What is a roving act? A roving or roaming act roams among the crowd at an event. It is often performed moving between guests who are up and milling but can also work when guests are seated at tables. It is often largely improvised and is designed to hold the attention of a few guests at a time for a minute or two. Roving acts add atmosphere to an event and are sometimes performed while other things are going on - eg other roaming performers, a band playing. This differs from a stage act which is usually (although not always) choreographed to a set piece of music and is designed to hold the full attention of the crowd for its duration. Stage acts are usually more expensive to hire than roving acts because they can require more preparation and often include more challenging skills. Why create a roving act? Being hired to perform your stage act can be great work if you can get it - but competition is fierce and work can be scarce. Not every venue has a stage/space enough or a rigging point and stage acts can be out of the price range for some clients. With a roving act you can be more employable - you can perform at venues with no stage and no rigging point - opening up a whole new market of employment opportunities! Another big plus for being able to rove is that it gets your foot in the door with your circus agent. If you can show your agent that you're professional and reliable with a few roving gigs then they'll be much more likely to think of you when a stage act gig does come up. If they have two similar aerials acts on their books for example, any agent will go to the person they know and have worked with first. Finally, roving acts pay pretty well (provided you're sticking with market value and not undercutting!) If you can get some cash coming in from roving, this can support you while you're spending time training up your stage act, building your website and doing all those other things you need to do to build your circus career! Coming up with a good idea A good concept is the most important part of creating a successful roving act. A dud will never see the light of day. Here are some methods to help you start thinking of ideas: First, try googling 'Circus Agent' of 'Roaming Circus Act' and suss out what acts are already out there. You wouldn't want to copy any of these ideas directly but they can serve as inspiration to get you thinking. Secondly, consider what types of gigs you want to chase and what types of acts those sorts of events are likely to hire. Are you looking for corporate gigs? For corporate, you're going to want something schmick, expensive looking, politically correct and uncontroversial. A lot of companies are concerned with image and code of conduct and as such probably aren't going to hire your topless burlesque contact juggling act. Do you want community gigs (eg festivals, markets, council events)? You will want something child friendly and probably bright and colorful. (Keep in mind as well that a corporate act and a community act aren't necessarily mutually-exclusive). More specifically, you could try googling ''Events and your city" so see what events are on in your area which are likely to want roving performers. If you live somewhere that has a lot of food and wine festivals or agricultural festivals you could create something food related. You could also consider sporting and fitness events, arts and cultural festivals, seasonal events such as Christmas and Easter and private functions such as weddings, birthdays and Barmitzvahs. Be Unique Finally, when you're looking into what acts are out there you'll probably see a lot of butterfly stilts acts, cute acro-balance duos, clowns with unicycle or juggling and hula hoop contortionists. There's nothing wrong with any of these choices - in fact a lot of those acts probably get a lot of work and are at the top of their field. If you want to compete with them directly you will also need to be at the top of your field. Alternatively, you could try coming up with something completely unique that no one else does thereby bypassing the need for any direct competition altogether. (And probably also be able to charge a higher price). At the very least, before you go ahead with an idea, make sure you check that the market isn't already flooded with that type of act in your location. If there are already 20 other fire poi acts in your town, consider some other options. Also, just make sure that in creating something unique you also create something employable. You may be the only politically satirical burlesque children's party entertainer but perhaps there's a reason for that.... Sustainable and Repeatable Some people like to include as many high-end skills in their roving act as possible. This is a totally legitimate approach and the resulting act can be amazing. This particularly works for people who have a lot of visually impressive tricks which they can actually do quite easily without needing much recovery time. I do however want to point out that it's actually also possible to create a highly effective roving act using very few actual physical tricks. In fact, some of the most employable roving acts I've ever seen contained no physical skills at all. Instead, they relied on performance, crowd interaction and costuming. Where you stand on this topic and what that means for your act will depend on you. A couple of things you want to think about are: Are you hoping to get gigs with this every weekend? And if so, how sustainable and repeatable is your act? Can you sustain your act for a few 45mins sets in a row? Can you repeat your act every week without wiping yourself out for the next few days? You're only worth as much as your costume looks like it cost A wise woman once told me this and I've found it to be very good advice. The truth is, if you have a costume which looks absolutely awesome than that's half of your work already done for you. Personally, I would also add to this by saying that bigger is better. Not everyone would agree here; indeed the downside of having a massive costume is that it rules you out for gigs in small, crowded venues. On the upside, something big will stand out in the crowd, probably make more impact and make for better photos which leads to more gigs. It's definitely worth investing money in an amazing costume. Keep in mind with your design though that you will probably need something practical as well - something lightweight that you can move in and which breathes. I hope you've found this article helpful. You might also like to check out How to Get Circus Gigs which contains handy tips on insurance and pricing.
Happy Circusing and Good Luck!
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AuthorI've been dancing since I was little. I've danced with Melbourne Dance Theatre, Look Left Dance Circus Theatre and Lyrebird Dance Theatre as well as and freelancing around Melbourne as a dancer and circus performer. This blog contains some of the lessons I've learned on my journey and some of the things I wish someone had told me earlier! |