Nofitstate Circus-tabú-at the Edinburgh Fringe 2010

Well here we are.I've not been here long,but I've been lucky to have been introduced to a few of the performers.What a friendly troupe they are.
This is the nofitstate circus performing at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Nofit State Circus,was established in Cardiff in 1986,and is funded by the Arts Council of Wales.
Since I'm connected to a member of the cast,they'll let me take pictures.
(I wasn't allowed to use my flash,so the majority of pictures I took were just blurry unrecognisable images.Below are those that came out OK..ish)
They're ready in the shop,the popcorn's popping and the riggers are in position.This is known as a 'Promenade' show,which means the audience are mobile and can be moved.
What's a girl like you doing on a rig like this ?
There are no backroom boys or girls here.Everyone is an important and integral part of the show.
I've been looking on the net for reviews of the show,and there are quite a few,so I'll be quoting some from here on in.
We're crowded into the centre of the big top,where both sides are covered with sheets and the first things we see are silhouettes.

From The Telegraph by By Daisy Bowie-Sell.
When you first walk into the tent you feel slightly claustrophobic as two large squares of the stage are cornered off by hanging white sheets. It’s difficult to know quite where to stand or where to look and incomprehensible shouts are heard from each side of the tent as the performers goad each other on. Then suddenly the sheets fall and disappear to reveal an army of acrobats, hanging in mid-air.
After the initial flying and tumbling about of the whole troupe,the show settles down a little,although there's always something happening around the peripherals.

The music is phenomenal.It's so completely attuned to whats happening around,it's hard to believe the perfect timing isn't recorded music that's been rehearsed to over and over.
As well as aerial acts there's plenty happening at ground level.
Howie who features in the above collage is as large as life throughout the show.When I spoke to him I was convinced he was Italian or Spanish till he told me otherwise.It turns out he's a Yorkshireman who's various talents include forklift driving,hula hooping and making tea.His aim is to do all three simultaneously.

As I said earlier the majority of my pictures were too blurred to publish,so none of the real acrobatics came out.

This is Foucauld on the Chinese Pole.While the pole goes rapidly upwards he drops rapidly downwards.He's bound to hit the floor you're thinking,but somehow miraculously has a little bit of pole left to cling to.
Howie and Marcella.

Lyn Gardner of the Guardian.
A young woman appears to have a nervous breakdown on a trapeze, but eventually swings wildly through the air; a man falls down a rope to what appears to be certain death, but is actually sensuous abandon; a woman teeters across a tightrope in high heels, an act of absurd optimism in a cruel world.
A few times during the show the whole troupe seemed to be performing.Here the two female artistes involved the audience by pretending to fall towards them.
Lyn Gardner of the Guardian.
There are moments of exquisite pleasure. There's an erotic aerial act that is so tender and thrilling, it is like watching the physical manifestation of orgasm; a trampoline/trapeze piece that so incorporates failure it becomes a metaphor for life itself; a woman cocooned in a shower as the rain comes down. There are moments as thrilling as anything by Argentine circus pioneers De la Guarda, and watching this show makes you tingle with a sense of being alive. If I were 20 years younger, I would sign up for trapeze lessons immediately.
This was a musical journey.
Another spectacle involving the whole troupe.You could swear there'd be a collision,but with split second immaculate timing they pull it off with ease.
Specialist Hula Hooping.
This part is like a painting coming to life as the characters on the canvas move around.
Marcella is Italian and an acclaimed clown.
Here on the trapeze she proves she's also an accomplished acrobat.

Lyn Gardner of the Guardian.
With Tabu, UK circus grows up. It's the follow-up show from the Wales-based NoFit State Circus, whose Immortal, from 2004, was a real breakthrough. Inspired by Gabriel García Márquez's novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, Tabu takes the theme of fear and anxiety and turns it into an achingly beautiful two hours of circus performance, in which idea and form seem perfectly matched.
Coming towards the end of the show we're treated to some fireworks.
All the members of the cast take a bow in turn as the spotlight falls on them.
It's been a brilliant night.

I get to socialise with the cast after the show.
Me and Chris are pictured with Tania above left and right with my bonnie lassie.

I can't remember everyone I met,so I've copied the names of all the company from their own website.
Thank you nofitstate,it was a pleasure.


NoFit State Circus is an ensemble based Circus with a cast of home grown and international peformers. This year many of the NoFit State family are on tour again, but as always we have a few new faces who bring with them new skills and surprises. This year we have performers and crew from Wales, Italy, Argentina, Australlia, Mexico, France, Finland, Scotland, England and Ireland.

Company 2010
Artistic Director tabú project - Firenza Guidi
Producer and Tour Manager- Tom Rack
Co Producer- Ali Williams
Operations Manager - Tim Adam
Assistant Producer - Zoe Munn
Executive Director – Alison Woods
Administrator - Leath Bradley

Creative Team -
Firenza Guidi, Ali Williams, Tom Rack
Director & Writer - Firenza Guidi
Composer & Musical Director - Peter Reynolds
Design team - Tom Rack, Firenza Guidi, Barnz, Rhiannon Matthews
Costume Design - The Ugly Sister
Original Lighting Design concept - Aðalsteinn Stefánsson
Video makers - Chris Nurse, Lissy Moore
Set Construction - Tarn Aitken, Tanc, Iolo lavender, Spike

Cast
Foucauld Falguerolles
Tania Cervantes Chamorro
Adie Delaney
Petri Ekqvist
Vanina Fandino
Natalia Fandino
Marco Fiera
Kadja Karjalainen
Marcella Manzilli
Tanwen Watson
Howard Morley
Simone Riccio
Gareth Jones ( Musician)
Dylan Leonard ( Musician)
Chris Cundy ( Musician)
Andy Moore ( Musician)

Crew
Stage Manager - Helen Fagelman
Technical Director - Chris Hills
Tent Master - Howard Morley
Lighting Technician – Leif Le Page
AV Design/Technician – Lissy Moore
Sound Engineer - Pete Storer
Wardrobe – Frances Aitken
Head Rigger – Tarn Aitken
Second Rigger – Sandro Spanu
Bar Manager/Crew – Dave Rook
Catering - Alastair Miller
Physiotherapist - Joni Anderson
Crew - Rozie Boulter
Crew - Will Flay
Crew - Esther Baum

To Fife again

Monday 9th August 2010.
Heading over to Glenrothes I've decided to take a break at the Loch Leven nature reserve at Kinross.
It's a showery day,but there's lots of tourists around here.There's a memorial in the cemetery by Kinross House to one Robert Burns Begg,grandson of the bard.

Over on the island is where the fair Mary was imprisoned.
Here's a link to marie-stuart for the story.

Tuesday 10th August
Three of us are taking a wee walk up West Lomond today.The forecast is for the showers to pass over....
....not before we get a good soaking though.
It does clear up when we reach the top though.Great views all round.
Back to East Lomond (Falkland Hill) under wispy cloud and Ballo,Harperleas and Holl reservoirs.

Heading to Edinburgh for the day tomorrow.

Wigtownshire Ramblers Stroan Bridge Circular August 2010

Saturday the 7th of August 2010.
Todays walk will be a circular taking in riverside and forest.
Gathering at the Glentrool Visitors Centre at Stroan Bridge car park we're a group of twelve today.Our guest quadruped is the lovely Bella,
We begin by heading south alongside the tumbling Water of Minnoch.
There's some dampness in the air,but the forecast is good.It must have rained through the night,there's a good flow on the river.
Reaching the Water of Trool we head along to a section called the Black Loup.Here we cross the Trool via a fairly new footbridge.Now we rejoin the path along the Minnoch.

The grass is quite wet underfoot,but not too long to give us any problems.Across the river is an area called 'Auld Wife's Stank'...interesting !

Opposite High Minniwick now we see the ruins of Dalane Cottage.I wonder when it was last occupied ?

Sections of the river are really picturesque.

Continuing on we reach the bridge at Holm where we encounter a pair of birdwatchers.It seems our walk leader Shorty knows them.

A dodgy footbridge is traversed....

....and we reach this scenic waterfall.

Thanks for these pictures Scoop.
The 'Old bridge of Minnoch' commonly and locally called the Roman Bridge.(Possibly from Romany),is thought to be 17th or 18th century.
We have a short break here before a precarious stony scramble takes us onto forest road.

Now we're heading east and north for a long section of forest road.
Bella's in her element now....


....but she finds a stick that's too big to pick up.Look at that tail go !

Here's another excellent outlook from my fellow snapper Scoop.

Now we reach Holm Ferrach.I've blogged this before,but information is sketchy.
Here's what Scotlands Places has to say.
What may be a township, comprising six unroofed buildings, three enclosures and a field-system annotated 'Old Fence' is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Kirkcudbrightshire 1852, sheet 21). One unroofed building and two enclosures are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1978).
Information from RCAHMS (AKK) 21 December 1999

A clearing with views back over the Water of Minnoch makes an ideal spot for lunch.

Back on the move we round Jenny's Hill to arrive at Caldons.Now we'll follow the Water of Trool westwards along a section of the Southern Upland Way.
While we await tail enders to catch up I spot this picture.
On the left we have Scoop and the Stationmaster.In the middle are Billy the Kid and Bella,and to the right stand the Farmer and Bella's Master.Pure symmetry !

No matter the season,the Water of Trool is always worthy of pictures.Readers of this blog living close by (you know who you are) are so lucky to have this on their doorstep.Keep sending your lovely pictures to the local rag.

Throw me a stick ! Throw me a stick ! Bella was reluctant to get wet.She needed an excuse to get in.Once in though she was as reluctant to come out.

There's lots of colourful foliage along here.

Now we're almost back at the footbridge at Black Loup....

...I stay back to get a group picture.
Now,a short walk gets us back to a busy visitors centre....

....where some of us enjoy tea, coffee,scones,cakes and other such goodies.

A very enjoyable walk today.

Wigtown Show 2010 Video Clips

Various clips from the 2010 Wigtown Agricultural Show in South West Scotland.

Champion of Champions was the Clydsdale mare Hawkhill Katy from the stable of John Adamson of Stirling.

Runner up was Kaiser Chief the Limousin Cross Bullock owned by Alister and Elizabeth Vance of Bridgehouse Farm Nr Whithorn