Tumble duo help Rabble

As the young performers of Sandfly Circus made the final preparations for their new production, they were joined by some special guest directors.

Ken Fanning and Angelique Ross of Belfast’s Tumble Circus made the trip to the Kimberley to be the guest directors of Circus Rabble, the latest show from Theatre Kimberley’s Sandfly Circus.

The pair had been hard at work at rehearsals, teaching the performers some tricks to wow the crowd on September 13 and 14.

Ms Ross said she and Mr Fanning became involved with Sandfly Circus after she first came across the Kimberley troupe while on tour.

”A few years after that I kept seeing them at the WA Circus Festival while I was working with Lunar Circus in Margaret River,” she said.

”Eventually Ken and I met Meredith (Bell) at a cafe in Fremantle and she asked us to come direct a show and now here we are.”

Mr Fanning said rehearsals in the lead up to opening night had been “channelled chaos”.

“We’ve got a bunch of wild kids up here and I discovered this thing called ‘Broome time’ where everyone just kinds of ebbs and flows at rehearsals,” he said.

”We’ve been learning to adjust to the laidback vibe of the town but rehearsals have been going well as we nail more and more tricks.

“It’s been great fun working with the kids and getting the best out of them.”

The guest directors travelled out to Beagle Bay to work with kids at Sacred Heart School, and were impressed by the natural ability of the children.

”They just bounce off things and are just naturally acrobatic,” Ms Ross said.

”We saw them land perfect back-saults off monkey bars, we heard about them getting their hands on a mini trampoline and doing tricks into the water, they’re just so impressive.

“We have got 10 of those kids coming to Broome for the performance and we’ll be putting them into the production.”

Mr Fanning said it was great to see such a diverse group come together for the love of circus and performing.

“Circus doesn’t belong to a certain group of people and there’s no particular culture to it,” he said. “It is so diverse which is very inspiring for those out there looking for somewhere to belong and get involved.”