October 2007

Hay on Fire
Back again for the community extravaganza in mid-Wales. This year the theme was "Let there be dragons!." The Chimaera crew performed fire spinning, flaming stilts monsters and the piece de resistance mounted aboard two flaming drag (dragon) cars, once more the event was a huge success!

September 2007

Bristol Juggling Convention
Chimaera showcased the full Secret Garden show at the acclaimed and hugely well loved Bristol Juggling Convention.

August 2007

Shambala Festival
"A festival for festival-goers, Shambala is cherished by a loyal crowd for its warmth, diversity and authenticity as a grass roots event." CD Times review. Chimaera sent a small team of workshop leaders and performers to add their energy and skills to this beautiful festival.

July 2007

Eastern Haze Fire Spectacle!
Chimaera thoroughly rocked it at Eastern Haze festival! We sent 14 Chimaera members as performers and crew to put on a massive high impact show to give the festival's revellers something to really shout about!

June 2007

1st - 3rd Sunrise Festival
For the second successive year Chimaera were invited to host the fire performances at the ‘Sunrise Celebration Festival’ in Somerset. Utilising the opportunity to take most of the Chimaera crew alongside an array of talented associated fire performers from around the UK, Chimaera coordinated and choreographed a collaborative show which allowed a great variety of performers to work together and showcase their skills in this inspirational festival environment. Interspersed with selected Chimaera routines, including adapted versions of Secret Garden choreography, the shows were a stunning medley of different skills culminating in a powerful martial arts piece for the finale! Congratulations and many thanks to all involved who made this such a fun and exciting event.

Performers Without Borders
‘Performers Without Borders’ (PWB) are an innovative group that run an education outreach project to help underprivileged children in India. Three Chimaera members, Emily Ball, Sandy McClure and Steve Brown, were recently chosen to take part in this exciting project over the next year. Chimaera will miss our fantastic performers, who will be out of the country for almost a year, but are hugely supportive and proud to have members as part of this incredible project. For more information and sponsorship opportunities, see...

www.performerswithoutborders.org.uk

Sponsorship by PROJUMP
Chimaera member Merlyn Major recently procured sponsorship for Chimaera by PROJUMP stilts. Merlyn is one of the “Grasshoppers” in the Secret Garden show (our giant grasshoppers perform on sprung stilts using flaming bungee-staff). PROJUMP have generously offered to donate 3 sets of state-of-the-art sprung-stilts, body armour and other protective gear. See www.projump.co.uk to learn more about this wicked gear.

15th Wills Hall Summer Ball

For the second year in a row Chimaera were invited to perform at the exclusive Wills Hall Summer Ball. Premiering several of the routines written for the Glastonbury festival of performing arts, Chimaera wowed the crowds with a stunning seven person show.

15th Malambo

On the same evening as the Wills Hall Ball, a number of Chimaera members performed a glow and UV based set alongside psy-trance stalwarts East-Static at Bristol's Trinity as part of a charity night.

16th Southern Lights Festival

To complete a busy weekend for the troupe, Chimaera took 12 performers down to the inaugural Southern Lights festival near Southampton. Headlining the Circus based weekend, Chimaera received rave reviews for the modified version of The Secret Garden, and have already been invited back to Southern Lights for 2008.

21st-24th Glastonbury Festival of Performing Arts

Returning to the festival for the second time, Chimaera took a 6 performer show using modified choreography from the secret garden alongside some originally composed routines to perform shows in the Theatre and Circus fields. Unfortunately the legendary Glastonbury mud made it impossible to perform on Saturday and Sunday, however Chimaera did dance through the mud and rain on the Friday night.

May 2007

Fire Gathering
Annual gathering and showcase for fire-performers held in Horsham, West Sussex. Chimaera members Sandy McClure and Tim Chown headlined the show and literally blew people away with a set of amazing routines. They premiered their new 2-person contact staff piece, developed for the Secret Garden finale, to rapturous acclaim!

April 2007

British Juggling Convention
The British Juggling Convention (BJC) is one of the most prestigious juggling conventions in Europe. This year’s 20th annual event saw the premiere of the PLAY workshop area, at which Chimaera members led specialised skills workshops to a great reception.

The BJC also welcomed Chimaera member Laura Egginton back to the UK after 3 months training in Brazil. Laura performed in the British-ish Cabaret and BJC Public Show in Nottingham Royal Centre.

28th & 29th Secret Garden Promotional Video

Organised and directed by Chimaera’s film director and cinematographer Sy Taffel, the complete Chimaera performance and technical crew dedicated a weekend to full-day rehearsals right through to late-night filming sessions. The filming took place at various locations around Bristol, which were specifically chosen for their compatibility with the themes and tonal qualities of The Secret Garden show. Use the state of the art HD DVCPRO tapeless high definition platform and professional lighting equipment, alongside beautiful make-up design by artist Liz Stones and dedicated hard work and co- ordination by cast and crew, the weekend provided a wealth of excellent footage. The promotional video for the Secret Garden was subsequently edited by Chimaera members Sandy McClure and Sy Taffel, with the music composed by Tom Bryan, creating a fantastic video for the Secret Garden show.

February 2007

Bristol University RAG Ball

Chimaera perform an eight person 15 minute choreographed fire show to warm up the crowds on a frosty February evening, before performing a glow and UV set later on during the night alongside antipodean Drum and Bass legends Pendulum

November 2006

11th - Chimaera perform a eight person performance featuring stiltwalkers and pyrotechnics as part of a firework display in conjunction with Judge Day fireworks in Box

18th - The BBC sends a camera crew down to Bristol to film Chimaera members Sandy McClure, Laura Eggington, Sy Taffel and Tim Chown for part of the upcoming BBC2 series Blast. The show, an exploration of urban youth dance cultures which is set to juxtapose Chimaera with capoeira and traditional Indian dance is to be screened on December 2nd and to be repeated in early 2007.

October 2006

Chimaera have just begun pre-production for their eagerly anticipated 2007 show 'The Secret Garden.'

Having recently expanded to 12 performers, doubling the number used in past years, The Secret Garden promises to be Chimaera's biggest and best production yet. Featuring an assemblage of stiltwalkers, jugglers, fire fans, staff, poi, acrobalance, martial arts, dance and physical theatre The Secret Garden will be lighting up festivals in 2007.

20th - Chimaera perform a three person performance featuring pyrotechnics as part of a fireworks display in conjunction with Judge Day fireworks in Box.

28th - Chimaera perform an eight person act as part of the celebratory performance of Hay on Fire, in Hay-on-Wye. The event, which drew over 2,000 people was hailed as a roaring success and event commitee member Jo Elliot commented that without Chimaera's involvement 'The event wouldn't have been the success that it was.'