Dracula
Josephine Glover – Cirque du Normandie
It is my goal working with Olga to create a unique and beautiful aerial ring act, incorporating my contortion skills to mimic the movements of a beautiful yet inhuman creature. I want the act to be dark and scary but also both beautiful and graceful. I want the act to reflect parts of myself, to be unique and truly my own but also something which is accessible for an audience to understand and enjoy.
The greatest challenge for myself has been to express different emotions through movement, something that is extremely important when trying to connect with an audience and also in terms of making an act flow and make sense.
Why did you decide to learn aerial?
After performing ground acts for two years, I decided it was time to move into the air.
Was learning aerial harder or easier than you thought?
Learning aerial was a lot harder than I had imagined. I know now there are so many different things to be aware of when working in the air, it changes your whole perspective and it is very difficult to gain body awareness especially whilst you are upside down.
Performing in the air requires a lot more strength and self awareness. There are so many more things to be aware of.
When you are working in the air it adds another dimension to the performance, you no longer have to only be aware of the space around and above you but also below.
What kind of artists / athletes would you recommend try aerial training?
I would recommend aerial training to anyone because I love it so much and I believe if you want it enough you will be able to achieve your goal. Aerial training requires a great deal of physical strength and also a good understanding of your own body, of course these things will be gained along the way but it would definitely give you a head start if you had already developed some of these attributes.