Circus Oz' new piazza

  

The site for Circus Oz’ new home in Collingwood is massive, with the heart of it being a three story building, that once used to be an old Tafe school. The plan according to Mike Finch, Circus Oz’ Artistic Director and co-CEO, when he met with ArtsHub to discuss the next stage of development, is to rebuild systematically. Regardless, looking at the current building plans that Finch clearly keeps close on his laptop, the company will still double the facilities they currently have in Port Melbourne.

“It will make a big difference to how we can operate” he says enthusiastically, “Compared to what we have in Port Melbourne, training work here will increase tenfold, as performers wont need to wait to train.”

It seems that the government has allocated the entire site to Circus Oz, but in reality some of the remaining buildings could be developed for other purposes which ideally would be connected to the creative arts. “Something that has a really good synergy with Circus Oz” advises Finch. But this is all still in discussion.

One of the major elements for Circus Oz however is what will become an open piazza on the site. According to Finch the piazza will be gated, but in that way gated parks in Paris are managed – where gates are left open and the community can come in and use the space.

“We will want to run circus festivals in it” says Finch “and provide it for community access – so if there was a community market it could be run there.”

And then there is of course the great connection with the Tote, their soon to be neighbour (which is now owned by the same crew who look after Yah Yah’s and Pony). Finch says both Circus Oz and the Tote are keen to make any and all architectural redevelopments sympathetic to each others. The Tote do have a plan, says Finch, to develop the band room and make it permanent and self sustaining.

How would that affect Circus Oz?

In a positive way says Finch. “Their beer garden would overlook our piazza, and access to both would be via a communal path. And even in the Tote’s band room, we would look at the idea of extending that room so as to be able to perform trapeze there”.

Circus in the Tote? How fantastic….

In general however the new address in Collingwood would not be Circus Oz’ major performance space, but more a rehearsal studio, although there will be occasional performances particularly once the Speigeltent is in place. One of the studio spaces can also hold an audience of 200. It would be the Speigeltent however that would draw the greatest crowds, particularly if as Finch explains, it is set permanently in place as a cabaret venue.

“Circus Oz could host it’s own Tiny Tops style festival” Finch smiles. Just like Adelaide Fringe’s Garden of Unearthly Delights, where a collection of tiny little venues would be situated across the piazza, and really short shows are interconnected to create a huge carnival atmosphere.

In terms of revenue however, it won’t be these shows on the piazza that will bring the money rolling in. As Finch goes on to explain Circus Oz’ day-to-day capital comes more directly from their classes programme, particularly their corporate circus classes, which is a hugely popular team building activity, and one they will look to grow further in the newly dedicated classes space on the new site.

In terms of also teaching classes to kids, there is the possibly problematic issue of encroaching on a market already well serviced by the much loved Westside Circus – located only five minutes away at the other end of Smith Street.

Mike Finch is steadfast that Circus Oz and Westside Circus are great buddies and collaborators, and that a happy resolution is on the cards for both companies (so watch this space).

Finch too says that even if everything goes according to plan, all these developments will take up to three years to complete, from the soil testing, to the building, to the launch.

The benefit in having this time he muses, is that it affords Circus Oz the possibility of getting to know and engage with the local community.

“When we had the recent Speigeltent launch, we opened up the fence between us and the Tote and had this combined event. We are essentially already in this live performance precinct. And moving to this side of town also makes a whole lot of sense culturally because this is where it all started for Circus Oz. We are trying to make a real home. The idea is for it to become a hub. Even these three –storey walls could become performable – like rock climbing walls. There are so many ideas and possibilities.”

With all the popularity and success that Circus Oz enjoys, and now with a fantastic new venue in the making, how easy would it be to follow the Cirque de Soleil road where globalisation seems to have changed their creative mould?

Finch agrees that the developments Cirque de Soleil have brought to the industry does change the manner in which circus arts can evolve, however he sees it as an unlikely path for Circus Oz.

“With our mob we don’t have to talk about values and mission and purpose because our guys get it and just believe it. They know and understand why they are doing it and why they joined in the first place. We do have a business plan, but we use plain language and are really evocative about what we would do.

“So a lot of the stuff that companies have to stick up as a slogan in their meeting rooms and in their mission statements, we literally never have to show that to our performers and staff because they all get it.

“If we were to go ‘ guys we need you to wear a coca cola t-shirt for this gig’ they wouldn’t do it. And if we cloned off a show so we were running two or three shows that were copies of each other or like Cirque de Soleil do when someone leaves the show – just find someone else to wear the same costume, same make up and just fill the spot – our guys wouldn’t do it.”

In the traditional circus world, the power has always been with the performer, and Circus Oz’ philosophy firmly follows this practise, and when the performers change the whole mood of a work changes, and new show evolves.

According to Mike Finch for 20-30 years now, circus has been identified as an art form that Australians love, and what Circus Oz is particularly interested in is developing the relationship between a performer and audience. Not just a passive audience he adds, but an empowered one who knows what they want and why, and for Circus Oz the move to Collingwood seems to be a symbolic return to these traditions of circus.