ContraProject
Circus Research, Production and Provocation
We are a queer, female led collaboration committed to making, touring & supporting the development of politically engaged, interdisciplinary, & boundary pushing work in Circus.
We are passionate about contributing to critical discourse around circus practice, making performance, and producing in the UK and mainland Europe. We produce public and industry presentations, speak about our research, and teach creative workshops. We are working to develop both organisational partnerships and new models for achieving positive social change through our work.
Current Work
We are very grateful for the support of Arts Council England, National Lottery and all those who buy lottery tickets. With this support we have been able to begin to put the gaping hole of uncertainty that is 2020 to good use.
Online Publication
We want to continue the exciting conversations that touring Contra has brought up for us with artists, venues and audiences this past year and amplify the exciting dialogue stirring in the UK circus scene around creative innovation, diversity, and socially and politically conscious practice. So we launched Circus is Not the Only Fruit
Production and Performance
We are building a hopeful tour for Contra for 2021. We have begun R&D for a new show, which we aim to continue work on next year with the co-production of Le Carré Magique, Lannion FR. Laura also recently received a home video commission from Cologne Circus-Dance Festival [online], to make Measuring Up ‘pandemic-lockdown response to Western Politics and vegetable growing’.
Training and Development
Cross artform collaboration is at the core of what we do. Currently we are working with Live Artist Louise Orwin and Emma Wellington of Somerset & Avon Rape & Sexual Abuse Support to facilitate online trainings for Circus and physical practitioners in Trauma and Autobiographical Content. Read more here.
July 2020 “…We started this project with the motivation to listen to artists talk about art. In the middle of a pandemic, understandably the dominant conversation becomes centered around survival and rescue plans. The fear of being left behind is very real, particularly in an industry that struggles so much with its identity. There is the urge to all jump into the same lifeboat if we can. Not so much in resistance to this desire, but rather in the hope that creative dialogue and difference will be an important part of any future resolution, we wanted to hold space for artistic practice amid the emergency.
“…the idea of virtuosity is always about showing things that I can do that you can’t…people love going to see people do crazy shit. The question is how long for.”
Ben duke, lost dog dance
The aim of Circus is Not the Only Fruit is to explore and celebrate the diversity of expressions circus emerges as in the UK. To be from circus, rather than explicitly about circus. To pull together different practices, experiences, journeys, influence and inspiration and to build an impression of the diverse lenses these makers hold to our industry and wider society. We acknowledge completely that this publication is not representative of the sector as a whole. Rather we sought out those who defy circus as it is currently thought of in some way, in order to imagine it otherwise.
We asked all of the artists and makers the same questions and among the myriad of topics that emerged, we heard thanks for the work and influence of fellow artists (Chloe Mantripp, Daisy Drury, Mish Weaver), resistance to genre and categorisation (Milton Lopes, Carolina Ortega) and challenges for our community (Vicki Amedume, Stav Meishar, Kate Kavanagh). We explored embodied research practices (Ziggy Slingsby, Maisy Taylor) and celebrated mess, catharsis, failure and process (Ben Duke, Symoné, Marisa Carnesky).
The publication has been a way for us to connect with our sector in a time of disconnection, to converse and collaborate with artists, producers and directors, many of whom we had never met before…We hope that this work can be a reminder of some of the people who are out there fighting to continue and that their thoughts here contribute to the picture of circus as we imagine it in the future.
Explore Circus is Not the Only Fruit
News & Opportunities
9th November 2020
Training Call Out – Understanding Sexual violence for artists and arts organisations.
20th November 2020 10am-12.30pm and then 2.30pm to 5pm
ContraProject is offering 12 fully funded places on this one day course, delivered via Zoom, certificated by Somerset & Avon Rape and Sexual Abuse Support (Rape Crisis England & Wales).
This course will equip artists and arts providers with the knowledge and skills to better support survivors of sexual violence through their work. This training is for those who would like to:
- Develop as an ally to all the survivors in their lives
- Deliver outreach work with community groups as part of artistic projects
- Have an overview of the social and legal context of sexual violence in the UK
- Understand the experience and impact of sexual violence
- Identify the barriers to disclosure and seeking support
- Feel confident to respond to disclosure, including safeguarding
Delivered by Emma Wellington from SARSAS, part of Rape Crisis England. Emma has worked with SARSAS as a volunteer, project worker and trainer for 7 years and has a background in circus and physical theatre.
To secure a place please email contraproject.info@gmail.com with a bio & brief expression of interest. Places filled up fast on our last course, so please let us know by 16th November if you would like to attend.
We welcome all applications & to promote robust sexual violence understanding in our sector we particularly encourage arts organisation leaders and male leaders to apply.
This training is made possible by Arts Council England Emergency funds & national lottery players.
About SARSAS:
https://www.sarsas.org.uk/who-are-we/
Somerset and Avon Rape and Sexual Abuse Support (SARSAS) is a specialist support service for people who have experienced any form of sexual violence, at any point in their lives. Our services support people in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Bath & NES and Somerset. We support girls, boys, women, men, trans and non-binary.
We offer a confidential helpline, face to face support, an email support service, and counselling services in some of our areas. We listen and believe. We support survivors to explore their thoughts, feelings and options. We believe rape and sexual violence is never the fault of the victim-survivor.
Helplines: 0808 801 0456, 0808 801 0464
Our helplines are open:
Monday: 11am – 2pm
Tuesday: 6pm – 8pm
Wednesday: 6pm – 8pm
Thursday: 6pm – 8pm
Friday: 11am – 2pm
We also provide an email support service: support@sarsas.org.uk
If you want to support us through donations please go to: http://www.charitychoice.co.uk/bristolrapecrisis
6th July 2020
Workshop Call out #2! – Building a safe space around autobiographical content with Louise Orwin
We only had three free spaces on the incredible workshop Louise designed for ContraProject in June, but as we had so many people apply we are organising another one on 20th and 21st July, 10.30-1pm both days, again this will be via zoom.
This is a two-part workshop open to all artists, facilitators and workshop leaders. It will offer an insight into Louise’s methodologies for supporting and leading sessions centred around autobiographical writing, storytelling and devised performance. In particular, these sessions will focus on strategies for creating safe spaces, when dealing with potentially triggering or traumatic devised material, whilst still supporting participants to explore and share without censorship.
Louise Orwin is a performance maker who works across text, performance and video, and has a substantial body of work that has toured internationally to performance spaces, galleries and festivals. Her works to date have grappled with a range of themes exploring femininity and violence, and often have a participation and research focus. Her work is preoccupied with liveness, the fe/male gaze and queer and radical feminist theory. She is an experienced workshop leader and facilitator, and has previously run workshops that explore making work around real life stories/autobiography/trauma, fighting as a way of reclaiming physical and bodily agency, practices of care when making difficult work, the politics of desire, and how to begin as an artist.
There will be a fee for this workshop (to cover Louises time) which will be £25 for those who can afford it (eg. working, furloughed or funded artists) and £12 for anyone who needs it. There is no restriction on location/nationality for this session and the one fee covers both days.
Get in touch at contraproject.info@gmail.com to book a place.
4th June 2020
Small commissions for Circus writing and creative responses
With the support of ACE emergency fund, the team behind Laura Murphy’s Contra are starting an online publication project and are looking for submissions.
We want to continue the exciting conversations that touring Contra has brought up for us with artists, venues and audiences this past year, and try to make wider dialogue around creative innovation, diversity, and socially and politically conscious practices in circus more visible in the UK & ROI.
For the first issue, we want to hear the distinct creative voices of circus makers, directors, producers and programmers – talking about their perspective, artistic practice, influences and their experiences as and aspirations for audience members. We also want to hear from anyone wanting to share a response, review or reflection on a piece of circus performance.
Submissions can be written (between 500 – 800 words) or visual and will respond to any of the following briefs:
- Circus Writers: Taking an experience of a performance or event as a starting point, explore your hopes for your practice and the experience of your audience.
- Circus Lens: A deep dive into a cultural object: reflecting on an image, text, film, event or performance from your ‘circus’ perspective, however you may define that.
- From the audience: A response, reflection or review of a circus or highly physical performance. We encourage responses from those not working in circus.
All visual responses need to include image description and/or subtitling, we can assist with this if needed.
Send a short bio and a max 200 word proposal to contraproject.info@gmail.com. We can review proposals from now until the 19th June and the deadline for complete submissions will be 6th July. We will pay £50 per agreed submission, although furloughed workers may choose to contribute in kind. Applicants must be based in the UK or ROI.
Interviews will also be a big part of this issue, if you would like to talk to us or want to recommend someone please get in touch.
4th June 2020
Workshop Call out – Building a safe space around autobiographical content with Louise Orwin
June 25-26th 2020, 10.30-1pm both days
Contra Project is offering two fully funded places for a Devising & Facilitating workshop (via zoom) with artist Louise Orwin. This is a two-part workshop open to artists, facilitators and workshop leaders, who have a physical-movement practice that is integral to the work that they do.
It will offer an insight into Louise’s methodologies for supporting and leading sessions centred around autobiographical writing and devised performance. In particular, these sessions will focus on strategies for creating safe spaces, when dealing with potentially triggering or traumatic devised material, whilst still supporting participants to explore and share without censorship.
Louise Orwin is a performance maker who works across text, performance and video, and has a substantial body of work that has toured internationally to performance spaces, galleries and festivals. Her works to date have grappled with a range of themes exploring femininity and violence, and often have a participation and research focus. Her work is preoccupied with liveness, the fe/male gaze and queer and radical feminist theory. She is an experienced workshop leader and facilitator, and has previously run workshops that explore making work around real life stories/autobiography/trauma, fighting as a way of reclaiming physical and bodily agency, practices of care when making difficult work, the politics of desire, and how to begin as an artist.
If you would like to apply for one of these places please send us an email with a few lines about your work and how this would benefit you and the work that you do. Applicants must be based in the UK. Deadline June 15th.
Contra Project is..
Laura Murphy is a genre-defying performance maker from Bristol who makes text driven and dynamic physical work about things that she thinks need to be talked about. Her work is cross-disciplinary fusion of theatre, live art, aerial choreography, dance and verbal explosions, which integrates intimacy and spectacle. Laura’s debut solo Contra was one of the first UK projects to be supported by the European circus platform CircusNext (Jeunes Talent Cirque Europe). Over the past year, Contra has been presented 38 times in fourteen cities, over twelve countries, including two sell-out shows at Arnolfini Bristol and a run at the Edinburgh Fringe 2019, where it was shortlisted for a Total Theatre Award.
Laura is a CircusNext Laureate (2018-19) and previous Harry Ransom Centre Fellow (2017). She holds a PhD from the University of Sheffield – her doctoral research thesis Deconstructing the Spectacle: Aerial Work as Critical Practice can be found here.
Nicole A’Court-Stuart is a freelance producer and touring company manager based in Bristol, UK. Her background is in circus, visual art, activism and the sociology of theatre. She has a passion for cross art-form collaboration and her current work places an emphasis on contemporary performance at the intersection of circus, physical theatre and live art.
She produces Bristol’s biennial Circus City Festival and the internationally touring show Contra, a highly physical feminist solo by circusnext laureate Laura Murphy. With the support of Arts Council England, the pandemic has pushed her to embark on several exciting sector development projects including a remote showcasing R&D with Handstand Arts CIO and the creation of a new critical circus publication with the Contra Project.
Performance has restlessly proved its unrivaled capacity to generate new forms of relation, collaboration and community that negotiate and traverse once solid divisions.
Adrian Heathfield
Photo Ivan marenic: Contra performance @ Cirkorama, Belgrade. September 2019.
ContraProject 