Tales From The Training Room Floor Ep #1: Washington Trapeze
I have collaborated with the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) to make a little series of short behind-the-scenes videos of what its like to learn & teach different circus disciplines called ‘Tales From The Training Room Floor’.
This is Episode #1 featuring Master Trainer Mr Guang Rong Lu OAM and NICA 2nd Year Student Adam Malone talking about Head (Washington) Trapeze.
Mr Lu
Mr Lu has been a huge influence on the Australian Circus scene after coming here with the Nanjing Acrobatic Troupe for both the “Nanjing I” and “Nanjing II” cultural exchange projects between Australia and Nanjing Province in China in the 1980s. The troupe did workshops with The Flying Fruit Fly Circus, Circus Oz (who he later did a stint as a performer with) and members of the broader community. He was then Head Trainer at the Flying Fruit Fly Circus until the late 90’s when he became one of the founders of NICA.
From 2000 – 2016 Mr Lu was Head of Circus Studies at NICA and has recently taken the role of Director of International Engagement there.
*NB In 1999 I was part of a pilot national training project ran by NICA in an un-renovated warehouse located in the Melbourne Docklands and Mr Lu was our master trainer (that project led to the establishment of NICA).
He has been such a major part of so many of our community’s training, so it was great that in 2015 he received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his services to the performing arts as a director, performer and aerial designer.
Cheers to you Boss!
Info on applying to study at NICA for 2018 – Here (Applications open now).
Hope you enjoyed the video, there is more to come.
Cheers
Hamish
*If you’ve enjoyed this post (and this magazine) and you believe its adding value to our awesome subculture and community please consider supporting it by becoming a Carnival Cinema Member for as little $1 each month.
