Meet Jason Barnard, the base and spirit of MOYA
The 29-year-old who left England as soon as he could: To return home to Zip-Zap Circus.
Jason Barnard (29) first performed with the Zip-Zap Circus from the tender age of eight, prior to leaving South Africa for the UK with his mother when he was 13. Although Barnard spent five years in London, his heart and soul were miles away in South Africa, at the Zip-Zap Circus.
“At the age of 18, I came back to South Africa. I realised [that] my life wasn’t in London,” Barnard said. “I started with Zip-Zap again; I joined their Dare to Dream programme – which is a four-year, full-vocational programme where you learn how to teach circus.”
After the programme, Barnard became a permanent member of the Zip-Zap Circus staff – which he has now been a part of for a decade since his return from abroad. Since returning to the Zip-Zap Circus, Barnard has seen many parts of Europe.
“We did 93 shows in three months. We spent two months in Paris, midwinter – it was cold,” said Barnard. “Then we spent a month travelling to the south of France; Lyon, Marseille, we even popped into Switzerland, Geneva, for one show.”
According to Barnard, who has also been exposed to the Big Top circus format, there are nuances which separate MOYA as an experience from what a patron would see at a Big Top circus event.
“MOYA is more of a contemporary show – with a storyline,” Barnard explained. “For the traditional Big Tops, it’s more like giving your best technique, it’s not about storylines; You do your act, you come off, the next person goes on and they do their act.”
In MOYA, Barnard performs as Jason the rapping acrobat, juggler and porter who is the first one from the fictionalised Holtel of Acrobatics to acknowledge Trompie’s talent and potential. Barnard expounds on what he does at Zip-Zap Circus.
“I do gravity juggling, bounce juggling – which is bouncing balls on the floor, instead of throwing them up in the air,” said Barnard. “Then I do hand-to-hand with Jacobus: We do hand-to-hand where he does hand-stands on top of my hands: I throw him, I catch him again. So I’m a base, and he’s a flyer.”
Barnard holds Fourways and Monte-Casino to high regard as a venue which offers numerous options which he looks forward to exploring once the show is wrapped up.
“We haven’t really had time to go do other things, because we’ve been setting up – focusing on the first week of shows,” Barnard said. “I think once we’re done, I think I’d be able to explore a bit then.”
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