Angelique ross
interview with a vaulter
April 2020
Happy shiney monday.
Today we have an interview with the high wiring Angelique Ross with our first video post. So hopefully this works
How's it going?
I go from not wanting to do anything but gardening to feeling delighted to be given the time to process and take things in. To read, learn, experiment, play music, put up shelves and play with power tools - stuff that would normally get pushed aside.
I was quite intimidated by answering these questions, I feel so normal right now. Very disconnected from what I consider to make up my identity. Traveling with a pack of carnies, sledging in stakes to put up big tops, riding on waves of adrenaline and excitement to create circus that I believe in. Still adjusting to alternative creative outlets that can be done at home.
What is your living situation? Do you have outside space or are you living in an underground bunker?
Happy to have the security of a place and not living in a caravan right now. Renting a pretty normal semi detached home in Belfast. We have a little backyard that I’m making my mission to turn into an edible vertical garden jungle. I’m so grateful for the small garden we have and the sun that’s been filling it in the past few days.
How has the pandemic affected your arts practice?
Very significantly. Our whole practice is based around bringing a crowd of people together through the art of standing on, touching and throwing other people around.
I’m a bit jealous too see some friends with big blocks of land rig up tight wires or trapezes and take the time to keep their practices going. At the same time I’ve been going so full on from one project into another that I appreciate taking some enforced time out to process.
Just in the last few days have I started to land and feel happy to start playing with ideas and have the urges to start creating stuff again. We’ve made a DIY recording studio in the bathroom, great to start messing with music again.
How are you coping with the temporary closing of the Vault?
I miss the vault massively. Having a studio space is so valuable, it gives me independence and freedom. Missing the bumping into people and chats in the allotments. Very appreciative of the online community vibe and support is still there.
What do you appreciate during lockdown?
The amazing community of people around me, I feel loved and supported and in solidarity with so many people. I’ve been swapping packages with a few, so off will go some plants and kombucha and then a crochet hook and a book will turn up. Not just the close-by East Belfast crew but I feel supported by our global circus community and family too.
I have the pleasure of sharing my time with a fantastic lockdown partner, we laugh every day, even if it’s cry-laughing, drink loads of coffee, create stuff, get into lengthy philosophical and political conversations and crack willie jokes.
How do you imagine the future after lockdown? For yourself and the wider art world in general.
After government destabilisation, the anarchist uprising and the overthrow of capitalism, we will all be living in smaller communities. There will be a living wage for all, environmental sustainability, free education, access to the arts, and mandatory creative practices for all.
Where can people find you online?
The last act I made before going into lockdown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhUc1roUiVc
And a scene from our all too relevant film Bathroom (training montage in isolation):