Co-presented with The Cultch
The Mirror
January 24-27, 2024 | 8pm
Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton Street)
North American Premiere
Running time: 75 minutes
Gravity and Other Myths (Australia)
January 24-27, 2024 | 8pm
The corporeal glory of bodies, full of sweat, heat and power, forms the meat of The Mirror, the newest work from Gravity and Other Myths. The Australian company more than lives up to its title, suspending the laws of physics in order to generate a new kind of dance, infused with elements of circus, cabaret, and a light spanking of kink.
Offering much more than a metaphorical peek behind the curtain, The Mirror strips bare the architecture of performance itself. From the grunts, shouts and onstage banter to the price paid for pushing the body to its absolute limit, this is heart-in-your-throat territory, leavened with a hefty dose of humour and some more outré elements from torch songs to sexy underpants. Scaling the heights of elegance before descending into near-Exorcist contortions, The Mirror loops in the audience for some gleeful conspiring, backstage access and a wee bit of interactivity.
The feats of strength and balance are staggering enough, but in amongst the fleshy tangles of arms and legs is something more than raw spectacle. A spiritual dimension is also present, created by sheer bodily effort, it is the stuff of awe that soars towards the sublime.
Gravity & Other Myths is supported as an organisation by Arts South Australia.
Commissioned by Chamäleon Theatre and The Sydney Opera House.
“Conceptual entertainment on a high artistic level. New, contemporary circus in its purest form. A great delight.” – Berliner Morgenpost
“Musically strong, fantastic acrobatics, a very artistic overall picture.” - Rbb inforadio
“Intimate and hilarious, this performance from contemporary circus company Gravity and Other Myths is one of a kind.” – ExBerliner
“The Mirror is risky, sexy, and cheeky in all the right ways” – Theatre Thoughts
About the Company
Gravity and Other Myths is a circus company with roots in Adelaide, Australia. They utilise an honest approach to performance to create work with a focus on human connection and acrobatic virtuosity. Through this, they hope to maintain an exceptional and diverse artistic program. After forming 2009 as a group of young Adelaide artists with a passion for circus and physical theatre, the company has spent the past 13 years growing steadily and creating six critically acclaimed main stage works.
Their work strives to nurture human connection while challenging the genre of circus through conceptual sophistication and acrobatic virtuosity. They employ an honest approach to performance, illuminating the complexities of humanity through genuinity, humour and physical prowess.
Gravity and Other Myths’ predominantly ensemble driven creative process encourages their artists to engage deeply with the work they are inhabiting and allows true investment in and commitment to the company’s core values.
As a leader of contemporary circus in Australia, they feel it is their responsibility to continue to challenge circus as an artform.
Darcy Grant
Artistic Director
Darcy is a classically trained acrobat, award-winning fine art photographer, physical theatre director and founding member of Circa, revered as one of the world’s most adventurous, genre-defying circuses. He has trained, taught and toured work on the cutting edge of New Circus to some of the world’s most prestigious venues. Where theatre, dance, circus and visual art meet is where Darcy likes to practice. His visual aesthetic is foundation and scaffold to his show making. In 2017 Darcy was commissioned by Adelaide International Arts Festival to direct Backbone by Gravity and Other Myths. The show premiered to 5-star reviews and standing ovations, also attracting three Helpmann Award nominations including Best Choreography and Best New Australian Work. Also a brilliant photographer, Darcy regularly shoots live performance for companies such as Opera Australia and The Farm. Darcy has had solo photographic exhibitions in Brisbane, Melbourne and Berlin.
Jascha Boyce
Director, Co-Founder, Producer, Acrobat
After dabbling with dance as a little girl, Jascha started recreational circus classes at Cirkidz Circus School in Adelaide when she was just four years old. This initial spark for the circus was fanned into a flame when she was offered a place in the Cirkidz Performance Troupe at age nine.
Over the next ten years, Jascha trained as a performer and creative with Cirkidz, eventually becoming a coach, teaching performers of all ages, and directing the junior performance troupe.
Jascha and her fellow Cirkidz colleagues founded GOM in 2009, and after a number of Adelaide Fringe performances they fell into full time touring, following a successful first season of A Simple Space at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013.
As one of GOM’s ensemble acrobats, Jascha usually takes on the role of flyer or a middle, on stage. Behind the curtain, Jascha is also a key member of the managerial and directorial team for GOM, responsible for guiding and implementing future endeavours. She recently took on the role of Associate Director in GOM’s, Out Of Chaos, and is co-directing a new piece, currently in development.
Her favourite moment onstage is always at the very end of each show, as the troupe wraps their arms around each other for their final bow.
Ekrem Eli Phoenix
Composer, Musician
The music of composer Ekrem Eli Phoenix has been described by the press as “risk-taking and other worldly”. Much of his work is concept-driven and explores voice, language, technology and ethnomusicology. Acclaimed for his innovative and experimental works, Ekrem is an award-winning composer for theatre, film and dance as well as the concert hall.
Prolific in Australian arts scene as a composer, performer and educator since 2005, Ekrem holds a PhD degree in composition from Sydney Conservatorium and his collaborations include projects with Gravity & Other Myths, Sydney Philharmonia, The Song Company, Force Majeure, Ensemble Offspring and Centre of Creative Research into Sound Arts Practice at University of the Arts, London.
His most recent work ‘Macro’ with Gravity & Other Myths was composed for the opening ceremonies of both Adelaide and Edinburgh International festivals. Performed at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh to an audience of 16,000, Macro proved to be culturally and historically significant for Australian arts.
Helpmann Award winner and twice a finalist at APRA Art Music Awards for ‘Work of The Year’, Ekrem’s recent works include ‘The Mirror’, ‘Out of Chaos’, ‘Playbook’ and ‘The Pulse’ – a major production of scale featuring an ensemble of 30 acrobats and a 30 voice all-female choir. Devised and developed during the global pandemic, headlining Adelaide Festival in 2021 for its world premier and the winner of Best Show, Best Design and Best Circography at International Circus Awards, The Pulse encapsulates a daring response to a most significant time in our history.
Alongside his musical pursuits, Ekrem has also taken active roles in accessible arts, assisted disadvantaged youth through creativity, and worked as a non-religious, faith- inclusive chaplain at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, supporting patients with cancer and heart ailments as well as in palliative care.
Mik LaVage
Sound Designer
Mik Lavage is a Gold Coast based Artist, Sound Designer, Musician and Composer who has been working with interactive and screen elements since the late 1990’s as a member of Company in Space.
As a young artist performing in polar worlds – a punk rocker playing the seedy venues of Sydney and simultaneously being choreographed by Graeme Murphy in the Australian Opera at 19 – Mik has worked continuously in the creative arts ever since.
Mik has collaborated with a broad range of artists and companies; from the ancient Greek leanings of IHOS opera to the acrobatic worlds of The Tom Tom Crew, Strange Fruit, and Strut n Fret – working on performances acorss the world, from Melbourne, Munich, Montreal, Detroit, Paris to Taipei to name a few.
Mik has also worked as Artistic Assistant for Peter Kennedy & Lyndal Jones creating works for many galleries – including the opening of the National Portrait Gallery and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. He has also been an artist in residence at Venues and Galleries around Australia including The Performance Space in Sydney, now known as Carraigeworks.
In recent years Mik has been working extensively with The Orkestra of the Underground, Company 2, Gravity & Other Myths, Casus, IHOS, Hermitude and Toni Childs, as Designer of Sound, Musical Performer, Designer of interactive Visual Elements and Production Manager.
In more recent times (pre-Covid19) Mik has been a part of and led creative teams for performances by Company 2 – “Le Coup” (River Festival Rockhampton, Valley Fiesta, Woodford Folk Festival, Chamaleon Theatre – Berlin), IHOS – “Backwards from Winter (Dark Mofo), Strut n Fret – “Life – The Show”, Casus – “We Live Here” (both Brisbane Festival) and currently with Gravity & Other Myths – “Out of Chaos” (Adelaide Festival, Ten Days on the Island, Chamaleon Theatre – Berlin).
Being a graduate of AFTRS (Australian Film, Television & Radio School) in music composition for film, he has produced numerous albums as a solo artist and his music has been featured in many dance, theatre and film productions that range from political documentary to feature film.
Emily Gare
Acrobat
A well versed acrobat Emily has been doing circus for over ten years. Originally from New Zealand she has been adopted as an Australian acrobat since moving to Melbourne in 2015. Since starting her career she has performed with a variety of companies around the world including Circus Smirkus, Circus Oz and Gravity & Other Myths. Outside of being an acrobat Emily can be found exploring and enjoying a good coffee.
Hamish McCourty
Acrobat
Hailing from Adelaide SA, Hamish is an acrobat and music producer. He began his acrobatic journey at eight with Cirkidz, after seeing a show by their performance troupe he knew the stage needed him. After graduating from the Cirkidz Performance Troupe, Hamish began his own company: Time in Space Circus. While with Time in Space Circus, Hamish discovered his love of music production while composing the score for their show “The Displaced”. Following the success of “The Displaced”, he was picked up by the Brisbane based circus company Circa, touring internationally with them for several years. Hamish’s specialities are Pair and Group acrobatics, Tumbling, Trampoline and playing piano with someone on his head. Outside of circus, Hamish enjoys producing, bouldering, dancing and laying in the sun.
Isabel Estrella
Acrobat
Isabel is a contemporary dance artist based across Naarm (Melbourne) and Eora (Sydney), with a practice focused on investigated physicality and highly considered movement vocabularies. Since graduating from full-time training at the New Zealand School of Dance in 2016, she has worked on various dance and physical theatre projects throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Before making the leap from dance to circus in 2023 (pun intended) she performed in works with companies such as Legs on the Wall, Movement of the Human, Dancemakers Collective and Okareka Dance Company. She has also worked with independent choreographers such as Sara Black, Hamish McIntosh and Holly Newsome.
Jack Manson
Acrobat
Jackson started circus at Flying Fruit Fly Circus (FFFC) in Albury-Wodonga when he was 12 years old. After graduating in 2015, he worked with fellow FFFC graduates to create a new show called Stunt Lounge. In January 2017 he joined Gravity & Other Myths to work on the creation of Backbone, and has continued to work with the company, touring with both A Simple Space and Backbone.
Jordan Hart
Acrobat
Jordan discovered circus at age 21 after seeing “A Simple Space” at the 2014 Adelaide Fringe Festival. Coming from a sporty upbringing, the show left him feeling inspired and motivated to push himself and learn something new which led him the South Australian Circus Centre. He immersed himself in the world of acrobatics training with independent artists and members of the local performance troupe before leaving Adelaide to meet and train with other artists, both Australian and international. With a strong desire to play and explore, things eventually got out of control and he decided he wanted to make a career of it. Jordan has worked with Wildhouse Circus, Outside The Lines Circus, Casus and fellow Adelaide based company Time In Space Circus. His passions lie in getting jumped on and being slapped in the face.
Josh Strachan
Acrobat
Joshua has always been physical ever since a child, enjoying gymnastics and then youth circus all through his teenage years. Eventually he found himself doing a bachelor of circus at the National Institute of Circus Arts during which he was offered a contract with GOM. He joined the company in early 2018 and since then has had the opportunity to perform in over 25 countries in GOM’s shows A Simple Space, Backbone, I Want To Touch You, Playbook, The Pulse and Macro. A small base, a dense flier and an all round middle.
Lewis Rankin
Acrobat
Lewis has been very active since a young age with his involvement in sports and a love for the outdoors. He found contemporary dance later in life which he trained at Adelaide Centre for the Arts. Since graduating he has performed with Shaun Parker & Company, Leigh Warren & Dancers, Sandpit and numerous other independent Companies. Circus and Acrobatics is a recent discovery and now he is passionate about combining and evolving these different art forms.
Maya Tregonning
Acrobat
Raised in Western Australia by a family of scientists Maya didn’t quite follow in her parent’s footsteps. Instead she studied at the National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne specialising in aerial ladder, group acrobatics and foot-juggling. Since graduating in 2017 Maya has been lucky enough to tour the world with 10 awesome circus companies including Circus Oz, Circa Contemporary Circus and her own co-founded company Four or More Circus. When she isn’t on tour Maya teaches social circus and community classes believing in the educational and inspirational power of circus. Maya thrives in a team environment and is therefore ecstatic to be joining the passionate, creative and generous team that is GOM.
Megan Giesbrecht
Acrobat
Megan found her passion young in life, starting Sports Acrobatics at the age of three. She competed for ten years on the national and international stage before retiring and pursuing her academic goals. However, not much could keep her from acrobatics and she found a new love for the sports through coaching children.
After completing her degree in Exercise Biology from UC Davis, Megan decided to leave academics and pursue her interests in teaching Sports Acro while enjoying the time with her new baby daughter. A few years later, it became clear that while she loved teaching, her own movement goals were not yet finished and she packed her bags, picked up her daughter, and started pursuing a new career in circus.
Megan worked as a freelance artist for the next four years as a hand to hand flyer before joining Gravity and Other Myths in 2020.
Megan Drury
Singer
Megan is an actor, dramaturg, and director, currently based between Australia and the UK. Her extensive theatre performance credits include roles in productions of Benefactors, The Gods The Gods The Gods, A Midnight Visit, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Ruben Guthrie, Swallow and many more. Meg has also worked as a Co-Director, Assistant Director, Creative Associate, and Dramaturg for various theatrical productions. Her screen performances include feature films, television series, and short films, earning her awards nominations and accolades. The Mirror is Meg’s first production with Gravity & Other Myths.
About the Co-presenter
Celebrating our 50th Anniversary this year, The Cultch is one of Vancouver’s most enduring and loved creative hubs. Thank you to our patrons, sponsors, and donors for all of their support!
Top image: Gravity and Other Myths, The Mirror © Andy Phillipson.
