WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER & PROGRAMMER.

Aka ‘Circus Pimp’ -Emma Herbert Vickers

When I was 8, my mum sold a horse to a circus, where I watched flying trapeze and fell in love. With my dad a film director and producer, I grew up in a home full of art and actors. At 17 yrs old, I discovered cabaret at the legendary review club, ‘Madame Jo-Jo’s’ in Soho; the drag queens and go-go boys took me under their wing, showing me their world. I forged my own route, living with punks in late 1980’s Lower East Side of NYC, and on returning to London, I joined the anarchistic sculpture/performance/rave collective, the Mutoid Waste Company. Occupying empty warehouses across Europe, we put on massive raves, and I was involved in every aspect including event production, large-scale sculptures, and performance. I took up full-time training in circus aerial acrobatics in London, performing in circuses and clubs across Europe. Following a year with a big top circus in NZ, I finally quit high-flying acrobatics.

FANTAIL CREATIVE & SUGAR HIGH PRODUCTIONS

Since 2008 I have introduced and layered performing arts into music festivals across Aotearoa. Primarily as the performance director/producer for Splore Festival, but also for Rhythm & Alps and LUMA Queenstown. Driven by my passion for daring, ground-breaking performance art-forms and artists, I have written and produced numerous cabarets and multi-genre shows for the Auckland Arts Festival, Wānaka Festival of Colour and Adelaide Fringe Festival.