Portugal Performances From the Past (As a Student)

"Coffee Beats" - My circus school graduation solo - 2022

During my years as a student at the "Instituto Nacional de Artes do Circo" in Portugal, I had many opportunities to hone my craft and to dabble with all sorts of different styles of performing. Performances included group shows with my class, duos, trios, a 15-minute solo show that I spent one year developing, a show at a bar where I stripped down to my underwear, street shows (as mentioned in the last blog), and multiple festivals. In this post, I'm going to share a rough overview of some of the performances and experiences. My years as a student and the performances that I took part in can be summed up with the same words that are also the title of a classic western from the states: "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly." Those words are pretty self-explanatory...

"Won't You Dance With Me"

To conclude our first year as circus students, we performed as a class in a festival called Vaudeville Rendezvous. This performance was monumental for me because, in the creation phase of this show, I learned that I had a deep, deep desire to rap on stage to lyrics that I had written. Luckily, the Italian director who was leading us was able to pull this seeded desire out of me and gave me complete artistic freedom to do so. I remember the moment when she gave me my mission commands. She said (I'm paraphrasing), "Corey, you will make an act. In this act, you will rap about all the different circus disciplines that are in this show. Plus, you will do handstands. Oh, and one more thing. I don't want you to touch the ground at all during your performance..." With my mission now bestowed upon me, I instantly went to writing the lyrics. Then, over the next few days, I had to choreograph a whole scene that involved my classmates carrying me around in different ways on stage. I felt completely in over my head and under-equipped to direct my own scene, let alone do all of the other things, but I suppose that is exactly what school is for. Trial by fire. I remember that during the rehearsal for this show (that we presented to the rest of our school), I forgot to turn on my microphone and nobody could understand even one word of my rap. It was top-notch embarrassing, but you can believe that I never made that mistake again (but I made plenty of others). This performance showed me how much I love to write and how much I love to combine rap and circus. I would continue to experiment with this as my schooling continued. In the end the lyrics that I wrote for this show were stuck in the heads of many of my classmates. For me, that qualified as a success. My handstands weren't impressive by any means, but you win some and you lose some - that's the way it goes.

"Won't You Dance With Me?"

Olá, tudo bem, como vai, oh my! (2)

Dance with us, give us your trust

Dancing from a distance, reminiscing about the times we are missing, the people we want to be kissing, people please listen

Nós queremos dançar com você (chorus and in unison with class)

Telling us to change, that's insane, we got balance like Jessica Lane, No we can't complain, playing is the game, gonna change your brain

Nós estamos aqui para vo-você (chorus and in unison with class)

Ropes and silks from the ceiling...and I don't know how I'm feeling

Trapeze, bruised knees, we got acrobatics like Bruce Lee

Nós estamos com saudade de você, let's celebrate (chorus and in unison with class)

Jugglers and contorsion, stay together-no divorcin'

Chinese pole, body, mind and soul, Uria can roll - hug him, catch him, never let him go

Cyr wheel spinning, welcome to the beginning

Growing with the boom, got a show and it's not on zoom.

Thanks for coming to Devasea, hope we amaze ya, take you to a different place yeah.

Até, até, até, até, a-té-já (chorus and in unison with class)

"Won't You Dance With Me?" - 2021

"No Elbows On The Table"

This next performance, "No Elbows On The Table," still holds a place in my heart. The logistics of it were insane. We made a 45-minute show in 4 days of rehearsals. The initial plan was to spend a month or so in creation and refinement, but for whatever reason, one month got bumped down to 4 days. The director of this show was a mad genius. To watch how he navigated the small time that we had, how he fit the puzzle pieces together one piece at a time, how he approached creation and the exercises that he skillfully guided us through—it all still sticks with me today. We presented our show at a festival called "Imaginarius Festival" in Santa Maria da Feira (Portugal) a total of 4 times. It was my first festival experience that still lingers with me. I had way too much fun and hardly slept for those few days. After each evening performance it only made sense to celebrate. I ended up getting hardcore sick after returning home...anyways. On one of the evenings, we had about 1,200 people. It was insane. Especially for a wee young aspiring student like myself. The thought of it still makes my heart jump and gives my skin goosebumps. I once again was able to experiment with rapping on stage and got another shot at refining whatever it was that I was in search of. Most of my raps (out of the 4 shows) were just okay. They didn't land how I envisioned. They were just...bleh, and my confidence was wavering. However, on the last evening, I had the whole crowd bumping their heads to the beat of my rap. 1,200 people vibing with me. I fucking had them. In that moment, I could have died happy. It was a dream come true. It might sound cocky to say that "I had them," but I'll also be the first to tell you when I do something that is complete shit. In fact, in the next performance that I'll talk about, it was indeed... complete shit. Out of all the performances I've ever done, this one still remains as one of my (if not the most) favorite of all time.

...Link to a small unoffical teaser I made of "No Elbows On the Table": https://youtu.be/3vNHzNujpeU?si=JqtRj-xAeu3S5UuQ

Imaginarius Festival 2022 - "No Elbows On The Table"

That one bar performance that I wish I could forget...

The first two shows that I mentioned above would be performances that fall into the "good" category. However, this next one falls into the "ugly." Or more accurately, an absolute monstrosity... It was a one-time gig that I was told about by a friend. A newly opened bar was having a "Circus Night." They asked if I could present a 3-5 minute handstand number. No problem. However, I was also told that this was the type of event where... how do I say... ummm... stripping and getting a bit wild was encouraged. So, not wanting to turn down a performance, and because I wanted to try to do something "sexy" (a character and persona that I had never tried) - I went all in. Long story short, in the middle of my handstand number, while standing on top of the bar that was filled with people, I took off my clothes and threw my pants onto some random guy. It was at this moment that I realized that the person who told me that this needed to be a sexy performance was clearly misinformed. This was not the time or the place to do what I was doing. Many people in the audience had a "What the fuck is going on?" face. Already too far in to stop the performance, I continued until the end. What did I learn from this shameful attempt at being sexy? Always know the context in which you are performing. It can completely change how your act is perceived by the public. After my act, I quickly got the fuck out of there and never heard from that bar again. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but you can always learn. To lose is to win and to win is to learn how to lose. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I deleted all evidence of this shameful embarrassing act and I have nothing besides these words to reminisce about it here with you...

"O Touro Vai Nu"

Out of all the performances I did as a student, this one, "O Toura Vai Nu" (Translation: the bull goes naked), was the most mind-bending and contemporary for me as a performer at that time. It was a beautiful and unique experience. We (some students at the school) teamed up with an organization made up of people with cognitive disabilities (autism, Down syndrome, schizophrenia, etc.) and created a show together. It was an extremely fulfilling experience, and I learned that contrary to what people might think, working with people who had mental disabilities (although they can be considered superpowers in the right setting) was actually, in some ways, easier than working with my other peers. These people had no ego that got in the way of creating and were fully committed to the task at hand. Of course, there were some adaptations that came with the work, but in general, it went more or less smoothly. The process of creation went slow, as was necessary, but in the end, we put on a show that was different than anything I've ever been a part of. Furthermore, during my solo in the show, I had my first ever "dance" piece that I shared on stage. My inputs from the director were to move as if I was a bull that was being born into the world. I tried my best. Again, if you aren't familiar with contemporary arts, that is exactly an example of one "task" that a performer might have. Others include: Move like you are water being boiled, imagine you are a speck of dust floating through the air looking for the love of your life, imagine you are a cactus who just wants to be a soft huggable flower. With these inputs, you then use your language (circus, dance, painting, whatever) to try and communicate these subjective undefinable feelings. Honestly, it's one big mind fuck and takes some time to understand and appreciate. And maybe, after finding out what there is to "understand" about it, you might just discover that you don't like it. Although I'm a professional in this world, I still am finding my way and relationship with "contemporary art." Last thing. For this performance I entered the stage running full speed and purposely smashed my head into a pole (again, I was a bull). Not the most intelligent choice for the longevity of my head, but for the piece we were creating, it made all the sense.

Link to my solo from "O Touro Vai Nu": https://youtu.be/jIjdsfGbRgc?si=hfLVpfE1j6yUC4yv

" O Touro Vai Nu" - 2022

"Coffee Beats"

Coffee Beats was my graduation solo from INAC that I spent one year working on and creating. It's a simple story about a narcoleptic coffee addict who uses rap and circus to communicate his absurd caffeine-fueled reality. In this act, I continued to play with combining circus and rap. I wrote two songs (or more accurately - two moments) for this show. One was a banger that made the veins pop out of my neck when I sang it (because I don't know how to properly use my voice). The second was a more mellow spoken word type of rap. Along with the rap and circus, I also wrote a monologue for one scene that walked the line between absurdity and philosophy. Once again, I continued to discover a great enjoyment of working with words, whether it be in the form of rap, spoken word, or monologues. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because before I'm a circus artist, I'm a human. And to make human-to-human connections, I prefer to use one of our most basic forms of communication - the voice. Since creating "Coffee Beats, "I've done different versions and cuts of it in many different settings including Portugal, Slovenia, and Brazil. One of my favorite iterations of this show was for a circus camp all the way in Brazil. In the middle of the show, someone from the audience actually came on stage to give me a cup of coffee (during a moment where my character was dramatically begging for "...just one small sip of coffee - PLEASE!"). It was a surprise gift from the universe that made a good laugh between both the audience and I. For now, "Coffee Beats" is at rest, but I have a strange feeling it will awaken once again in the future when the time is right...or maybe the character I created then will be reborn in another parallel universe...(cough cough foreshadowing)...time will tell...

"Coffee Beats" - 2022

"Coffee In My Cup"

Wake up in the morning already sore from the day before (2)

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - I'm flying

Thursday, Friday, Saturday - I'm diein'

Hight to low - gotta keep tryin'

Sunshine or rain, I can't complain

Pleasure and pain that's the nature of the game

Coin in my sack, can't ever go back

Been a long time since I talked to my dad

Coffee in my cup, I'm only looking up

Coffee in my cup, all I got is love

From a blissful place to a personal Hell - Meeting with death for show and tell...

"Black, Bitter, Hot!"

I like my coffee black when it hits me with a smack, I'm addicted that's a fact and I'm ok with that, addicted that's a fact and I'm ok with that...

I like my coffee bitter, I'm home run hitter with the ego of a quitter, I'll make you reconsier. Caffeine fiend do you know what I mean? I can't stop looking at my damn phone screen

I like my coffee hot, all we got is one shot, I will drink it until I rot, drink it till I drop

The government is spying but I gotta keep on trying. I'm just filling up my cup so that I can look up...I'm filling up my cup so that I can look uuuuuuupppppp....

"Coffee Beats" when it was in the midst of being created:

https://youtu.be/id_Mxw53Lwo?si=7SK0QzSHEtngMFQ0

...and there we have it. There was maybe another performance or two during my schooling years, but I'm not putting them here as an attempt at this not being any longer then it already is (for the 10 of you who actually have the desire to read this). Until next time - Até, até, até, até, a-té-já!