Barefoot Bravery, Bolton and the Bush by Georgia Deguara (Yuck Circus)

Broome is an isolated town, right up the top of Western Australia. A place known for cyclones, Crocodiles, deadly Jellyfish, and killer Circus.

Theatre Kimberley‘s Sandfly Circus is a hotspot for raising internationally touring artists; a big deal for a speck on our remote coast.

The reason? Circus Mumma Gwen Knox.

Huddled inside her loungeroom to escape the havoc of the outside dust storm, I slung a few questions at the legend who gifted me my career.

SO WHY CIRCUS?

‘I was a studying my Dip-Ed down South, and attended workshops with a company called CATS Unrubbish. Their deal was to collect stuff being thrown out and re-purpose it to artists, schools, and whoever wanted it. They also ran Circus Programs.

Joan Pope, the lady who ran the program, was amazing. She had a huge presence on the arts scene in the late 70’s- early 80’s; she was an Arts inspiration who influenced a lot of us for a whole pile of reasons.

Through her, I first came into contact with a unicycle- with no success whatsoever. Though I was low-skill I could clearly see the beneficial connections between kids learning and Circus. Combine that with my Dip-Ed and it started making a lot of sense.

When I graduated, I landed a really tricky job in Fitzroy, WA. One where I thought ‘what thef*ck am I doing here?’ I realised quickly that kids needed to be active and to use different ways of learning. Sitting in a chair was not the way. With the help of the Deputy Principle, I used Circus to change my direction of teaching, becoming the Performing Arts and Music Teacher and begun this transformation with a whole school show. With 300 kids. No worries.

During the creation of this project, a fella came into town to talk about Government Arts Funding. He was staying next door, so he popped his head over the fence for a chat. This bloke was Reg Bolton. We sat in a sandpile out the front and made juggling balls out of balloons- 100’s of them. He was very big on education-circus/circus-education. He spoke the same language that I spoke, that’s when it all began making sense to me.

It was my first time meeting him; within an hour or two he had sorted out the whole show, and the rest of my life.’

THE BEGINNING

‘My Circus skills have always been low, though I’ve got a strong belief in what Circus can do for the individual, and how it can create more meaning in life.

We started Sandfly Circus with trainers who had a limited skill but stacks of enthusiasm. We employed Gymnastics and Dance teachers- hybridising technique to create what we considered ‘Circus’. Couldn’t teach a skill? Break it down, and give it a go.

The biggest thing was developing a connection to the Circus Family. We would get amazing performers to come up and inject energy into the community, and we would bring our kids down South to the West Australian Circus Festival to strengthen that bond. (It’s a great opportunity, everyone should do it!)

With the Family, there is always a place to stay or a feed. It’s awesome. It’s all about connections. To start this idea you can’t do it without everyone else to help bring it together. It’s the village to raise a child concept- not just with the projects, but with the lives of struggling kids as well. Circus is this fantastic community connection that has helped the kids get through.’

GOOD FOR KIDS

Really, my thing with Circus was the educational purposes- I’ve seen so much good stuff come out of it. I was Directing a whole-school Circus where the Deputy Principle was worried that there was no script therefore, no evidence to show the performance’s success.

She came up to me one day saying ‘Gwen, you’ve got to come see this. Don’t interrupt the class- just observe this boy.’ This particular boy was a pain in the arse to everyone in the school- he couldn’t sit in a chair. I peeked into his class, there he was, sitting in a chair reading a book. That’s because he’d been juggling. Cross-patterning the left and right brain.

Unlocking the ability to read words across a page.

Society these days are so worried about children accidentally hurting themselves. Kids need to play naturally, with stuff. They need to be able to take calculated risks. The bad things happen when kids don’t learn this stuff. This is why Circus is the key- it makes sense, as an educator, and as a concerned community member. When kids come and do circus you just see the lights switch on.

I’VE GOTTA ASK: DID YOU EXPECT SOME OF US TO MAKE IT OUR CAREER?

Yes. Some a surprise. Some of you were those naughty kids, and I’m so ecstatic that you’ve used Circus to push through it.

Quite a few kids have gone around the world and done amazing things with Circus, a lot of our kids didn’t- they became teachers, and plumbers, and nurses and that’s fine too. Circus gives kids another dimension. It helps them take calculated risks, and get used to pushing their comfort zone to go beyond what we would normally call a limit.

The aim was not about making kids famous- I didn’t have the skills. It was more about making them good, functional citizens.

WHAT WAS THE HARDEST THING?

Problems with insurance. We stopped working as it was so expensive. It really changed things in WA for around 4-6 years; everything fell flat. No-one was prepared to pay $15,000 a year. For a sole trader, I was lucky to even earn that much. It didn’t kill the passion; basically insurance dropped and we could start it up again.

LASTLY, ANY CIRCUS ADVICE?

• You don’t have to have high skills, but they have to be good and done with confidence and flair.
• Reg always said to have a good entry and a good exit.
• My thing; Can you do it safely? You’ll have a short career otherwise.
• Use skills creatively- how can you put this into this show and make it work.
• Careful to not make circus competitive. Make your own target/goals. Make it about inspiration.
• It’s about doing the best that you can, with the skill that you’ve chosen. It’s also fine to switch that skill. Try everything and you’ll find it.

The thing with Circus- there is something everyone can do regardless of skill level. It’s a good way of getting kids into art, as it’s very inclusive.

Do it as good as you possibly can, and that’s usually good enough.’

Feature Pic: Broome kids at Cable Beach – Easa Min Swe, Georgia Deguara, Molly Bell, Elke Uhd, Crystal Stacey, Louis Biggs, Rowan Thomas, Kai and Taj Murphy, Reuben and Oliver Pedlar

Gx

Follow Georgia’s Photography on Instagram at @georgiad_media

About YUCK Circus

We’re a 7-strong crew of elite acrobatic gals, ready flip off double-standards and kick art in the face. We’re not lightly throwing around women’s issues – we’re literally throwing women.

YUCK is active in providing accessibility for the masses through dedicated artistic development and inclusive dialogues around gender and national identity. We address these topics with light and entertainment, creating a safe and engaging platform to have some uncomfortable but educated chats.
Us at YUCK come from regional, remote, and isolated towns from all corners of Australia and are passionate about sharing our work and strengthening communities. We want to meet locals, we want to affect towns, and we want to be your mates. Our careers have been founded in experiences like this, and it’s our company goal to keep that wheel turning.

Follow YUCK Circus on the socials:

Instagram – @yuck_circus

Facebook – @YUCKcircus

Check out their Website for more info.

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We acknowledge the people of the Bundjalung Nation, traditional custodians of the land on which this  Magazine originates and pay our respects to their elders past, present and future.
The way we do things around here is that regardless of Age, Gender, Sexuality, Ethnicity our philosophy and our logo stands for inclusion, safety, connection and family.