Cold Blood (Warm Heart)

Published Monday 26 June 2006 at 15:25 by Jeremy Brien

Circomedia has come a long way from its phoenix-like foundation ten years ago out of the ashes of the UK’s first ever circus school Fooltime.

It still occupies its original premises in a Victoria school on the outskirts of Bristol, but now has its main home in the magnificently restored St Paul’s Church in the heart of the city, complete with permanent flying trapeze rig.

Much of this is down to co-founder and physical theatre expert Bim Mason who directs this imaginative annual showcase of his students’ circus skills and commitment to creativity. Many of them come from across the world and this is reflected in the show’s loosely assembled theme, moving from the Arctic wastes to summer heatwaves.

There is an element of Private Eye’s Pseuds Corner about Mason’s programme notes on the ‘visual layering that enlarges the spatial dimensions in play’, but the show rises above such nonsense. Best of all, it is rich in humour as well as the full range of juggling, aerial and acrobatic acts, mime skills and even female clowns that make it difficult to believe the diploma course is only nine months long.

Some of the 22-strong cast will move on to further training, but among those appearing ready to step straight into circus or physical theatre work there were particularly impressive performances from Spanish trapeze specialist Azucena Fabbri and jugglers and mime artists Ture Holm and Sebastien Valade, from Northern Sweden and France respectively.