Inspired by the incredible annual migration of the Monarch butterfly across the South Pacific Kahuku combines stilt walking, aerials, stilt acrobatics and dance to tell a fairy tale love story that entrances and lifts the hearts of audiences of all ages.
The show builds from ground based stilt acrobatic work into a spectacular crescendo of flying wings whirling through space. Suspended from a 20m high crane boom the aerial-stilt performers are breathtaking as they soar through the air and into the sky. KAHUKU is an ode to joy.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Length: 20 minutes. Can also have a 5 minute photo opportunity at the end.
Performers: 6
Area: Circular flat ground area of approx 10 – 12m (wide) x 10 – 12m (wide).
REQUIREMENTS
Rigging Point: 1 rigging point or Crane with boom tested to carry one tonne. Boom height approx 20m.
Height needed: 15 – 20m, or crane boom.
Soundsystem: PA and a sound desk operator.
Backstage: Private change area for cast. Does not have to be the same as the off-stage area, but needs to be close by.
Set Up: Crane Boom and safety rehearsals take approx 3 – 4 hours and must be conducted on the crane on the performance site, once the crane is in place.
PROFILES
Aerialists
Pipi Ayesha Evans: An engaging circus and physical theatre performer. She has trained professionally in both circus and theatre. Pipi-Ayesha performs a range of skills, including a wide range of aerial acts, stilts, acrobalance, and poi. She also acts, sings, is a puppeteer, and teaches circus to both adults and children.
Rhys Latton: [co-director of Ake Ake Theatre Company], is an award-winning professional performer/dancer/actor/teacher and is a specialist in devised physical theatre. Rhys won Best Solo Performer in 2004,holds a Dip.Grad. in Theatre Studies and a B(A) at Otago University. Rhys offers a depth of stunning character work and skillful physicality.
Andrea Knox: A madcap scientist / bureaucrat / aerialist / stiltdancer. Background in dance and extreme sports (particularly those that involve attaching stuff to feet) Andrea has spent 10 years exploring dancing on stilts and in the air. She has become an expert in experimental aerial dance work creating and engineering new apparatus and devising and choreographing original new shows.
Aaron Burr: Chinese Pole, Swinging Chinese pole, Straps, Tissue, and visual artist. Currently Performing in Cirque Dreams 2014-15-United States with Swinging pole, bungee, dance, & four legged stilt-walking. Trained 2012–13 Beijing international arts school in Acrobatics, Chinese pole, Tumbling, Handstands, Straps and Flexibility
Ground Butterflies
A collection of the beautifully professional Empress stilt dancers. Changes with each show.
