TILT23 Festival

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Mon 10 Jul 2023 - Sun 16 Jul 2023

It is one of the hottest days of the year and I am suspended upside down by two strips of silk. With the blood rushing to my head, this may sound like a James Bond movie as the Evil Genius gloats over my imminent demise – but I have to admit that it’s actually quite fun!

This is a short lesson in aerial circus skills and, despite being convinced I would be absolutely useless, I discover that, with help and direction, some of the amazing poses I’ve seen in shows can be achieved to some extent by totally uncoordinated beginners such as me.

Offering encouragement is Kim Wildborne, artistic director and CEO of Birmingham-based circus theatre company RoguePlay and producer of the TILT Aerial and Physical Theatre Festival which comes to Birmingham on July 10-16.



Now in its eighth year, TILT23 brings together local and international artists in performance and teaching, a film festival, family activities and a programme of in-person and online classes in skills including hoop, contortion, cyr wheel, hand balancing, silk and straps. While some classes require experience, others are open to beginners.

Kim first discovered a love and talent for circus skills as a student. “I did Theatre Studies at De Montfort University and it was there I realised there was more to the arts world than just Shakespeare and Greek theatre – which are totally cool but not for me,” Kim recalls. “The course really opened my eyes to physical theatre and then I discovered circus through my own training. I realised I loved it and so I spent quite a long time developing the skills and techniques. Then I got to a point where I felt like ‘OK how do we create an emotional narrative in the air as well as on the ground?’ Now we say that we create theatre in horizontal and vertical space.”

Kim formed RoguePlay with co-creative director Lorna Meehan nearly 15 years ago and they went on to establish the West Midlands Circus and Creation Centre in Digbeth, a base in which they could develop their shows and teach their skills to others. Today RoguePlay offers a wide range of classes and tours the globe with performances – as well as producing TILT each year. “TILT23 is seven days of world-class circus and physical theatre,” says Kim. “The first five days are all training so you can train from 9am till 9pm if you want to! We invite circus artists who are world renowned in their field to come and teach anything from silks to Chinese pole, contortion, hand balancing - all the kind of very physical circus skills.”

The festival also features a weekend of shows and activities beginning with Friday’s Pro Night which sees professional artists and teachers showcasing their talents.

Then Saturday’s The Time Is Now Family Day has a range of activities including upcycling workshops and the chance for people of all ages to give circus skills a go. “That day starts with Parent and Child Aerial and that’s for parents to have a physical activity they can do and their kids can really enjoy as well – so far our youngest has been three weeks old,” says Kim. “We try to be open and accessible to all so we have people of all ages taking part in the festival.”



Among this year’s shows is Forests which has been directed by Kim. “Our weather is in the midst of a climate emergency and so we thought about what we can do and say. Forests focuses on the displacement of indigenous peoples through the destruction of the rainforest. It involves a five-metre willow tree and there’s lots of different fiery acrobatics.”

The show has a special place in the heart of RoguePlay whose Nothing New strategy pledges them to sustainability both in performances and daily life. This commitment has seen the company switch to renewable energy, travel by public transport on land and sea wherever possible, run upcycling workshops, reduce waste and commit to not buying new products unless absolutely essential.

And Forests encourages audience members to join the debate and the action. “We’re trying to engage audiences pre and post-performance and get them to involve themselves in a social pledge. They'll be given little green ribbons which say ‘I care about this issue’ so when they wear the green ribbon it shows that they're supporters of climate environmental responsibility.”

Saturday also features a Champagne and strawberry reception with live music and Scratch That! – an opportunity for audiences to see performances by young and emerging artists. “There's a scratch and student showcase where some of our young ones perform and we've been working with our young people to develop their own pieces about the climate emergency,” Kim says. “We also have guest slots for emerging artists. It's really important to us to support grassroots work and for it to be showcased on the same platform as people who are coming from elsewhere. For us it's about developing and sustaining those artists.”

TILT23 concludes on Sunday with the TILTed Film Festival which showcases aerial dance films submitted by artists from across the globe and chosen by a judging panel.

Kim encourages everyone to come along to TILT23 and give it a go. “The festival has so many elements and various events are free,” she says. “One of the special things with our work, and specifically with TILT, is that audiences get to be very close to the performance. When there's an emotional narrative happening, seeing it in a much smaller scale venue than in some of the big circuses means you’re more involved in the action - which is a really great experience.”

TILT23 takes place between July 10-16, see here for information and for tickets – please note even free events need to be booked.

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#family
#circus
#classes

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