Ben Apfelbaum

LEGS ON THE WALL TO FLY ABOVE THE WILLOUGHBY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Todd Sutherland, David Jackson, Joshua Thomson, Jana Castillo.
Joshua Thomson ( Artistic Director) spinning Todd Sutherland.
Todd Sutherland & Jana Castillo.
Todd Sutherland and Jana Castillo.
Todd Sutherland & Jana Castillo.
Red Box Theatre.

Due to a scheduling mix-up, I was privileged to be the only person to witness rehearsals for the show NEXT CHAPTERS : UPLIFTING ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES to be held at the Concert Hall, the Concourse, Chatswood next weekend, Saturday 22 May at 7pm  and Sunday 23 May at 2pm.

The aerial acrobatics, in themselves, are not something that we have not seen before in a circus seating. What IS unique and extraordinary in their upcoming performances is that they will be flying over the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra in a spectacular and powerful collaboration. 

Artistic Director Joshua Thomson told me that Legs on The Wall have been performing since 1984.  They not only drew their membership from organisations such as Circus Oz and Flying Fruit Fly Circus but also from such places as NIDA and the ballet world. 

The rehearsal took place in a remarkable space called the Red Box named after the colour of its exterior. Red Box is part of a complex known as Number 91 Canal Road due to its proximity to the Hawthorne Canal. 

It was previously an army depot and at some stage was handed over to the creative arts and entertainment industry. 

The  aerialists I was privileged to see were Jana Castillo and Todd Sutherland with David Jackson as the rigger controlling their heights above the ground. 

I am sure that the intensity which the troupe put into the rehearsal  process will pay huge dividends during their season at Chatswood, their first since the lockdown in March last year. 

http://www.theconcourse.com.au

Featured image : Joshua Thomson (Artistic Director), Jana Castillo, Todd Sutherland and David Jackson (Rigger).

 

 

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.