Elderly and young perform together in unique performance

Skylight Circus Arts

It’s not often you see 70-year-old men and women on trapeze and tightrope or a young woman juggling clubs with someone much older, but these are amongst the sights to be seen in Generations, an inter-generational performance by Skylight Circus Arts in Rochdale.

Skylight’s Silver Circus, where older people learn circus arts to improve their well-being, are merging their skills with the Youth Circus for this show. Generations is an ensemble ‘suitcase of stories’, combining circus skills, drama, dance and music.

Martine Bradford Skylight’s Creative Director explains: “This is an exciting leap forward for Skylight Circus Arts and we are thrilled to have an opportunity to work with the wonderful Grania Pickard, an up and coming director, writer and performer who worked with the acclaimed Ockam’s Razor. There is a great spirit to the company - a jam-packed cast of generations bursting with creativity and ideas.”

If you expect the younger performers to be more skilful than their less flexible elders, you may be surprised. As one Silver Circus performer, Greta Green put it: “Come and see MY Generation. We’re not going to fade away.”

Jess White, 16, confirmed how committed the Silver Circus performers are: “It’s really good working with old people. They’re skilful and really concentrate on what they do.”

For Director Grania Pickard, it was the opportunity to make a show with such a diverse age range that attracted her to Generations: “I believe circus can have a hugely positive impact on people’s physical and mental health.

“What makes this project unique is that its uses circus to bring together two groups of people who otherwise would never have met and pools their creativity and enthusiasm to make a show with a theme of common understanding.

“There have already been some incredibly beautiful and funny moments in rehearsal and whilst I can't give away too much about the show, I can promise that we'll take you on a journey!”

These engaging and accessible performances can be seen at Skylight Studio Theatre, St Chad’s Fold on 27 and 28 April and at Touchstones, Rochdale on Saturday 5 May.