Mish Weaver CV

  • Movement Director and Designer for Circus, Dance and Physical Theatre.

     

    My professional experience of Aerial, Circus, Theatre and Dance performance has led me to explore choreography with scenography.

    I choreograph circus disciplines.  I design structures and weight-bearing props for performance.

    I particularly enjoy teaching swinging and static aerial disciplines to professional level I lead exploration into the relationship between movement and objects, circus technique and choreography.

    2011

    Circus Director for No Fit State Circus’s Barricade.

    2010

    • Circus Director for No Fit State Circus’s Parklife.
    • Director, One-man show Bipolar Ringmaster 2010.
    • Residency at Yorkshire Dance.
    • Consultation for Claire Cunngham and Marc Brew towards Candoco Dance commissions.

    2009

    • Set design for All Play Dance Company.
    • Choreography for ‘Sputnik‘ for Fittings Multimedia.
    • Residency at DanceHouse Glasgow with Claire Cunningham.
    • ‘Choreography with props’ workshop at DanceBase, Edinburgh.
    • Collaboration with Eric MacLennan for performance of ‘The Abbott of Unreason’ for Feet First, Edinburgh, January 1st 2009.
    • Direction/Mentoring for Bare Toed Company’s performance for 0-6yr olds entitled ‘Shhh…’, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.
    • Aerial Choreography for Claire Cunningham’s ME solo at Drill Hall, Edinburgh Festival.

    2008

    • Shift – Designer for Gravity and Levity.
    • Stumble – An Evening of Instability, Director, choreographer and Designer.
    • No Fit State Circus – Tabu – Circus Facilitator.

    2007

    • Launched Stumble danceCircus, a new circus for the North of England. Completed research towards seven unstable solos, residency at Skylight.
    • Lecture at University of Surrey on collaboration with Gravity and Levity.
    • Return Journey at Decibel, Birmingham.
    • Teaching at Salford University, BA(hons) Performance Arts, Media/ Performance.
    • Design and aerial consultant for Classworks Theatre, Cambridge.
    • Design consultancy for Vicky Amedume’s performance Loved Up.

    2006

    • Yorkshire Arts funded project ‘MetaCentric’ to design a one-off prop .
    • Direction/Choreography/Rework of Tina Carter’s aerial depiction of her journey to Palestine, Return Journey.
    • R+D for Matilda Leyser/Lucia Walker’s new project ‘One up, one Down’.
    • Artist at Colina 2006 at Dance City, Newcastle. Rui Horta’s International Artists’ Laboratory.
    • Co-devised, choreographed and trained Matilda Leyser for Deadpoint, commissioned by Royal Opera House.
    • Re-inventing the Wheel appeared at British Dance Edition.
    • Teaching on Circus Space’s, BA(hons) Circus.

    2005

    • Re-inventing the Wheel: Choreographed dance duet on wheel prop for Taking Flight. “(The performers) weave a relationship around – and with – a large wheel. The result is clever, but not only that.” (Donald Hutera, The Times)
    • Consulting for Fidget Feet, ‘Remember Her’.

    2004

    • Circus Development fund (London Arts) R+D towards a visual/physical theatre piece.
    • Concertina rigging bar design for cloudswing act, funded by Esme Fairburn trust.

    2003

    • Freestanding rig design for Looks Deceiving, Expressive Feat Productions.
    • Head of Aerial at Circus Space, London. October ’00 to July ’03.

    2002

    ‘Epsilon’, research period for Gandini Juggling Company towards prototype geometric props relating juggling and mathematics.

    Previously

    Sept/Oct’02 Trainer/choreographer for Smoke performed at Jackson’s Lane.
    April’02 Cloudswing trainer/choreographer for Matilda Leyser’s Several Stories High.
    Dec’00-Apr’01 Design/Choreography of Re-inventing the Wheel. Circus Space commission
    Mar-Apr’01 Cloudswing Trainer and Choreographer for finale of Generating Co’s Storm.
    Sept’00 Stunt work on film The Count of Monte Christo.
    Aug’00 RJC Dance Productions, Leeds, aerial exploration of set.
    Jun’00 Festival Circus, Shoreditch Festival – cloudswing performance and rig design.
    Feb-Mar’00 Archaos Night Club, Glasgow – rig advisor, teacher and designer.
    Oct’99-Jan’00 LiberaMe, Flying Splinter Group, Edinburgh – choreographer, rig advisor, performer.
    Jun-Jul’98 NMEC Productions – Input as performer, R+D for Millennium Dome Show.

     

    Slack Dance (ran the company for three years)

    Riding The Storm (Aug’98 to Nov’99)
    Conceived, co-devised and designed Dance Theatre production. “…a visual treat that shows just how diverse the dance form can be.” (Eastern Daily Press).

    DoorWays (Nov’96 to Oct’98)
    Designer, deviser and performer. “Most immediately striking is the set…as versatile and surprising as the human element… The engineering is a thing of beauty in itself.” (The Independent)

    Performance and Teaching

    Performance/teaching CVs available on request, but briefly I performed, choreographed and consulted for Traditional Circus, Dance Theatre, Cabaret, Film, Adverts, Television, Festivals and Corporate Functions from 1993.

    I have taught since 1991 for: Circus Space, Skylight Circus Arts, performing companies and professionals, NMEC Dome Show, schools, prisons, universities and community groups.

    Cut Back Community Arts Projects (Feb’92-Jul’93)
    Workshops and teaching inside prisons resulted in performance Taking Liberties.

    Skills

    Experimentation and choreography with physical (circus) techniques.

    Specialise in interaction with props or equipment.

    Design of sets/rigs for physical performance/Circus, Aerial and floor-based props. Structural and visual designs for physical exploration. Risk assessment. 3d visualization and drawing of designs.

    Teaching Cloudswing and Swinging trapeze. Doubles trapeze. Static trapeze.  Broad range of movement workshops.

    Languages English and French.

    Training Attended Choreography Mentoring course with Jonathon Burrows.  Completed ‘Art of Coaching’ Neuro-linguistic foundation coaching course with Kaizen Creative Development.

    MA in Choreography and Performance Studies, Bretton Hall.

    Ba (hons) in Fine Arts Sculpture, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Polytechnic.