PHOTO PROVIDED BY ALOFT
students that the types of students that would put us on the map as a school and change the industry in the future . It became more and more apparent that nine months just wasn ’ t sufficient to develop the artists that I wanted to see and to work with . I wanted to make shows with bold , firey artists who could take direction and say yes to ideas . I wanted artists who were vulnerable and tough and talented and who had experience right out of the gate . I didn ’ t artists to be learning to be professional while working on a show with me — no director wants to handhold an artist through their first gig . I wanted all of those scary experiences to be a part of the program so our students would graduate ready to go . So , I decided to expand the program to two years . We would take a small class of ten people who were already at a high technical level . We would only have auditions every two years so that our classes wouldn ’ t overlap and we could pour all of our energy and resources into those ten for the whole two years . It would be amazing .
The first year of Aloft ’ s program is focused entirely on research and skill acquisition . We look to bring in students who already have a strong technical mastery so we don ’ t have to spend too much time talking about alignment and efficiency ; we can get right down to the brass tacks of finding out what makes each artist unique . In this first year , we aren ' t thinking about putting an act together , which takes a lot of pressure off the students and encourages play and experimentation and and risktaking . It allows them to throw away ideas that aren ’ t resonating and keep looking for better answers . They also get heaps of instruction in areas that will be crucial to becoming a strong ensemble artist — dance , juggling , tumbling , acro , and physical theater . Year one ends in a scratch show , where they show off some of the ideas and concepts they have been working with — sort of a rough draft of what might become their act .
The second year , or the “ Lab Year ” as we call it , begins to hone in on act development , but what really sets it apart from other programs is our inclusion of “ lab coaches ”. We invite directors and coaches from around the world to take over one week or the program each month . They are given free reign to do whatever they want — they can teach a workshop they are famous for , they can workshop new material on the students , or whatever else they feel will be valuable . It ’ s meant to expose the students to different ways of working , different personalities and experiences . It ’ s essentially seven intense auditions , giving our students forty hours of face-time with people who are actually out in the industry creating and casting shows . Each student gets a private lesson with each lab coach to hear feedback on
their acts and to pick their brains with whatever questions they may have . There are so many paths to a circus career and bring exposed to people who have walked them all is really eye-opening for our students .
For the final show of the second year , we bring in a really renowned circus director to spend two months on an actual creation process that develops into a polished ensemble performance . This past year we had Emma Serjeant — one of the original members of Circa and one of the founders of Casus in Australia . She really made our second-years realize what it means to create a circus show … all of the work and excitement and disappointment and soreness and logistics and passion that go into it . The goal is to create a show that they group can take on with them after the program . They can perform it where ever they want . It ’ s like handing them a company upon graduation .
The resulting show , Flock , was beautiful and striking and thoughtful . The skill level was fantastic . Their professionalism was apparent in every step of the process-when someone needed help they didn ’ t even have to ask before someone else reached a hand out . The audience respond with overwhelming praise to the show . It was hard for me to step back and watch someone else do all the fun parts of my job — the “ art-making ” parts — but I knew it was best for the class to be exposed to someone else . Plus , if it all worked out according to my evil plan , I ’ d get my chance to create future work with them !
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