Wildhouse Circus - Givemas Day One

Every holiday season, KOS turns our focus to the small businesses, artists, organisations and charities making positive change across the globe. We celebrate these wonderful changemakers in our 12 Days Of Givemas, running from the 1st to the 12th of December.

On the first day of Givemas, KOS Co-Founder Natalie Williams chats with Felicia Lannan, Founder of Wildhouse Circus, about the connected community and personal strength she’s discovered through performing circus.

Thanks so much for chatting to us Felicia, we’re very interested in getting to know the ins and outs of Wildhouse Circus! Was circus performance something that you were always interested in, or did you make your start in other performing mediums?

I was definitely the little girl doing cartwheels in the schoolyard, but I started out with gymnastics when I was younger. My mother is a seamstress and a single mother, so when she was asked to design costumes for The Flying Fruit Fly Circus, I tagged along to the fittings.

I had a great time swinging around upside down on the trapezes and when the staff there spotted me, I was asked to audition. I joined The Fruities, went on to study at the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) and here I am!

Felicia Lannan, Founder of Wildhouse Circus

What first drew you to the artform and what keeps you excited about it now you’re older? 

Initially, transitioning out of gymnastics and the world of sports I was excited by the change from competition to performance. There’s a creativity involved that I don’t think I'd tapped into before finding circus. Similar to dance, the combination of physical skills and storytelling has always been appealing to me. 

The other captivating thing about circus is the diversity of it all. A juggler and an acrobat have completely different skill sets, body types, training regimes etc. and yet they are both welcomed and celebrated in the Circus Community. No matter how old I get, I will always have a place here.

We’ve loved reading about The BOSS SQUAD Project and the work you’re doing to empower and train young people through the means of contemporary circus performance. Have you always been passionate about training youth in this way?

No, I didn’t grow up thinking I’d ever make a program like The BOSS SQUAD Project, but I think it was almost inevitable now that I look back. 

The experiences I had as a teenager and a woman growing up in youth circus have shaped who I am today and the logical step is to take those experiences, and help to empower the next generation. 

BOSS SQUAD is a love letter to our teenage selves, and the challenges teenagers face today are not dissimilar to our own. Like many performing artists during tourless periods (or pandemics) I supplement my income with coaching. 

For the last three years I’ve been working with Lolly Jar Circus, an inclusive circus school, in Adelaide, with a high enrolment of autistic students. It’s been with this work that I grew to see how brilliant circus is as a teaching tool and how responsive students from all backgrounds are to it. 

Can you tell us about what sort of activities do The BOSS SQUAD Project participants get involved in through the program? 

The BOSS SQUAD Project consists of a series of workshops, designed to suit an intake of students who may have never done circus in their life or who are hoping to make a career of it. Our pilot Project saw us collaborating with Circobats Community Circus, another Adelaide based organisation. 

We offered their students workshops on Teeterboard and German Wheel, both circus apparatuses that are not usually offered at Circobats, as well as teaching the students how to make and decorate their own Hula Hoops. 

These physical workshops are paired with lessons on Contemporary Circus and Changemaking Women as well as open discussions about current events and their own experiences; with a focus on feminism, LGBT+ inclusion and other issues of equality. We created a real mentorship system between the members of BOSS SQUAD and the students of The Project, relationships that are still ongoing.

Photography by Frankie the Creative

In what ways do you believe circus offers unique opportunities for safe conversations around trust between partners, as well as touch, consent and body image? 

You learn very early on in circus training what your own limits are, physically and mentally, and the next thing you have to learn is how to enforce those limits. Every troupe must develop a level of trust with each other, whether you’re simply sharing the stage or doing a dangerous trick together, everyone needs to be on the same page. 

In particular, within group acrobatics, a trust must be earned between the base (the person on the bottom of the pyramid, or throwing the trick) and the flyer (the person on top or in the air). 

This is where touch and consent come into play as well. A base cannot touch, lift or throw a flyer without their consent and we’ve made use of this very physical and obvious example in our lessons which can then be applied to other situations outside of the training space. 

As I mentioned earlier, circus is such a broad art form, no two performers are exactly alike. There is no cookie cutter circus performer. The human body is phenomenal and people of all different sizes can find a strength, a skill, and a specialty within circus. It is particularly beautiful to see young female students feel proud of, instead of ashamed of, the size of their muscles because those are the muscles that help them do a backflip or lift another person in the air.

What have been the most inspiring takeaways you’ve seen through training these young students in circus skills? 

The feedback coming from the students and their families after The Project was truly heartwarming. One student said: “I think it was the most fun show I’ve ever performed and being a part of the Project made me so happy.” While parents said: “What an amazing experience this was for our family. It definitely exceeded expectations.” 

A notably special moment within the Project Performance was my speech. This act has evolved with every performing season of BOSS SQUAD and I’ve touched on difficult topics such as anxiety and imposter syndrome.

In The BOSS SQUAD Project performances I spoke about my fondness for the participants, their role in the future of circus, art and Australia, as well as how we as adults and audience members can better support them as time goes on. It is rumoured a few participants shed tears backstage as they huddled in the wings to listen.

Have you found that those first getting involved in circus have discovered a new found confidence of self expression through this art form? 

Absolutely! Circus is fun, it’s tricking you into exercising and it uses your brain to learn new skills and solve problems. My favourite thing to watch unfold is a student or audience member starting to believe in their own strength, to feel like a BOSS!

One of the most fascinating aspects of circus is how humans are able to use the strength/power of their bodies and others around them to create an immersive performance. What have been some of your favourite performances you’ve done with Wildhouse Circus? 

I have a stand out performance moment touring with Wildhouse. We were performing at the National Folk Festival in Canberra, the last leg of a summer touring our family friendly show. Our Trio Acrobatic act was programmed in the ‘Not For Kids, Kids Show’, a late night cabaret. 

Most of the acts were a little bit silly and/or a little rude but ours was straight from our show; three acrobats standing on top of each other. The festival staff had been working tirelessly to keep the noise-bleed out to the quiet Canberran suburbs to a minimum. 

All the musicians had their mics turned to low. But after our act the standing ovation was so loud, it smashed the sound limit through the roof! One of our acrobats had actually already left the stage and grabbed a wine before she realised they were STILL clapping for us. Truly a memory I will never forget.

What have you learnt about yourself in doing circus that has surprised you?

When I started circus training as a kid I didn’t expect to be running my own company, let alone enjoying the administration side of running a small business. I enjoy producing our works as well as performing in them. From meeting with the media, running the socials and even budgets, I’m a BOSS onstage and off.

What do you think are the misconceptions around circus, and what do you wish more people knew about it? 

There is a difference between Traditional Circus and Contemporary Circus. I grew up in a youth circus, but what this meant for me was attending a specialised school and doing circus as PE and after school activities. Traditional Circus involves travelling, putting up a Big Top, living in a caravan and maybe; training animals. These circuses still exist, and are well worth seeing when they roll into town. Some contemporary artists do tour with them as well but I have yet to have the pleasure. 

Wildhouse Circus and the shows we create are more likely to tour in the way you’d think a theatre show or musical does. We perform in theatres and festivals and often utilise theatre techniques alongside our skills for storytelling.

For those interested in dipping their toes into this world, what steps can people take to begin getting involved? 

There will be a circus school near you, or a juggling class, or an aerials workshop. Find your local clown or acrobat and just start! You would hula hoop when you were a kid, what made you stop?! The circus community is a welcoming and accepting place for anyone, young or old, to come dip a toe, have a fun hobby, a party trick to impress your mates or even make it a career!

WORDS: NATALIE WILLIAMS
PHOTOGRAPHY: WILDHOUSE CIRCUS & FRANKIE THE CREATIVE