My week with an elephant in the room... day five

Friday marked the end of a fortnight of intense rehearsals for the cast, crew and director in this project and I found my body tired and aching in sympathy for these performer's bodies. Now brings a month off whilst the puppets are shipped across the oceans to Australia where they will reconvene in November. 

Today we ran through and refined our scene again after the changes implemented yesterday by the director of Circus 1903 and the producers. I also spent some time with the performers who are playing the handlers and the baby elephant, and we did some important research (essentially watching baby elephants trying to cuddle people on YouTube) and pulled together a bank of ideas and concepts they could try at a later date.  I think there's more room to play more with the baby elephant's trunk and I'm sure that can be explored in the next rehearsal sessions. 

Today, the elephant itself didn't feel larger, but the room and context of this show did. The choreographer brought in 23 students from a dance school to trial out the finale sequences which made the whole scene come to life and really put some perspective on the short and intricate scenes we have been working on. The whole thing is part of a much, much bigger picture part of a show that aims to rival arena shows like Cirque du Soleil and this last week I've had the pleasure to glimpse the project and help out in various roles. 

I'm certain the project is going to be excellent and am pleased to have had a little part in it.  A big thanks to Merv and the team for having me in to play all week. What a treat. 

For more info about Circus 1903 and its tour click here. ​