“What’s that?” Growing up, Charlotte Yandell’s peers were mystified when she told them that she did Calisthenics. “In the last few years, it’s changed to ‘Oh, you do pull-ups?’, now that the American version has gotten quite popular. Me and my little twiggy arms, I’m not quite so sure I could manage that.”
Described as an amalgamation of dance, gymnastics, ballet and theatrical performance, Calisthenics is a uniquely Australian sport, with thousands of participants nationwide, that has been rooted in the performing arts scene for over a century, albeit one that is community-driven. “It’s run by clubs. There’s no money in this sport. Everyone trains in school or church halls”, says Carly Aherne, the Co-Founder and Marketing Director of the Australian Calisthenics Theatre Company (ACTC). She says that only around one in 10 people have heard of Calisthenics “or know someone who has done it once upon a time.”
“There’s some misconceptions around how clever these performers actually are, and the amount of training that goes into getting to that really elite level.” It was these factors, alongside the cancellation of the 2024 National Competitions, that spurred Aherne and Artistic Director Brooke Brown to establish ACTC, designed “to take Calisthenics to the world” and create commercial opportunities for participants.
Debuting two sell-out shows at Adelaide Festival Theatre last June with A Symphony, the Company has set its sights on the Fringe with Encore & Applause: The Genius of Cameron Mackintosh. Featuring SA dancers from the young adult age group, the show is a celebration of 12 songs from the beloved musicals of the British theatrical producer, including Cats, Les Misérables, Hamilton, Mary Poppins and Miss Saigon. Brown is “a Les Mis girl through and through”, while for Principal Dancer Yandell it also “holds a really special place in [her] heart”, having formerly portrayed a Young Cosette in an amateur production.
ACTC hopes that this curation will make the niche sport more accessible to the audience, regardless of their age or familiarity with Calisthenics. “We wanted to almost do a condensed version of A Symphony and then really appeal to our audience with show tunes that are super identifiable in Calisthenics, but also lots of people would already know and enjoy,” Brown says. Due to the lengthy and repetitive nature of Calisthenics competitions, Yandell normally only feels comfortable inviting immediate family to watch her perform, but says it’s exciting “to get to invite everyone and anyone” to the Fringe. Joining the dancers on-stage is vocalist JD Smith of The Ten Tenors, who has “a really cool connection” to the sport. “One of his relatives is a very outstanding and well-respected adjudicator in Western Australia. We love finding those quirky little Calisthenics connections throughout the people that we use in our shows,” says Brown.
Despite nurturing world-class talent, Calisthenics performers are usually barred from entering the dance industry due to a misconception of “bad technique.” In her younger years, Brown recounts: “I always had to hide the fact that I had done 18 years [of Calisthenics] because no matter how good I performed at the audition, if they saw that on my dance card, then I was almost an automatic out.” She says that Calisthenics performers’ adaptability to different dance genres is what elevates their skillset above other dance schools.
In five years’ time, Brown is resolute that ACTC will have an international presence, urging them to come along to “a show that’s like nothing they’ve ever seen before.” “It’s not a musical, but it has your musical theatre components. It’s not a Cirque du Soleil, but our acrobatic skills are phenomenal. It’s not a ballet, but we have the grace and poise of ballerinas.”
Encore & Applause, Fool’s Paradise, 6-7 March