One Minute World Arts- Extraordinary Bodies – The Circus that Breaks the Limits 「非凡之身」:突破藩籬的馬戲表演

Extraordinary Bodies is a professional circus company from the UK that integrates a cast of disabled and non-disabled performers. What makes it so unique is that the company prioritizes the equality of access, race, and gender in its performances. The company’s latest production, Human, is based on the group members’ life stories, from first kisses to life traumas, in which a polyphony of experiences are brought forward to the audience through speech, song, and movement.

Extraordinary Bodies will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year. It was founded when the company’s two artistic directors, Billy Alwen and Claire Hodgson, met while creating a performance for the 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony. Together they have led the company to become the largest group of its kind. “Before Extraordinary Bodies, my experience of working with disabled people in theatre was that people would always think it was really risky,” Hodgson says. “But in circus, people are much better at assessing real risk and not imagined risk.”

來自英國的「非凡之身」(Extraordinary Bodies),是一個結合身障與非身障表演者的專業馬戲團。與其他馬戲團不同的是,該團透過演出,致力推動表演者在機會、種族和性別各方面的平等,而不以其身體是否有障礙做為主要考量。「非凡之身」的最新製作《人》(Human),乃是以團員們的生命故事為本,藉由口白、歌唱與肢體動作等表達方式,細數個人從甜蜜初吻到生活創傷的種種經歷,從而帶給觀眾多重感官的體驗。

「非凡之身」的營運即將邁入第10個年頭;自從兩位藝術總監比利.艾爾文(Billy Alwen)和克萊兒.霍奇森(Claire Hodgson)因創作2012年奧運開幕典禮表演節目而結識後,兩人就一起創建了這個團體,並且帶領它成為同質性團體裡規模最大的一個。霍奇森表示:「在成立非凡之身以前,每當我與身障人士一起在劇場裡創作時,人們總認為那是非常冒險的事。但如果是為了馬戲表演,大家就會變得更能聚焦在評估真正的風險之上,而不再著墨於那些想像出來的危險了。」

Source: https://npacntt.tw/n08FuUyv

Photo Sources/ Credit:Ali Wright