KIT & KABOODLE

RUNNING OFF TO THE CIRCUS, A LITTLE CLOSER TO HOME

There’s a new kind of circus in town and it’s made up of some of our most bizarre and intriguing local acts. Drawing influence from Burning Man and Cirque du Soleil, it will feature five days of music, magic and acrobatics.

Anthony Appleby travels down to Burning Man each year and Calgary actually has an unusually large population of participants compared to other Canadian cities. Now, we’re beginning to see some of the culture that exists around that festival emerging more locally in things like Kit & Kaboodle Circus, which Appleby began in 2011. Belly dancing act, At The Hipm is a troupe that has performed at both and so have hooper Alisha “Illusia” Loewen and aerialist Stephanie “Spark” Norn, who is faculty at the Calgary circus school. The show also draws heavily from our theatre community with actors Len Harvey and Melanie Godbout as clowns, in addition to a parkour group, an acro-yoga duo, fire stunts, a magician and more. Appleby himself will be playing music for the show with his “super band” that includes half of what used to be known as Same Difference. Hoping to have it every two years, their first show sold out and this one is looking to be just as big with a few returning acts and a beautiful new space at the Festival Hall in Inglewood.

Speaking with Rachel Appleby, she explains that the idea came to her husband after watching a PBS documentary on the Big Apple Circus in New York. “That evening he half-jokingly posted on Facebook that he wanted to start a circus and had a huge response.” But unlike traditional circuses, this one will have no animals and bit more of a storyline, which he says is about “coming to grips with the chaos in the world.” He mentions a great book he just finished, called Water for Elephants, about the seedy history of circuses in the ‘30s, but sets a great example for what they’re becoming, influenced by “radical inclusion, self-reliance and being mindful” and featuring all Calgary-based artists. “It’s one week [here], and then it’ll never exist again. And I think that’s a lot of the Burning Man mentality. You create something beautiful, and nothing is meant to exist forever.”

Surely, that’ll apply to the tickets they have available too. Get yours online in advance or at the door for cash, and join “a good community of people with crazy ideas that they just make happen.“

Kit & Kaboodle runs from May 8-12 with tickets ranging from $12-27 priced for children and adults.

By Cait Lepla