Lopez Center presents Seattle’s premiere contemporary circus company, Acrobatic Conundrum, and their latest full-length original show, Language of Chance. Easter Sunday, April 5 at 7 p.m. at Lopez Center. You can purchase tickets online at www.lopezcenter.org, Blossom Organic Grocery, Lopez Bookshop and the LCCA office.
There will be a question/answer session with troupe members from Acrobatic Conundrum, written through medium.com/@Sommer/a-conundrum-of-the-acrobatic-sort-888d1ef3bb2e.
Acrobatic Conundrum is a Contemporary Circus Arts Company dedicated to creating performance experiences that engage and amaze audiences. Conundrum shows feature moments of absurd and intimate humanity. The performers tell their stories as individuals as well as take physical risks live onstage. As a company, they are dedicated to a vision of human courage, connection, and collaboration.
What is a day in your life like when on tour?
Jacki Ward, the troupe’s accordion-playing, bounce-juggling contortionist answered, “Our days are pretty busy when we’re on tour — we travel, then load-in the theaters, get our rigging and tech stuff squared away and sneak in some rehearsals to adjust our show to the new space. We start warming up and prepping the space two to three hours before show time, so our days end up being very full. So far on tour, we’ve found time to go for hikes and paddle board, though, so we do have some free time.”
To keep the tour economical, the artists stay in home-stays rather than hotels and recruit local circus friends to help with publicity. They pile into two cars, navigating themselves and all their equipment and sets from city to city. A typical day starts around 8 a.m. with a hearty breakfast and ends around 7 p.m. on rehearsal days and 10 p.m. on show days. Still, they find time to see a few sites, catch up with friends, and celebrate joyful moments.
What is your favorite part about the show?
Company director and rope artist extraordinaire Terry Crane said, “I love having a team that I can delegate to and trust. Onstage and off. They are great performers and great communicators. I love doing a show that touches people in an emotional way and has intellectual content. And, I love watching our clown do his hula hoop number; he’s always switching it up and trying to surprise us, which makes me crack up on stage.”
Each and every member, answering this question, emphasized the closeness and communication of the group. There’s a sense of family, although no one is related.
Why do you do it?
Ty, the group’s multi-talented clown, said, “I don’t feel like I ever stopped growing I don’t really consider myself a ‘grown up’. Circus is one of many ways I get to play, have fun, and feel free.” Terry adds, “I think it’s important for people to gather together and all see the same story be told at the same time. We need the ritual of theater; it’s essential to form community and remind us of our own humanity.”
As each of the members continue to pipe in, the love of movement, story-telling, art, and striving is clear. Circus isn’t necessarily about “running away,” as the adage goes. More so, it’s a community seeking to share and inspire through movement and art. The performers find common ground with their audiences in expression through their uncommon skills.
Performers include: Carey Cramer, Terry Crane, Nicolo Kehrwald, Jacki Ward Kehrwald, Erica Rubinstein, and Ty Vennewitz.
The group of acrobats will surprise all stripes of audience, as they blur the lines between dance, theater, and circus to invent their own form of storytelling.
