Flagrant Wisdom
This weekend the National Glass Centre is hosting an unusual series of live performances linking glass-making and acrobatics (21-22 November)
It’s not entirely clear what Flagrant Wisdom, Rose English’s work inspired by the National Glass Centre (NGC), is going to involve, but this weird and wonderful mix of dance, performance art, acrobatics and glass-making certainly promises to be interesting.
It’s performed by members of the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe directed by English and will take place in different parts of the NGC with the performers doing their stuff alongside glass makers. Each mini act – there’ll be three or four in each one-hour performance – will involve the acrobats interacting with different glass objects made specifically for the show. For example, one will feature an acrobat balancing a single wine glass on an open fan in turn balanced on her face, and another will involve acrobats working with a blown glass bowl. ‘The glass is a key element in the performances and not just incidental. The show has been specifically devised to relate to glass making and the history of glass making in the North East’, says curator Alex Evans. Both glass-making and Chinese acrobatics are art forms with a long tradition, and Flagrant Wisdom aims to explore these traditions through this intriguing-sounding performance – but you’ve got to go along to see exactly how they do it.
www.nationalglasscentre.com
