Bird Watch

The first show we saw was Bird Watch by InesS Circus, which had beautiful costumes, and featured an array of different performers performing routines with aerial silks. Two bird watchers in fun vintage bathing suits are at the beach watching for birds. They find a goldfinch, a red cardinal, and a blue jay flying and doing tricks in the air, and the bird watchers dream of what it might be like to be able to fly for themselves. This concept worked beautifully for the show to showcase the skills and talents of all three of the performers playing the birds, and the performers playing the humans. The goldfinch wowed the audience with their ability to do the splits and spin very fast while hanging upside down, and their ability to use the silks to support themself in the air lying on their belly with their legs arched up over their head. The cardinal’s movements and music choice, with a Celtic pop vibe, were more vigorous and quicker paced, giving us a real ferocity in their flips, and after they spun around at the top of the apparatus they spun their way down nearly to the floor. The blue jay brought a real specificity of movement to their routine, and it was really neat to see how fast they were able to do their flips and the way that they could slide downward on the silks standing up vertically. The bird watchers were able to do even more daring tricks where they let themselves free fall at first, and then use the twisting of the silks around various parts of their bodies to catch themselves just in time. They also did a floor routine with bright wing-like fans, and spinning umbrellas. Read more at the link!

I'm so in awe of the strength and skills of the performers doing aerial silks! And my 2 year old loved the coloured birds and their "fluffy butts!" - a sweet narrative that was easy for littles to follow while all our minds were blown with the incredible feats!