Give me acrobatic virtuosity in a performance that explores the intersection of circus and orchestral music through playfulness with high elevated stakes, and I’m in like Flynn.
The show premiers LOUDER, a new ambitious production from renowned Australian circus company Gravity & Other Myths, in collaboration with the Brandenburger Symphoniker and the Metropolitan Orchestra on stage at Sydney’s beautiful Joan Sutherland Theatre. It certainly fields adventure in its scope and brilliant displays of physicality with 8 acrobats interpretating classical pieces, such as Bach’s Second Brandenburg Concerto and other original compositions, surrounded by the mighty sound of the 22 piece ensemble of the Metropolitan Orchestra.
This is gravity challenged and pushed to the boundaries of contemporary circus performance that focuses on human connection with acrobatic excellence. This is a fresh take on the concept of physical theatre fused with orchestral partnership, capturing captivatingly the unique fusion with a show that’s world-class, a conduit to acrobatic virtuosity that illuminates the complexities of humanity through ingenious humour and physical prowess.
Louder is a big, beautiful collision between GOM and the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra from Germany and Berlin, to the background compositions of Skip Shirley and Quincy Grant. Anytime the baton-wielding mistress of the Metropolitan Orchestra, Sarah-Grace Williams is on stage, sparks fly and magic percolates. Add to that the Sneaky Little Bendy skill from the Louder crew and the venue sizzles with jaw-dropping stunts, irreverent humour and acrobatics that are sexy and bold. This is an irresistible combination- fast-paced, laugh-out-loud spectacle packed with gravity defying acrobatics, physical comedy and lots of tongue-in-cheek humour.
This troupe from South Australia has impressed the world entering their acrobatic agility while collaborating with choirs and orchestra’s delivering electrifying performances. Eight incredibly fit and agile athletes in their gym wear, throw each other around the stage-literally with a performance that hold sthe audience’s breaths between gasps of ‘No Way’, loud laughter with huge roars of approval in support.
There are walking towers who bounce from ground to shoulder, sometimes upside-down, defying gravity, impossible to comprehend how this is achieved. G.O.M’s troupe make it effortless, so natural with impressive moves, brilliantly choreographed, with smooth, seamless routines without bumps or sudden moves. The performers glide through the air like liquid, infant proposing that, for them at least, gravity is a myth. I find it difficult to articulate just how impressive they look with their exceptional fluidity and expertise, moving in a manner that exceeds the possibilities of the human body. There is a comradery on display as these performers negotiate their difficult stunts. The visual manifestations of this throughout their performance is a treat. When the entire group is tumbling, throwing, shoving, jumping, spinning and flying- its a visual masterpiece of human kinetic in motion. They move around each other, under and over ,making the impossible look so smooth, yet their execution of the choreography is flawless.
Everyone not on stage were on their feet in fierce applause, loud and raucous. What a fabulous concept!
Its time to recognise the beauty of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.2 in F major, BWV 1047, a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig Magrave of Brandenburg- Schwedt in 1721.
Listen hard and you’ll recognise the theme music to the original Antiques Roadshow. The same movement appears on the soundtrack scores to Die Hard, Molly Flanders and in Ridley Scott’s Hannibal. Its used as a sonic cliche for anything old in daytime TV programs. Listen out for it in Slaughterhouse-Five, based on Kurt Vonnegut’s novel. The first movement of this concerto was the lead piece to be played on The Voyager Golden Record, a phonograph record containing a broad sample of Earth’s common sounds, languages and music sent into outer space with the two Voyager probes. This concerto is without a doubt some of the liveliest and most colourful orchestration, groundbreaking in its day, generating new sounds and possibilities that Bach’s contemporaries couldn’t ignore. In an era when concertos were supposed to have 3 movements: fast, slow, fast, it allowed, a different line-up of soloists a wide range of moods and structures. It certainly transcended concert models by Vivaldi and other Italians exploring innovative combinations of orchestral instruments.
I love the way TMO raised the roof with musicality, sensitivity and our hearts. Fantastic applause took a while to subside.
Photography by Daniel Boud
