Artistic Residency in Whyalla, Arte Commedia aka Alessandro Gavello goes Regional on a Cargo Project.

When?June 2011.

Where? Memorial Oval Primary School in Whyalla.

What? 1 week of Commedia dell’Arte and Circus with final performance at the end of the week.

How? Through Carclew Youth Arts

It has been a fantastic experience, the whole community has been very supportive. The kids had a chance as well to put together their own masks. Here are an example:

Various Characters masks

On the top left we can see the “Capitano masks”, vertically in the centre we got some “Pantalone masks” and in the bottom left and on the right half of the image we got the “Servants masks” that come with different designs, such as:

Female Servant (Zagna)

Notice the eyebrows to identify it as a female servant, or even different models like…

Male Servant (Zanni)

or

Female Servant (Zagna)

Male servant (Zanni)

Let’s see a little bit closer a Capitano Mask (in the final version that you can see in the first image you may notice that a feather has been added on their foreheads, just to make them more “Capitano” like)

Capitano

… & a Pantalone mask

Pantalone

If you are interested in having a similar experience you can either contact me or Carclew and let them know you are looking for having Alessandro Gavello coming to your school!

Special thank you for who developed the masks design we used in Whyalla:

visual artists James Parker and John Whitney (even if he doesn’t have a website, you can find some info about him here).

Stay coast, stay blogged,

Al

Slapsticks pt1

Talking about serious comedy… with awesome slapsticks skills, well, this is a must to see: Larry Griswold

 

Stay blogged,

Al

Acro balance

Very interesting transitions, very impressive technique.

Stay coast, stay blogged.

Al

Regular Circus Classes in Primary Schools

Here is an idea!

Why don’t have regular Circus Classes for your students!?

I have been part of many different realities, from schools that had me for just a one day workshop to schools that wanted an 8wks program. Plus, starting last year, I had the luck of being involved with Seacliff Primary School (in Seacliff… who would have guessed?? In South Australia) in a “Full year Circus Program”, where every class had and is having a Circus session every week.

I always knew how much Circus could be beneficial to both educators and kids, but it never stops to amaze me how many aspects Circus can teach and help the teachers with.

The most evident aspects are surely: balance, coordination, dexterity, flexibility, team-work, timing, just to list a few. Although, there is more. There are very important aspects in the Circus classes that might not be under the lens straight away.To be able to fully enjoy the experience, having fun and learning, it is required to show respect for yourself, the others, the equipment and the activity you are practising. Keep yourself safe, keep the others safe, keep the equipment safe. Even if we keep the activities as safe as possible, there is always an element of danger involved. Knowing it, recognising it and accepting it are all fantastic tools to help the kids improving and getting more mature.

Another important aspect is the fact of allowing a normal and relaxed physical contact in between the kids, by helping each other in balancing activities or by practicing acro-balance and human pyramids for example.

Although, I personally think that one of the most important aspects is the improvement of confidence and self-esteem you can notice in many kids. Many times I’ve been witnessing how the fact of getting able of doing something considered “hard” or “impossible” had possibly literally changed someone’s approach to life!

That is why I cannot recommend enough to be  sure you can give your kids, your students the opportunity to access such a powerful tool.

We got plenty of years of experience we can put at your service, so we can help you develop a program that can suit your needs. Find out what we can offer here.

Contact us and let us know what we can do for you.

Stay coast, stay blogged.

Alessandro Gavello

Impro Dance

Rigorous study of the technique, discipline, focus.

Learn as much as you can, than forget about it… & let it happen. Yourself, your body at your service, ready to follow the impulse, straight from your spirit, from your heart, from your feelings, from the real self.

It is not about what you do: Circus, Dance, Acrobatics, Ice Skating, Painting, Drawing, … Fixing cars, Gardening etc…

It is you. It has always been you.

Some tumbling pt4

With training you can achieve results…

Some tumbling pt3

Here we are with more tumbling videos. Enjoy: