin Szuch, features 12 female performers ages nine to 27 and takes place May 13 at 8 p.m. and May 14 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
“My career has always been built on circus and spectacle theatre so this kind of work is what my love has always been,” said Szuch. “Having this studio that becomes the theater affords me the opportunity to take some of these ideas and produce my own show that are hatched in my head and I can make them real.”
The performance company hosts four studio shows a year. This show will be the biggest in terms of production value, said Szuch.
“Because we had from January all the way to May it allows me to hatch bigger ideas, create a bigger story, work on some newer material and the opportunity to push the kids out of their comfort zone a little more and build the acting portion rather than just the aerial stuff, which they are quite comfortable with already,” she said.
The show’s 12 performers have been busy the last several weeks rehearsing two to three times a week to perfect their acts.
“We are down to the crunch and the last two weeks are always crazy pulling it all together,” she said. “All of the acts are done. Now we’re just building in some of the transitions and rehearsing so everything comes naturally so they can focus on the performance quality and not on what comes next.”
The dozen performers will showcase their talent in a variety of areas including dance, trapeze, hoops, silks and jump rope and will represent typical circus characters, such as the bearded lady.
Their performances will be done mostly to music with some singing and a poem recital, said Szuch.
“The performers are incredibly professional,” she said. “I have very high expectations and because of that they have high expectations of themselves. They do the work it takes to put on the best possible show we can.”
At intermission, the performance company is hosting a mini carnival complete with a fortune-teller, old-fashioned games, prizes, popcorn, cotton candy and circus travel trailer.
Spectacle Blue offers an intimate setting for its audience, said Szuch.
“Because it only sits 50 audience members you get to be really close to the aerial action,” she said. “There is not a lot of places where you can be up close to artists that are hanging upside down. There’s a great appreciation for how difficult the work is when you’re close enough that you can see the muscles doing the job.”
Holly Schinbein, who has performed for the Calgary Opera and the Kaleido Family Arts Festival in Edmonton, will play an acrobat and perform spinning, tap dancing and triple trapeze acts.
“We’ve all worked really hard on it and it’s going to be really interesting,” she said. “What’s nice about this particular type of work is it’s easy to modify. The harder you work the more advanced skills you are going to get and the more you can improve.”
The 27-year-old performer joined Spectacle Blue in 2009 when it was located in Turner Valley.
“I never really fit in with anything else,” she said. “I tried dance and I tried gymnastics and none of it really stuck with me. I tried this when I was 19, 20 and it was a really good workout.”
In addition to pushing herself to the limit, Schinbein enjoys being a mentor to the younger performers.
“They look up to you,” she said. “The little kids go, ‘Wow, that’s so cool.’ It makes you feel so good.”
Schinbein hopes people enjoy the variety of talent in the show.
“It’s neat for Okotoks to have something like this,” she said. “It’s a nice family outing.”
Tickets to see Peregrina’s Circus cost $20 and can be purchased at spectacleblue.ca, by calling 403-601-3474 or at the door.
