Riverside presents
Casus Circus
CHASING SMOKE
Tumbling through life while juggling an existence where Australia’s First Nations culture, tradition and lands are under threat. Chasing Smoke stomp, dance, flip and weave their message showcasing a people not defeated by adversity, but instead, celebrating survival, modern-day Aboriginality and pride. The world’s oldest living civilisation is the life force that empowers the stories within Chasing Smoke told through the lens of Australia’s only all First Nations circus ensemble.
65 000 years of old-time ways told through now-time circus.
Awards
2017
Green Room Awards
Winner: Best Contemporary Circus
We acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and all lands and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, who have guarded this land throughout time immemorable. We thank them for the opportunity to grow, create, share and play upon these ancient lands.
Please Note: This production contains smoke haze and is recommended for ages 12+
This production will be AUSLAN INTERPRETED on Saturday 17 July 2021 at 7:30pm
*Please contact Box Office directly for group bookings of 8 or more, email boxoffice_riverside@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au or call 8839 3399.
Riverside Theatres is registered with the NSW Government as a COVID Safe venue. Our COVID Safe plan was developed in line with federal and state government health guidelines, and following consultation with Live Performance Australia, other NSW venues, and various government bodies, on enhanced health, hygiene and safety measures. These measures include: reduced audience capacity; social distancing; mandatory masks; Service NSW QR code registration check in; extra cleaning; increased sanitisation of high-touch surfaces; the provision of hand sanitiser, anti-bacterial wipes and hand washing facilities throughout the venue; traffic management plans to alleviate congestion in public spaces; and dedicated COVID Safe Hygiene Marshals.
Please review our Patron Safety Information before you visit us at Riverside.
It is also important that if you are unwell you stay home, we have updated our ticket conditions and our Box Office team are available to talk through your exchange and refund options. You can contact the Box Office on 02 8839 3399 or email BoxOffice_Riverside@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au
Thank you for keeping our community safe.
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body. Chasing Smoke was made possible and created through the Circus Oz BLAKflip Program.
Producers
Cluster Arts
Director
Natano Fa’anana
Co Director
Jesse Scott
Artists
Lara Croydon
Ally Humphries
Harley Mann
Dylan Singh
Pearl Tia Thompson
SUITABLE FOR YEARS 7 – 12
(Stages 4 – 6)
From the Program Coordinator…
This show will make a beautiful NAIDOC Week excursion providing excellent insight into Aboriginal experiences in Australia. Through a style of circus that is mesmerising and artistic, Chasing Smoke represents Aboriginal culture and identity in all its diversity, giving us a more holistic look at Aboriginal Australia than we find in our history books.
Curriculum Links and Resources
Download the Curriculum Links here: Chasing Smoke Curriculum Links
Schools Bookings
1 teacher free for every 20 students booked.
Workshop & Performance bundle is $40.
The minimum number of students for the workshop is 10. If you have less than 10 students interested please register your interest with our Education Bookings Coordinator.
For further information and to book please contact our Education Booking Coordinator on 8839 3308 or email education_riverside@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au, or fill in our Schools Bookings Form here.
Riverside’s Risk Assessment & Covid Safe Plan
Download our Risk Assessment
Download our Covid Safe Plan
Accessibility
Download information about access at Riverside here: Access at Riverside
Casus Circus is recognised as a leader in contemporary circus on the international stage.
Casus Circus performances are rich in human connection, integrity, cultural diversity and precise, intelligent choreography. Acrobats fill the stage with momentum and stillness, with strength and fragility, and overwhelm audiences with breathless emotion that often leads to a silent theatre throughout the performance – followed by a standing ovation at the end.
Renowned for their aesthetic of delicately human circus, Casus Circus premier work Knee Deep is an international sensation. Performed in more than 24 countries, Knee Deep won numerous international accolades, including Best Circus & Physical Theatre 2016 Adelaide Fringe, and Best Circus & Physical Theatre Avignon 2015.
On the success of Knee Deep, Casus Circus have grown to an established touring company of 16 acrobats, making up three casts which tour internationally with the shows Knee Deep, Chasing Smoke, You & I, Driftwood and DNA.
Inclusion and diversity are at the forefront of all their work, giving light and energy to stories that are often absent from our stages, or heavily stereotyped. The company is one of the most diverse in Australia, with more than 70 per cent of the company non-Caucasian, and strong representation from the LGBTQI+ community. Casus also subverts gender normative stereotypes, with women demonstrating strength and basing complex balances, and men exploring delicate styles and moving with intimacy and finesse.
Originating in Brisbane, the three co-founders (Jesse Scott, Lachlan Macaulay, and Natano Fa’anana) remain company members and close friends. Their home-town values of humanity, friendship and connection flow throughout the company and their performances. It is this that forms the backbone of Casus Circus signature style.
Off stage, Casus Circus actively work to maintain their human connections through community engagement, education, and collaboration alongside their performance works.
★★★★★ Artshub Sally Peters – Oct 2018 – link
“Chasing Smoke… is a sparkling, dynamic, funny and insightful circus sensation.” “I not only liked this work, I loved it. So poignant for the now. Pure entertainment with depth.”
★★★★ ½ Weekend Notes Tema – Feb 2019 – link
“their showmanship is dazzling and their wicked smiles engage the crowd” “thought-provoking and gasp-worthy”
★★★★ Fest Mag George Sully – Feb 2019 – link
“Trailblazing company Casus Circus present a new show that is unflinching in its quest to reclaim … culture in its myriad forms” “deeply personal and fiercely uncompromising” “This prodigal quintet are so fired up by the stories they’re telling – equal parts fun and poignant – that the energy is infectious”
★★★★ Adelaide Advertiser Kate Uren – Feb 2019 2018
“It splices moments of pathos — relaying the performers’ personal reflections of what their Aboriginality means to them — with laugh-out-loud stabs at stereotypes and historic segregation in Australia.”
★★★★ In Daily Sarah Gates – Feb 182019- link
“Chasing Smoke tackles racism, cultural identity, loss of land and family trauma with evocative storytelling and acrobatics”
Nothing Ever Happens in Brisbane Adam Wood – 27 Oct 2018 – link
“The debut show of Australia first and only Indigenous contemporary circus ensemble is a powerful, fun, and incisive work that takes the audience on a no-holds-barred, deep-dive into the uncensored history of the Indigenous people in Australia and the history of all of us living in this land.” “It is one of the must-see Australian shows of the moment.”
Adelaide Review Ellen Morgan – Feb 2019 – link
“It’s hard to keep a dry eye in some moments – their performances not only impressive but also effortlessly powerful.”
Scenstr Jon Adams – Oct 29 2018 – link
“Chasing Smoke is deserving of all the attention it garners. The standing ovation and three curtain calls were testament to the power of the performers and the joy it brought and I would not be surprised if these six artists found themselves on the international circuit in the very near future.”
