'Teetering on the cusp of adulthood', the Fruities' latest acrobatic show explores growing up in the country

Flying Fruit Fly Circus artistic director Anni Davey says there’s only one thing left for the production of their latest show Big Sky to be complete: an audience.

“Everybody is really firing and ready to go,” she said.

“We could keep rehearsing but at this stage the show is ready, except for the bit which is the inclusion of the audience because that’s the last ingredient and really important.

“Until we have that there’s a whole lot of things we don’t know yet.”

Big Sky is the Australian national youth circus’s next big event and will be performed at The Cube Wodonga on 29 – 31 August before going to the Sydney Opera House from 28 September to 5 October.

It will show off the fantastic skills and individuality of 13 acrobatic performers aged between 11 and 18.

Anni said it was an ideal opportunity to perform the show in front of a home crowd in Albury-Wodonga and be able to do some fine-tuning before taking it to Sydney for the world premiere.

“The show is looking really great; I’m really pleased with it; it’s doing everything I want.

“This will be the first time a lot of these kids have performed at this level.

“We have two in the cast that know what it’s all about. It’s good to have a couple of kids in each cast that have done it before, they are able to lead by example, but we try to mix and match.”

Big Sky will feature Alanna Cameron, Arabella Coghlan, Chot Walford, Chloe Pirie, Dakota Skrypczak, Elliot Mancer, Frankie Allison, Harry McEachern, Isabella Turner-Spessot, Joseph Keating, Lucie Mariethoz, Nicolaas Pope and Thomas Paydon.

“So, we have some brand-new ones, some fairly experienced ones and we’ve got some really highly experienced ones in this cast,” said Anni.

“I try to give all the kids in our main program that meaningful performance opportunity in front of an audience that is out of town and at a major venue,” she said.

The show explores the contradictions of modern youth – their assurance undermined by anxiety, the desire to fit in with the group and yet not sacrifice specialness.

“Kids in regional Australia grow up under a big sky, surrounded by space, allowed to run free. But for some kids, growing up in the country can be claustrophobic and limiting,” said Anni.

Big Sky unfolds over a single night from sunset to dawn and follows the characters as they look forward to their futures, show off, get spooked, prank each other and get up to mischief.

Anni admits it always feels to her as though a show is not truly finished until it’s been in front of an audience a couple of times.

“I can choreograph the hoop diving act to within an inch of its life but until the performers put it in front of an audience and they understand where they need to look at the audience, when to connect, to smile and let the audience help them through the biggest tricks, it’s intangible.

“It’s about performance, it’s about those kids understanding what is working, what they do that adds to it, the fine details and the character moments that the audience respond to.

“They need to be aware of how the onlookers are responding. Do they understand everything? Do they see everything? Are they looking at the bit that I want them to look at or are they looking at the person picking their nose underneath the tower?” she said, laughing.

Anni describes her artistic direction in Big Sky as “capturing feelings”.

“What I’m trying to capture with this show is the excitement of being on the cusp of adulthood, which is represented by the challenge of diving through a four stack of hoops.

“The danger and trepidation are characterised by standing on the edge of a teeterboard waiting for someone to jump on the other end and pitch you into the air.

“There’s the fun and silliness demonstrated by the magic act, and the scariness with the zombie dance and the frustration of being confined to just one rope, all of that.

“It’s like an accretion of meaning, like a sedimentary rock, there’s layer upon layer.”

The Flying Fruit Fly Circus was founded in 1979 and is Australia’s National Youth Circus. The company is known for its dedication to the art form, award-winning touring shows and groundbreaking collaborations.

This year is pivotal for the ‘Fruities’, with their largest funding increase in 45 years and a partnership with Cirque du Soleil for the NexGen talent development program, becoming one of only six international schools in the prestigious collaboration.

For more information, performance times and tickets visit The Flying Fruit Fly Circus website.