Circus rehearsals on the Block

Before relocating to the Block, Craig taught at the Aerilise headquarters in Marrickville and at the Aerial lab that has now shut, due the development of Carriageworks in the Redfern Waterloo precinct. Craig says his students require an alternative space for after-hours training in order to achieve a higher level of tuition. “When the (aerial) lab shut to develop Carriageworks we were all pushed out onto the street,” he says. “We weren’t clients of the arts industry and we weren’t an association so we ended up not really having access to the space and we still don’t have much access.” Craig now teaches on the Block because he can’t afford to take up one of the studios at Carriageworks, which he says are often left sitting unoccupied. “It’s too expensive for people who don’t have sponsorship from the arts industry,” he says. 

On the Block, Craig is the only teacher and during the training sessions he often draws a crowd. “The kids love it. It keeps them out of trouble,” he says. “They come and sit out with chairs and watch us and afterwards they come and chat with us.”  Many of the local children want to climb the pole which Craig says can be a problem. “We can’t let them because of liability,” he says. “I’d like to see it develop into a more controlled environment, so that we are allocated a time where we could put witches’ hats down and mark the area off.” Craig says if they had access to lights they would be able to see what they are doing when training at night. With support from local cafes, Craig believes things are progressing and says he’d be interested in running workshops at the Community Centre.

Sticky Pole students Kris Zimitat, 34, and Tom Meure, 21, train weekly with Craig on the Block. “My mates bought me a term of lessons with Aerialise for my 21st birthday and I just had to choose which one I wanted to do,” says Tom, who has been training with Craig for ten weeks. “Chinese Pole sounded the most fun,” he says. Tom and Kris are performing with Aerialise, Sydney’s leading Aerial Theatre Company in their recent production Off the Rails, covering trapeze, stilts, Spanish web, aerial rock climbing and sticky pole.

Photo: Ali Blogg  Craig Hull, Kris Zimitat and Tom Meure

Source: South Sydney Herald October 2007