Annabella Gamboni
Sisterhood: A Circus Celebration is a very fun, sweet 60 minutes that combines a what-will-happen-next circus flair with the best of disco girl power.
Presented by local troupe Tangata Circus Company, Sisterhood is a show I’d never really experienced before: circus on a small scale.
The three acrobats, clad in metallic lycra and legwarmers, come by our clown while he’s taking refuge from a storm in an abandoned house. They introduce themselves as the Sisterhood Divas of leadership, self-love, and bravery, respectively, before they all embark on a journey together of empowerment through dance, hula-hoops, terrifying handstands on poles, and more.
It’s super fun. The music is fantastic, and all the performers form an easy rapport with the audience – despite not ever speaking a line of dialogue.
One of my favourite things about the show was that the performers weren’t 100 percent polished; there were a few wobbles, a few dropped hula hoops. But because they were divas of self-love, it was okay. They’d wink and move onto the next thing – we’re all human here, right?
If I was really going to pick, I’d say the loose framing at the beginning of the show didn’t add much to Sisterhood’s themes of love and acceptance. I guess, rather like porn, circus needs some kind of flimsy narrative to get to the good stuff. However, it may also have been the theatre context; under a big top, I would have bought into the silliness of the frame a lot quicker.
Sisterhood was a great start to this year’s NZ Fringe. It was a neat package of fun stuff that made me want to go out dancing, with a side of sweet self-love.
The three acrobats, clad in metallic lycra and legwarmers, come by our clown while he’s taking refuge from a storm in an abandoned house. They introduce themselves as the Sisterhood Divas of leadership, self-love, and bravery, respectively, before they all embark on a journey together of empowerment through dance, hula-hoops, terrifying handstands on poles, and more.
It’s super fun. The music is fantastic, and all the performers form an easy rapport with the audience – despite not ever speaking a line of dialogue.
One of my favourite things about the show was that the performers weren’t 100 percent polished; there were a few wobbles, a few dropped hula hoops. But because they were divas of self-love, it was okay. They’d wink and move onto the next thing – we’re all human here, right?
If I was really going to pick, I’d say the loose framing at the beginning of the show didn’t add much to Sisterhood’s themes of love and acceptance. I guess, rather like porn, circus needs some kind of flimsy narrative to get to the good stuff. However, it may also have been the theatre context; under a big top, I would have bought into the silliness of the frame a lot quicker.
Sisterhood was a great start to this year’s NZ Fringe. It was a neat package of fun stuff that made me want to go out dancing, with a side of sweet self-love.