Interview with a graduate: Michael Standen
Michael is a National Centre graduate and has recently started a new role within the organisation a Circus Arts Teacher.
How did you get into circus?
It started with gymnastics when I was younger, but I then quit. Eight years later, I saw my old gymnastics coach and he persuaded me to get back into it; I realised how much I’d missed it. Before getting back into gymnastics, I was studying a degree in Psychology and Counseling. I was going down the route of social services but it wasn’t for me. I found out about Circus Space, now the National Centre for Circus Arts, and applied to study there. That was my call to come into circus.
Tell us about your time here as a student?
The teaching, the technique and the hours were really intense but it was the best years of my life to grow as a person, individual, artist and as a circus performer. The environment felt like a planting bed, as a little seed they put you in and then they keep on throwing stuff at you to make you grow. They just leave you to it and it was the best way.
What did you then go on to do after graduating? Did you go straight into work?
To fund myself whilst studying I was working in cabaret around the UK and I was doing some teaching outside of school. I’d previously been in touch with [Australian Circus Company] Circa and I ended up teaching some of their acrobats, I couldn’t believe it! For the next year and a half I maintained contact with Circa whilst I was studying and a month after I graduated, they offered me a contract with them. I got a message from the Director on the Monday asking me if I wanted a job and by the Friday I was packing my bags to go to on tour for a year!
Why did you decide to return to the National Centre for Circus Arts?
After my time with Circa, I was really home sick. Travelling the world doing what you love is amazing but the reality is quite different with long haul grueling flights and bad plane food… I really enjoyed my teaching before so I thought I’d try the National Centre. As soon as I got here I had great mentors who were pushing me to develop my teaching skills and style. The National Centre then arranged for me to attend teeter-board course in Berlin, learning with some of the world’s best teachers. Having a project which really pushed me made a difference in me wanting to teach full time.
It must be quite useful as a teacher that you were also previously a student here at the National Centre and having knowledge from both sides. How do you inspire the students?
I keep an eye on my students’ mental health, a lot of circus stuff is not physical, if you are feeling that you can’t do something, your body will automatically shut down. When my students are feeling demotivated, I show them pictures and videos of when I first came here, I wasn’t great with my flexibility. I keep pushing them to try and be better than me using what I did and achieved in a set time as an example.
What other projects have you been working on?
I’ve been doing cabarets in London and some corporate events; some in the Middle East. I run my own space in a warehouse where I teach handstand and flexibility classes. I also book other artists to do gigs.
What do you see in the future of circus, where do you think it’s going?
In my opinion, Circus is moving away from just tricks into a more conscious and awakened sense of what it means to be an artist and how circus can act as an art form. It becomes more about how the human psyche can be expressed through the medium of circus.
Do you have any tips on anything that we should watch out for that’s coming up over the next few months?
La Soiree is in town! It’s an amazing feel good show with outstanding artists, a new cast and new line up. Lost Rivers are building a new venue in Elephant and Castle. They are hosting Christmas shows from November until the end of December.
