Bassline Circus - Cabarave

Fusion Festival - Germany 27th - 29th June 2014

Fusion Festival in Northern Germany is predominantly techno and electronic music. This is delivered with the precision of; technology meets artisan workmanship, which the nation has become well known for. This is made complete by some of the finest European circus and dynamic set building available in the world today, as we know it.

The entire festival, situated on a retired Nazi spy air base, feels like a Utopian, future environment. As designed by a benevolent creator in order to provide purposefully engineered, audio-visual input to the human experience: Enough to kindle thoughtful and resourceful, creative output, without over-blowing the fragile circuitry of the human sensory system.

It genuinely feels like something important is happening here. This festival is the tip of the iceberg of a way of life. The ethos is for a better way of life. A commitment to a collective cause. The outcome being a catalytic event. Respecting a trade system therein, which supports the workmanship of those giving their time and skills to make it happen.

It is driven by a sense of dynamism and determination to give the best you can give, for the benefit of those around you and thus receive the same in return.

The endeavour is for progression and sustainability without waste and is entirely inclusive, so long as you are giving the best of yourself. Perhaps this is enhanced by the deutsche attitude for “vorsprung dutch technik” (translated: advancement through technology.) Or moreover the locale having emerged from prior Soviet rule and developing a culture for making the best of limited resources by necessity. But the pervading attitude is “what can I do for you?” as opposed to “what is this going to give me?” It’s breath of fresh air to say the least.

The outcome is the feeling of delight that comes from a sense of achievement. We are all owners of this event. We are making this happen together. There is a culture of hope, pride and of let’s keep going as long as we are getting better at it.

It’s a far cry from what I term the “hippy safari park” that the veteran UK festivals serve up today. Having long since peaked and now deliver merely a tourist attraction. By comparison, these have lost the sense the progression and breaking boundaries, which has given way to a package experience.

The sense of wonder I experienced at Fusion was compounded by my feeling part of a Mechano playground, on a human scale. Everything was was moving, revolving and synchronised in beatific precision, as if regulated by a rhythmic, techno, momentous governor, as like that within a well lubricated engine.

Of course this is as much by chance as by design. But somehow a bio-mechanical relationship between human and the machine sets off a chain reaction. Robotic, malleable, graceful and breathtaking audio-visual installations from France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and UK, all perform in unison.

With all of this taking place, I am proud to say that Bassline Circus represented with extreme gusto. One of the most raging venues on site. The DJs and AV crew were relentless and I found it hard at times to pass by the Bigtop in search of new territory. Especially whilst the circus's Class A acrobats, clad in sexy, up-to-the-minute, lycra body suits (swoon) finished off with extreme, constructed, hair-braiding by Bela Edgar Manegan. They took to the air with athletic energy and tons of sultry, urban attitude, that only Brits can seriously pull off. 

The strength and agility on display serves to back up the sense of the body-as-a-machine mentality. This is what physical fine-tuning looks like. I couldn’t help but stare like an addict at their bodies. Sliding seamlessly between single acts to multiple, synchronised displays of humans in free flow, all in time to a high BPM while we pounded the ground with our feet and throwing our faces in the air to catch the action. It's an experience!

Accompanied by a big bar and a clean, dry, level dance floor, an impressive geometric set and some seriously eye-catching light fx, it was absolutely one of the best venues on site, for consistent, high adrenaline action.

Photo credit: www.jasminbell.com

See more photos here:

Next blog: What's hottest at Boomtown Fair.

Difficult Roads often lead to Beautiful Destinations

Cogs are turning albeit slowly. So I thought I would share some insights into my experience of setting up and sustaining an independent business.

British Art has been rocked to the core and is still suffering lag from the effects of Austerity Britain. So what possessed me, to go independently seeking financial support for other people’s art?

For the record I have an excellent relationship with my current clients. Even so, the reality is that I have very little in the way of a safety net, or tangible investment. My every move is laced with inherent risk. As tactical as you can be, there will always be illusive unpaid invoices, which you chase into the sunset, clients who never confirm and projects with ever shifting goal posts. I’m privileged to be my own boss, in what I believe in. But it’s not for the faint hearted.

News of the financial crash broke in 2008 while I was working as an Education Officer for an Arts Centre in Berkshire. I had graduated with a degree Arts Event Management from the Arts University Bournemouth in 2007.

I realised that I was unlikely to achieve a step forward in my career by targeting arts centre jobs, where there is little mobility. RFOs or Regularly Funded Organisations, would start to loose their funding over a matter of years, including ourselves.

I started to think about designing a business I could run independently, centring on my strongest abilities for communication, networking, creative writing, strategy and evaluation. My business model would also need to be flexible enough to allow for my own professional development, since just like everyone else, I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

The biggest challenge I face is convincing newcomers of my abilities. So I offer free consultations, which opens conversations with new clients. This is usually enough to know if we will be able to work together. I give my advice freely, because success breeds and I have confidence in the added value I can provide to a developing project. A strong project will almost incubate itself, without need for constant recycling.

I have learned not to take on anything that I'm not very confident in. Producing live art shows requires a delicate blend of input, timing, confidence and context.

At these early stages I’m feeding myself as much as my clients.  Each new project gives me fresh, hands-on, experience. Market research is invaluable but true knowledge is hard to fake. At the moment the process teaches me what working hours to attribute to each job.

My one-woman empire requires 100% personal input. It would be a huge challenge to freelance in anything I did not genuinely enjoy. Yet I become careworn and frustrated by it. The biggest downer is the stop / start cash flow of being a start up. I take a break when I get mixed up. It's foolish to believe that because you have chosen your own professional path, that every day will be a pleasure. In fact it's much harder to discern when to stop, because there is no clocking off point.

I take risks. I make difficult decisions. I actively persuade others into and out of strategic business decisions. My income is irregular. My service is myself. If I get sick, disillusioned, confused or overwhelmed, then that is entirely my own problem. There's no training programme. There's no hard evidence yet. But so far I love it, because I can see the potential in myself that I see in my clients. It’s a two way street. I negotiate new territory every day. What excites me the most is I’m driving new work.

Art is a comment on social change. Live art is a provocation. This way I know that I am at the front creative arts movement. Living on the edge, building new platforms for expression. It’s not up to me which will gain strength and which will be forgotten. By a selective process of tuning in and broadcast, I hope our activities will give the future of British Art, more chance and more choice.

Breaking Convention

It's been a busy month. Ruby SoHo Productions has moved into a new workshop and there's been much activity behind the scenes here at Liberty Towers too. 

I have recently signed Bassline Circus. They "represent the transformation of some of the UK's and Europe's most high profile illegal rave outfits into legitimate organisation." [zoneofthefree.blogspot.co.uk] 

This crew has been producing some of the biggest, baddest, music, dance & circus spaces, over the last 10 years of their history. Born originally of free party culture.

This coming year in 2014, will see an entirely new tour of UK festivals, after rehearsal and debut at Fusion in Germany. Fusion is an electronic music, mutoid inspired arts festival.

Image credit: www.kulturkosmos.de/en

After Eden, have been with me since January and we are about to embark on their first self written and produced public show in Brighton Fringe 2014. 

Brighton Fringe is the largest arts festival in England and comprises a month of live art events and previews. Mostly in theatre, but peppered with comedy, film screenings, scratch nights and the obligatory Brighton pubbing and clubbing scene. A hot bed of emerging creative talent.

We are to produce a grand, debut of high-end, public, circus performance, on an outdoor rig. This set against the iconic architecture of Brighton, as built in the heyday of it's history as a pleasure resort at the turn of the century. 

This is a collaborative working partnership between myself and Brighton Theatrical Director Rikki Tarascas, (One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest 2001 & The Modernists 2013) and David Downie and Tony Phipps of Impact Artists: Purveyors of circus entertainment to the the International private sector.

The Show:

The show explores the relationship between physical and linguistic expressions of psychological trips. As visited by instigators of the Bohemian Arts Movement, the Romantic Poets, Byron and Shelly whilst on the Grand Tour of Europe. They "cultivated individualism, reverence for the natural world, idealism, physical and emotional passion." [poets.org]

The show follows this culture through to where it inspires the Beat Poets of 1950s San Francisco. These were a "group of writers interested in changing consciousness and defying conventional writing." [poets.org]. These influences then emerge again in the third act, immersed in the illegal Hip Hop culture, which sprung from the Ghettos of the Bronx in the 1970s. Which is "the constantly evolving spirit and consciousness of urban youth that keeps recreating itself in a never-ending cycle. [globalawarenessthroughiphopculture]

The ethos is for physical performance, live music and live literature performances to express the archetypal, collective, consciousness experience that regenerates and recurs from divergent cultures and upcoming generations of the creative world.

Be sure to come back for rolling updates on forthcoming work.

Please get in touch if you would like any more detailed information:
www.facebook.com/libertyrockspr


Further Info:
Bassline Circus:

http://www.basslinecircus.org/

Zone of the Free Blog (Spiral Tribe / Bassline Circus etc):
http://zoneofthefree.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/BASSLINE%20CIRUS

Fusion Festival:

http://www.fusion-festival.de/en/
www.kulturkosmos.de/en

“A Brief Guide to Romanticism”:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5670

"Archetypes in Literature":

http://www.chattcougar.com/ahamlett/Archetypes%20in%20Literature.pdf

"A Brief Guide to the Beat Poets":

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5646#sthash.wY40IAV6.dpuf

Bohemian era:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bohemian

"What is Hip Hop Culture":

http://globalawarenessthroughhiphopculture.com/Defining_Hip_Hop_Culture.html

The Invisible Circus - Under the Dark Moon

Creative Common 31st October 2014


Under the Dark Moon is culminating performance of the Bristol Circus Festival, which was curated by the Invisible Circus themselves and has seen a collection of International circus, promenade performance, side show entertainment and live music, presented at the Creative Common over the last seven weeks.

The show presented some breath-taking performances, particularly the Chinese pole routine. This involves walking up an enormous pole and periodically falling off, without smashing onto the floor, all with grace, poise and deep in character. Wow! The slack line performance was clearly an accomplishment and the only disappointment I could note, is that he didn't seem receive as much applause as his female counterparts. Perhaps because we were so ensconced in his portrayal of being lonely and misunderstood, that there was not as obvious a climax moment, to trigger an aural response. Which raises some interesting thoughts, but let me just say his core muscles must be intense.

The show was charming, strange and haunting in gratifying proportions. The big top had been transformed into a veiled white paradise, the colour theming worked beautifully as did the costume and styling. 

Under the Dark Moon was polished and really gave the full package to sell out audiences, over five consecutive nights. All inspired by the aesthetic of 1930s German expressionism.

The narrative followed that of a fairy tale genre, adorned with a little spooky madness and asylum patient-esqe costumes and props to give just enough edge, whilst maintaining a fragile beauty. The plot is an expression of the performers' battle between their 'super-human' representation of themselves, versus the emotional person with human flaws. Which is an interesting subject matter, coming up in conversations with other circus professionals more and more.

A live musical score from The Carny Villains really set off the show, with some fascinating hand-crafted sound effects, which I shan't give away! The interaction between the musicians and with the physical performances was a nice touch. 

I was also really taken with the way that the crew performing the counter balance for the artists on stage, were just about visible. This which I think gives the performance a sort of grass roots authenticity, without over-playing it.

I really enjoyed the show, the production was excellent. A closing speech revealed that the festival had been quite a hefty challenge and that it is unknown at this stage what the future will hold for the pop-up venue at the Creative Common. It has been a delightful place to visit, near to Temple Meads and felt nothing like the car park it sits upon. With a cafe, a bar, pop-up table tennis, plants, ever increasing installation art and kids' activities at the weekends. It would be a pleasure to see it grow and evolve. It would be great to see increased interaction with the wider community.  It's a perfect location to support performance based tourism in Bristol, as well as a leap pad for exporting more physical arts out of the city, one of the most prolific in Europe in terms of producing circus. Well done so far to the team.

Watch this space for developments and opportunities. I will follow the few stages of progress for the Invisible Circus with interest. As well of course, as the pulse of all Bristol's circus and live events.

For bookings and further info visit: 

invisiblecircus.co.uk

creativecommon.co.uk

The English Disco Lovers - Interstella Ball

Empire Theatre 12 October 2013


The mission of the English Disco Lovers is to protest the far right political views of the English Defence League, in a fun and jokey way.

The Bristol Division's event was not free of hitches due to attention from the real EDL. Fortunately the event went ahead mostly as planned, minus the plush comforts and circus of the Glam Space Disco Ball Room, and under police surveillance.

Lucky for us the revellers, seemingly crash-landed at the disco at the end of the universe after a long stretch of stasis in deep space, were none so much perturbed. Ready to shake their spandex come what may!

A bizarre collection of outfits at varying levels of effort, served to bolster such sci-fi expectations of what may well happen to an unlikely gaggle of survivors of humanity, haphazardly ejected  from Earth. Think the Cat, accidental hybrid from Red Dwarf, only with plastic water cups, colander hats and a lot of nylon afros!

I kept imagining myself at the party floating in space in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, but also populated with the crew of Nostromo from Alien and some questionable Dr Who type humanoid cross breeds. 

The vibe was tongue-in-cheek, or bitey cheek. But the cabaret performances served to inspire and titillate in good proportions. The dance troupe of 4 silvery girls were fabulous for their costumes and great comic attitude. It was particularly hilarious when two girls stormed the stage, unaware that it was a performance going on and then tried to it carry off by joining in. Oh the shame, but well done for your effort ladies! 

It was Mirabelle who really stole the show! The Human Mirrorball, with her electric violin she opened with Donna Summer's I Feel Love and mashed up some excellent wedding hits to karaoke backing tracks with perfect poise. Trust me she really was sensational!

The Village Disco did sterling work, dressed as Thunderbirds and we went on to receive some perfectly groove worthy Swing Hip Funk, or whatever it was... 

Well done The Empire Theatre too, newly opened pop-up arts venue in Old Market, Bristol.

"On a trip to The Empire you might find anything from sophisticated sit down cabaret shows, to large parties with music and circus performance, live gigs, gay events, cinema and more," Quote courtesy of Theatre Bristol.



Image: Mirabelle 
by Andrew Hurdle Photography

English Disco Lovers 

www.edl.me

Empire Theatre 

www.facebook.com/empire.bristol

Theatre Bristol Empire Theatre Interview 

http://theatrebristol.net/2013/8/29/empire-theatre-launches-on-old-market

English Disco Lovers Interview 

www.bristol247.com/2013/10/08/edl-vs-edl-how-bristols-english-disco-lovers-are-taking-on-racism-54022/

Circus Festival launch night at Creative Common, Bristol

Temple Quay 

(Behind Bristol Templemeads Railway Station)

Friday 13th 2013

Last night saw the launch of Creative Common's Circus Festival. Running every Friday for 7 weeks, Doc Francisco of the Invisible Circus presents a showcase of top quality circus cabaret, including special guests every week. 

The Big Top transforms the harbour side location into a cosy cabaret setting, easy to mill around, surrounded by those in their finery, or just jackets and jeans to stave of the autumn chill. There's plenty of room to sit or stand with a good view of the action. 

A nicely paced cabaret medley showcasing a satisfying mix of aerial, acrobalance, juggling and hoop artists. A couple of technical hitches were overcome with grace and professional smiles, which served to build the camaraderie with the audience, who responded with encouraging applause. In fact an obvious glitter cannon fail resulted in a rapturous moment, when sparkles finally showered the girl suspended high above, moments before her grand finale, saving the show in the nick of time with delighted laughter from the crowd.

The bar is well stocked with delicious local cider and ale and is easily accessible. A couple of sideshow acts add to the ambience. The show is finished off with a performance from a typical Bristol / circus type band, the Rubber Duck Orchestra, which is a good opportunity to see men wearing dresses having a knees up, while you decide which bar you might wander off to.

Well worth fiver for a Friday evening's entertainment, but dress warm.

7.30pm - 11.00pm every Friday until 1st November

Further info:

http://creativecommon.co.uk/event/bristol-circus-festival-launch-party-hosted-by-doc-francisco-with-the-rubber-duck-orchestra/

Image: Goldust

How to get Funding from Arts Council England

The Arts Council England has undergone a streamlining process, in order to cut costs. Since July 2013 the internal processes for decision-making have changed. Reports of exactly what these changes are remain vague.

This is my interpretation of the current climate for applying for ACE funding.

Twenty one per cent of staff has been cut to save administration costs. Remaining staff will be soaking up an extra share of existing work. Where possible, offices have been relocated to save rent.

‘Small grants’, which were previously limited to £10,000 or less, have been increased to a maximum of £15,000. Presumably to minimize the cost of administration. However this presents a timely advantage for recipients considering the rising costs of producing work.

The effect of extensive cuts to ACE funding has been pinching since early 2010 and changes to the geography of publicly funded art, are still taking shape.

The key aims of ACE remain the same. Stemming from the critical aim to Achieve Great Art for Everyone. On it’s own, this is a very broad statement. It does in fact a sum up a deep appreciation and will, to bring the best of profound, visionary and ground-breaking work into the public realm.

This demands a knowledge and understanding of the current, yet ever-changing, creative landscape. As well as the movements within art, which have led to this point. Just as a writer cannot remain current, without reading the work of others. Or that a journalist could not hope work in isolation. Art reports from a thinking mind. It stems from an idea. Ideas could not exist without inspiration and cannot grow without nourishment. Thus to succeed in convincing the decision makers at ACE, in the validity of your work, you must have more than just an important idea. You must also deeply understand and be able to express the context of your idea existing here and now. Plus it’s relationship to the wider world. Yet encapsulate that within application guidelines. All of which is pretty challenging!

The fact that the Arts Council remains the UK’s largest and most recognized funding body for artists, means that is also subject to submissions from a huge number of applicants, many of which may have only a limited relationship with the contemporary creative climate.

If there were more funds available, more work could be supported and this would undoubtedly be positive for practitioners, wider society and other artists. Unfortunately there will always be limitations. When these are so extensive and unavoidable, we must all work even harder to overcome them.

ACE acts as gatekeeper for much needed financial support for emerging art. It is a vital resource, which makes difficult decisions about public money. My biggest criticism would be the lack of transparent feedback in plain English.

Unfortunately direct feedback translates into the expense of paid staff hours and sadly a less than vital priority at this time.

It becomes necessary then for applicants to be fluent in Arts Council jargon and to understand the cultural territory that ACE inhabits, in order to successfully communicate your ideas in a way that will meet the requirements and is competitive against a nation of other applicants.

This of course represents a drain on the already limited working hours available to applicants.

It’s my aim that by working at a consultancy level, I can act as a useful and supportive resource and a portal to the right information to aid this process.

This is something I intend to do with Liberty Rocks:

•

To shine a light on the most interesting and influential contemporary arts events taking place.

•

Demystify the process of fundraising for the arts.

•

Mentor and support emerging artists with information, influential connections and critical evaluation.

•

To do this I provide management services for individual artists and I act as a mission control hub for collaborating artists.

•

I also report and feedback on my experience of the current creative climate, for others to receive and share.

So please, if you are interested in producing your own work or working with others, keep a close eye on the blog. Share and discuss your thoughts and certainly keep me informed of your own work and activities.