Chasing Smoke

EVENT CANCELLED
Chasing Smoke will unfortunately not proceed due to changing circumstances resulting in the tour being terminated

We appreciate that a season cancellation is disappointing and apologise for any inconvenience. Our Box Office team will be in contact with ticket purchasers in due course to discuss processing of a full refund.

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
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+

*Please contact Box Office directly for group bookings of 8 or more, email boxoffice_riverside@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au or call 02 8839 3399.

**Please apply for the Education Ticket Subsidy via the Online School Subsidy booking link. Your subsidy request is dependent on your schools ICSEA score.

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
Dale Woodbridge Brown
Johnny Brown
Jilliy Riley

SUITABLE FOR YEARS 7 – 12
(Stages 4 – 6)

From the Program Coordinator
This show makes a beautiful 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. All the way from dreamtime stories to very modern day anecdotes, it’s a more holistic look at Aboriginal Australia than what we find in our history books.

According to the exemption under the public health order (COVID 19 Restrictions on Gathering and Movement) Order (No 7) 2020 (NSW) under the Public Health Act 2010 (NSW), issued on February 1 2021, organised groups who enter a premises as part of a school, child care, aged care or disability group are not required to provide the premises with contact details of every person in their group. This is subject to the following conditions:

• It is duty of the group organiser (teacher or carer) to keep an electronic record of the entire group and their contact details for 28 days after the event.
• The group organiser must provide the premises (Riverside Theatres) with at least two contacts to make available to NSW Health.

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 02 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 
Take a look at our Patron Safety Information and Download our Covid Safe Plan 

Accessibility
Download information about 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.

Photos