BY LUCIA MAURO
At some point in their careers, actors are warned of the perils of acting
from the neck up. And, especially in Chicago’s boundlessly physical
theatrical realm, they most likely will be called on to do a back handspring,
swing a broadsword or move in an evocative way. But where can actors go
to hone these eclectic skills?
In 1992, theatre critic/arts writer Tony Adler interviewed the artists of Lookingglass Theatre Company for a story that appeared in the Chicago Tribune. This meeting led to the formation of an institution "dedicated to bringing a new physicality to the American theatre."
"They [Lookingglass ensemble members] talked about how physical their work was," says Adler, "and how they always dreamed about a gymnasium for actors. At the time, I was also doing stories on local experimentalists who were suffering from burn out. I wanted to create a safe haven for artists at a certain level in their careers."
Adler, a longtime Evanston resident, combined his ideas with those of Lookingglass Theatre’s. Initially interested in calling this facility—where artists in residence would have access to artists from various disciplines—the American Center for Theatrical Experimentation, the founders ultimately settled on the more engaging name of the Actors Gymnasium. Adler and Lawrence E. DiStasi, a Lookingglass co-founder, began collaborating on the concept.
They were joined almost immediately by Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi (then Hernandez), an award-winning circus artist who began performing at the age of seven, and Carlyle Coash, a theatre administrator-performer who has since left Chicago to pursue the study of religion in Boulder, Colorado.
In June 1995, the Evanston Arts Council voted to accept the Actors Gymnasium as a tenant in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, where it joined established fellow residents like the Next Theatre and Piven Theatre Workshop.
Today 13 faculty members teach classes at the not-for-profit Actors Gymnasium as varied as the circus arts, juggling, gymnastics, mime, puppetry and stage combat to approximately 250 adults and children per session. Students range in age from three to 60. The training center also offers expert consultation to other teaching institutions, performances and a summer Circus and Performing Arts Camp. Earlier this year, artists from the Actors Gymnasium were in residence at the Museum of Science and Industry’s "Under the Big Top" exhibit.
The Actors Gymnasium’s circus arts program is its most popular—a rare advantage considering the once-closed nature of circus training (typically passed on over the generations by circus families). Hernandez-DiStasi also credits the more theatrical Cirque du Soleil franchise as sparking a greater desire to cultivate circus skills by theatre artists. At the Evanston facility, actors can benefit from a wide array of confidence-building classes that put them in touch with their entire bodies.
"I do a lot of tumbling and movement, stretching/conditioning, balance and juggling work," explains Hernandez-DiStasi of her classes. "The goal is to develop strength, balance and concentration."
She also points out that actors who study the circus arts can conquer their fears—especially of heights. She encourages actors to gradually increase their tolerance for heights. Once they’ve become comfortable at a certain level, they can slowly take the next step.
Her husband, DiStasi (a formally trained actor with a deep interest in physical theatre), expands on the benefits to actors. "Studying the circus arts," he says, "helps you realize how to making things sharp and communicate to the audience. It gives you absolute clarity in the moment, as well as a larger physical vocabulary and command of your body."
With so much energy and talent bursting at the seams, the Actors Gymnasium was bound to establish its own performing group. As the training center evolved, faculty members began performing for its benefits. "The impulse to create a circus came out of that," acknowledges Adler. This idea was further solidified in 1999 when puppeteer Michael Montenegro directed Trapezoid Heart, a circus-puppetry piece for an Actors Gymnasium benefit. The artists then transferred characters from Trapezoid Heart to the debut of the Flying Griffin Circus in May 2000.
The Flying Griffin Circus is the Actors Gymnasium’s official performing ensemble named after the DiStasi’s toddler son Griffin. Hernandez-DiStasi adds that the troupe provides a performing outlet and incentive for advanced students.
Theatre and the circus arts are cleverly combined in the Flying Griffin Circus’ latest open-run production, Gulliver’s Circus, which was loosely inspired by Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. Here Gulliver becomes a storyteller for a circus troupe that enacts the sailor’s visits to fantastical lands.
The founders, who wish to take the circus to a more theatrical level, also point out that too much text can detract from the entertaining physical feats. Adler believes that text seems to work better in the Lookingglass context. According to DiStasi, the Flying Griffin Circus provides its own inherent sense of drama through the intimacy of the Actors Gymnasium space, where performers execute dangerous aerial and acrobatic feats a mere five feet away from the audience. DiStasi also notes that the Flying Griffin Circus celebrates the circus arts and honors the commitment that goes into creating a successful circus act.
The troupe is quickly becoming more international in scope. Almas Meirmanov, a championship hand-balancing performer from Kazakhstan (formerly part of the Soviet Union), has joined Gulliver’s Circus. His father, Nourbol Merimanov, is now teaching at the Actors Gymnasium.
"I’ve always wanted The Actors Gymnasium to be more than a small place," says DiStasi. "I envisioned it as a serious circus training program, as well as a place for people who want to become amazing theatrical generalists."
The Actors Gymnasium has grown into a "think-and-do tank" for the performing arts. Through its school, fellowship program, residencies, workshops, performances and collaborations with other organizations, it attempts to expand the conventional theatrical vocabulary to include unconventional skills; erase distinctions between performance disciplines; encourage new investigations, collaborations and creations; and create a community of performing artists capable of doing anything demanded of them and anything they demand of themselves.
DiStasi cites another benefit: "I’ve figured out a way to make working out part of my job. It makes my soul feel good."
The Actors Gymnasium is located at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston. Call 847/328-2795 or visit www.actorsgymnasium.com.