Physical Theatre and Aerial Performances
Gavin Smith
Designing a rigging system for large scale outdoor aerial performances, where the stage is a vertical surface, demands a high level of safety, and a well thought out system that has inherent features for safety, operations and the creative development of an aerial act.
Since the 1990's we've performed and rigged aerial performances on most of the tall buildings, bridges, cranes and other structures across Australia and around the globe.
We've supported art companies achieve their aerial aspirations to become successful and safe at this style of performance art.
Having a climbing background definitely helps with understanding the principles and forces involved in this type of work as well as the risk and measures to mitigate the risk of falling from heights.
We take this seriously on all levels, from equipment selection, to it's use and application, the safety aspects alone are enough to fill this case study, but for now it's more of a light look at a fascinating genre of art, where risk takes us to a place of creative development.
When a building is selected that is fit for purpose we get excited about the possibilities, the light, exposure and other features all contribute to a projects success.
Gear selection for this can range from installing temporary rigging anchor points that protect the building or we can install anchor points in specific positions on the roof top, other sites we are able to use existing anchor points to provide us with the rigging points.
Engineering, Safety and Rescue Systems are the initial areas we investigate for pre production work, rigging designs and training are also key to the projects success. Sometimes we find an alternate venue that is similar in height or dimensions to the wall we plan to work on, but is out of the public eye.
The creative development process is where the choreography meets the rigging systems, and provides the feedback for us to develop a rigging system that talks the same way as the artists want to express the shows choreography.
It's a lot like the traditional way of creating shows expect we turn the stage on its side and lift it up as high as we can get!
