Taking an interest in the performers in Taiwan also means getting involved with different theater groups and becoming a part of the vibrant artistic community that exists on the island.
“The idea of bringing this into the community is by making yourself accessible. It's not becoming a mega-industry where you only think about money. There has to be something where there's social contact and that's why I like working with these people because you see it developing and you see people change. You see people get confident,” he said.
Snell says that the culture of Canada incubates the kind of creativity needed to make new circus because it doesn't have any cultural traditions holding it back.
“Our whole history of performance is creating new things. The quality of our work is imagination. The quality of Taiwan's artists is a discipline and an athletic capability. So when we put the two together we have to take our creativity with their physical ability and then we make a new circus,” he said.
Contrasting the creative and artistic atmosphere between Taiwan and China, Snell says that he likes working with Taiwanese because they have a profound and deep respect for their culture and their history combined with an incredible curiosity for the new.
Though the local talent is a mixture of amateur and professional, he chose top-notch new circus and experimental theater artists from around the world.
“We've matched them [local performers] with the best circus acrobats from around the world ... . So they are coming up and matching that challenge,” he said.
The new circus troupes Snell has assembled for Taiwan all share this basic ethos of breaking down the traditional barrier between the spectator and performer, involving the former in the performance so they too become actors. Snell is also interested in providing the kind of entertainment that breaks down the barriers of language.
“The appeal of physical theater or circus in Asia is that there is no language barrier. You are doing physical work that everyone can understand,” he said.
And for Snell and his troupe of international and local performers, mounting a production that everyone can participate in and understand is what new circus is all about.
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