Behind Circus Berserkus

I caught up with the cast of Circus Berserkus to learn a little more about their troupe.

Circus Berserkus

Al Green Theatre

750 Spadina Avenue Toronto

When : March 19 - 8pm

March 20 - 4pm and 8pm

Tickets : Adults $15

Free for all students

For more information :

https://www.facebook.com/events/809544379116850/

Tickets : http://lookuptheatre.brownpapertickets.com

Lookup Theatre’s Talk to youth lately mental health circus troupe.

A circus troupe about mental health with an anti stigma and recovery based message.

How has TTYL helped you ?

Natasha Florino answers:

TTYL has helped me in many ways. Since joining TTYL I have more confidence and strength. I have a much higher level of endurance and I've been pushing myself further and further. Being in this group has helped me to stay on a positive path. Everyone in the group has grown so much since I joined TTYL in 2012 and I feel truly honoured to be a part of this community of creative and open individuals.

How has TTYL changed and grown over the years you have been apart of it ?

Jeremy Hall answers:

It's really been something to see the show come together. Having worked with the same core group over the past few years, we were all fairly comfortable working with each other and had a good grasp of our strengths and weaknesses. I think this really allowed us to take our show to the next level - really going above and beyond what we'd ever dreamed of to create something really transcendent and meaningful. It's really fantastic to see everyone working together and how the skills we've learned over the past few years have metamorphisized into amazingly complex scenes.

What kind of workshops have you done with TTYL ?

Corey Funt answers:

Improv, Juggling, Hula hoop, Aerial hoop, Stilts, Dance, Acting, Trapeze, Yoga, Silks

What was your favorite workshop or skill you learned ?

My favorite workshop was the first time Greg came and taught us all about juggling. I'd tried to juggle in the past. My dad sometimes would juggle oranges and I always wanted to be able to juggle the same way. But, he couldn't explain how to do it. My dad could just juggle and when I tried to emulate it I couldn't. So I always had the notion that juggling was an all or nothing skill. I assumed my hand eye coordination simply wasn't good enough. Then Greg came in and broke it down and I realized that like any skill, it just took baby steps to achieve it. A. There was a pattern that ball juggling used (a cascade) and it was easy to demonstrate it in slow motion with juggling scarves. B. All ball juggling was something you something you could break down into components. I realized that you don't have to start with three balls. You can start with 1 ball move to 2 then finally work your way up to 3. Thanks to this workshop I was able to (after much practice) learn a skill that I treasure so much. A skill that helps calm me when I feel overwhelmed. Juggling may be just throwing objects in the air to look pretty to an observer. But for me... It's almost meditative. You have to get to a hypercalm focus to juggle; as you need to almost slow the objects down to grab them. Similar to yoga. And as you get more and more advanced it requires more and more ability. More co-ordination, more hyperfocus. It's a skill you can always get better at... Like a real life video game that burns calories. So it drives you to be competitive...but against yourself. It's also great to do as a with friends as a team challenge if you are working on stuff that requires multiple people like passing or stealing.

What is your favorite part of TTYL?

Hayley Landry answers:

My favourite thing about being a part of this extraordinary troupe...

There are many aspects of being a part of TTYL that have profoundly improved my mental and physical health, namely my confidence and strength. It has been especially empowering observing such progress in myself as well as my fellow troupe members over the years. We each get so much out of this experience, and at the same time the show is all about sharing our stories, raising awareness and starting important conversations, one audience at a time. Even just talking to people about what we do is a great feeling. It's this awesome duality of giving and receiving that makes this group so special. that and CIRCUS! Its such an exciting art! With so many possibilities!