Back in 2006 while on a business trip in Southern Spain, I came to met someone really special. Her name is Malia Walsh (MS) and she is the hottest performing artist I’ve seen, I mean… she is a fire specialist.
Know more about acrobatics as a lifestyle and imagine the feel of flame’s thermal radiation with this 7-question interview about Malia’s career in circus and her vision of life.
hZ: I believe performing arts require a special dose of discipline. How is it involved in your life and in your training?
MS: I train 6 days a week and on top of that I’ll have 4 or 5 gigs, rehearsals and workshops (which are the most exhausting). I usually train for about 4 hours and fill the rest of my day with emails, show proposals, venue inspections, costume stuff and stretching. But I wouldn’t call what I do disciplined…. I’d call it fun.
I love the people I work with and rehearsals are filled with giggles. Training is hard but usually causes you to fall on your arse… more giggles. Teaching is wonderful because of the delight in students faces and gig’s are just the best, weeks worth of work crammed into an explosive 10-min of adrenaline.
hZ: Fire hoop’s, flaming poi and life as a fire girl looks like a risky business. Are your decisions and personal life so fearless?
MS: I think choosing the arts for a carrier choice is fearless: never knowing when your next pay is coming, artistic block, never having any job security and risk of injury is bloody terrifying. But I love what I do and I’d only be half a person if I had a normal job. I guess I do like to jump off buildings, climb tall tree’s and drive really fast… is that fearless or is just stupidity?
hZ: What about love? Would it be easy for you to start a relationship with an “average” citizen who’s thrills reside on pie charts or excel spreadsheets?
MS: Ahhh love…. that’s a tricky one! I think that if you really love someone you are happy that they are pursuing their dreams, even if it means you don’t see them for a while. As the saying goes distance make the heart grow fonder. As for falling for someone who gets his thrills from spreadsheets, I’m a little nerd at heart. I too get a little excited by excel, I’m overly organized, I’m not very fashionable and I’m secretly a big fan Dr Who, eeeeekkkk!!!
hZ: Have you ever feel isolated while touring across countries?
MS: Touring can be very isolating, it sound very glamourous but you usually live in this little bubble of venues and hotel rooms. You see the sites from a car window as you are on your way to the airport and you are so exhausted from back to back shows. Sounds very depressing right, but the minute I ever feel isolated I roll out of my hotel room and find the closest bar, not to get drunk but to slide up to whoever is there and hear their story. People are amazing and every one has an incredible story, you just gotta get it out of them.
hZ: Has Australia a long heritage on circus stuff? Tell us a little more about it!
MS: Australia has a relatively short circus history compared to Europe and Asia, the first circus only arrived in Oz in the late 1830’s. The Romans had a sort of circus in the Coliseum, and the Chinese have been doing acrobatics since, well, forever really.
Australia being fairly new to circus has it’s advantages though, we were inspired by some of the greatest Circus’ of the world… the Russians, American Equestrians, Japanese, Italian, etc. Therefore, I think we have a fresh and eclectic take on what circus is to us. We still have a long way to go before we are recognized for our circus, but maybe one day circus, not beer, will be our biggest export. For some examples look up Circus Oz, Acrobat and Snuff Puppets.
hZ: For you, what’s the extra ingredient needed to be an outstanding performer?
MS: Emotion and a story without a doubt. We are all so spoilt these days with outstanding performers that can do the most amazing things with their bodies. Almost everyone has either been to or seen a Cirque du Soleil and they are truly amazing, they make my jaw drop every time. But when I see someone in a small Cabaret pour their heart out onstage making love to a hula hoop or showing how much they hate their brother through the art of juggling, that stuff takes guts and personality, that stuff takes my breath away.
hZ: What’s the oldest image of fire you can find in your memory?
MS: I remember camping in the great Murray River in the Australian outback. I would have been about 5 or 6 and I remember building a great big bond fire with all the fellow campers, it would have been 10 times my height… Huge!
All the kids had balloons for some reason and being a little anarchist I threw mine into the fire. Amazingly, the balloon didn’t pop, the heat of the fire made the balloon soar into the night sky. Sure enough all the kids who were camping threw all the balloons into the fire watching them fly into the air… hours and hours of fun.
Being so little I knew to stay away from the fire as it was dangerous, but this was the first time I saw how beautiful and powerful it could be… t’was the start of a very long and happy love affair with flames.
