Two images. On the left: Black background. A photo of a woman and a man swinging in the air like a pendulum, looking powerful and graceful. They share a wheelchair which is held up in the air by black circus straps. She has frizzy brown hair, muscular arms and wears a grey tank top She is kneeling on his thighs and one of her arms holds the straps above her head while the other points down towards the floor. He has a neatly trimmed brown beard, muscular arms and wears a black tank top. He holds the straps to the sides of his chest with both hands. The image captures them at the highest point of the swing, to our right, bringing the man to an upside- down position with the woman above him. Their bodies are doing something hard, but their strength makes it look effortless. One word written in white, thick, brush-style letters above the photo: 'Human'. On the right: A group of young people stand together on stage. One is dressed as a doctor. To their left, another is dressed as a hotel valet. To their left, a person is wearing a yellow dress and glasses. To their left, another is wearing a beanie hat and an orange checked-shirt over a black t-shirt. To their left, another is dressed as a postman. To their left, another is wearing a psychedelic pattern t-shirt and tight black leggings. Above the photo, strong, straight and bold white letters read: "Till We Win".

Two extraordinary shows in Poole

With under one week to go until we take to the stage with our brand new show Human, we asked Co-Director Claire to tell us more about how the show was created. She also shares about why having two extraordinary shows in poole – Human and our youth company’s Till We Win – feels deeply meaningful and a little emotional.

Extraordinary Bodies 'Bird' Girl' GIF

We are a circus company of disabled and non disabled artists working together as equals.

We made Human during the lockdown earlier this year by asking each of the performers to record their answers to a series of questions about their lives. The performers talked about childhood memories, their mums, falling in love, life changing moments and their love of sweets.

We took the best bits as a company and created the show. Human has stunning circus, an original music score and showcases the true stories of the people onstage. Our cast is diverse in terms of ethnicity, disability and age.  We have had 8 days rehearsal together in person since the start of the pandemic, a lot of Zooms and only two of us have made physical contact so far.

On stage. A white man in his twenties with thick brown hair and a beard sits in his wheelchair, his arm reaching up towards a white woman in her twenties with shoulder-length brown hair. She is holding his arms with both hands while hanging from a trapeze, held onto it with her legs that are bent at the knees on the trapeze ropes.
Human by Extraordinary Bodies

All of us live with different levels of vulnerability to the virus. We are committed to providing one socially distanced audience performance at each venue. One of our performers will be appearing on film and the others live. We want everyone to be able to participate as an audience member or performer during the pandemic. We will be creative as to how that can happen. All performances are relaxed, British Sign Language interpreted, captioned and audio described.

I live in Swanage and as an Artistic Director I am delighted that Human is coming to the Lighthouse as part of our tour. We employ core team across Dorset and our youth company is based at the Lighthouse. Extraordinary Bodies Young Artists will be performing their own new show, Till We Win, on Saturday afternoon at 4:30PM prior to Human. I really encourage people to book a joint ticket to both shows and to share their thoughts with the evaluators after Human. I think I will be very emotional when we share the shows at the Lighthouse.

We have spent 17 months unable to perform and this feels like a homecoming.

  • A group of young people sitting on a black block on a dimly lit stage. Each one of them sits on a different side of the block, back to back, looking pensive. Behind them, captions on a screen read: "It's just the way I am I I can't help how I was born."
  • A dimly-lit stage, with soft, deep blue light on two performers. The first one is in the foreground, sitting delicately on a circus hoop that holds them up in the air. They are female-presenting, with long golden hair and a light blue lycra one piece. In the background, a male-presenting performer is dressed like a priest. They stand, looking ahead of them towards the audience.
Till We Win by Extraordinary Bodies Young Artists

We are performing again and we are in Dorset. The show continues after the Lighthouse with a national tour. Coming to the show in Poole will mean supporting local artists and a Dorset based producing company. Diverse City, the company I founded in 2005, produces Extraordinary Bodies in collaboration with Cirque Bijou. It is based in Dorset, a highly creative county that is home to groundbreaking artists. We are a forward thinking inclusive place: a natural home for groundbreaking circus company Extraordinary Bodies.

Book yourself two extraordinary shows in Poole, or come see Human at another venue near you:

Tickets for Human at Lighthouse, Poole
Tickets for Till We Win at Lighthouse, Poole
Our other Human tour dates