Truman, Rebecca, Born 1967
Dates
- Existence: Born 1967
Biography
Rebecca Truman (b.1967), became interested in circus as a child, after reading ‘The Circus is Coming’ by Noel Streatfield.
Rebecca is the founder of Skinning the Cat.
Rebecca, aka ‘The Grande Dame of Aerial’, studied art and fashion at Bradford College. This is where she first experienced performance on a trapeze. On her second year she persuaded the ‘Bradford Bouncing Back’ campaign to award her £2,000 to stage a fashion cabaret in a nightclub, showcasing designers. This was a great achievement for a student and already showed signs of Rebecca’s showmanship and business skills. For her graduation degree show, Rebecca choreographed and staged ‘Snakes and Ladders’, an aerial performance featuring four aerial trapeze artists and her own costume and sculpture designs at Carlton Bolling Theatre.
Rebecca graduated with BA (Hons) in Art & Design in 1988 and this same year she was commissioned to organise a fashion cabaret and perform a trapeze show by the Bradford Festival in the Wool Exchange. She joined Cathie Sprague to deliver this project, which became the basis of Skinning the Cat and marked Rebecca’s debut as a professional performer. Over the years, Rebecca trained as a professional performer in circus schools in London and Paris while Cathie, who had been teaching printmaking, puppetry and circus, in Bradford in the early 1980s, enrolled on the RA RA ZOO’s circus skills course in 1986, where she trained on the trapeze.
In 1993, Rebecca received a Prince’s Trust grant to invest in a van and a rig for the business, which enabled the company to tour around the UK for the next two years. This same year, she received the Prince’s Youth Business Trust’s ‘Young Achiever of the Year Award’, presented by Jasper Conran and she was featured in Martin Miller’s book ‘The Best of British Women’.
In 2002, Rebecca created a special show for the Millennium Dome and she was made artistic director of the Commonwealth Games Opening and Closing ceremonies in Manchester.
Despite dissolving Skinning the Cat in 2002, she has remained a prominent figure in aerial theatre and the visual arts. She has lectured at Bradford College, has specialised in special effects costumes, rig design, life casting, sculpting and mask-making, and helps to run a company making rope for aerial performers. Some of Becky Truman’s costumes are housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Found in 68 Collections and/or Records:
8th Festival of Street Arts programme, 27 - 29 June 1997
Portfolio containing delegate's pack including programme, introduction to troupes and theatre companies and site plan.
8th International Festival of Street Theatre and Animation programme, 3 - 6 July 1997
Viladecans, Spain. Colour photograph of Skinning the Cat aerial act on trapeze held by a hand with a face drawn on it on the front cover, inside black and white and colour photographs of acts and performers with information and list of events, also contains commercial advertising, 16pp.
12th International Festival of Street Theatre programme, 20 - 23 August 1997
Auriallac, presented by Eclat. Multicolour type on black border and white centre with cut out window showing a man's face in disgust on the front cover, inside list of acts, four-fold programme with insert.
13th International Festival of Street Theatre programme, 19 - 22 August 1998
Auriallac, presented by Eclat. Colour illustration of a man sticking his tongue out and winking on the front cover, inside list of acts, three-fold programme with insert errata.
Al carrer '97: 8è festival internacional de teatre i animació, 3 - 6 July 1997
Viladecans, Spain. Red, blue and black type giving the name of the festival, a photograph of a hand suspending a trapeze act from its forefinger, the festival logo and the logos for the Viladecans Department of Culture and the Province of Barcelona on the front, and on the reverse the name and date of the festival, a list of the performers, their country or region of origin, and their act, as well as contact information on a white and yellow background.
Be There 2002: The Bradford International Festival, 7 - 16 June 2002
Bradford. On the front, colour photograph of The Improbable Theatre, the name and date of the festival in red, yellow, blue and white type with a yellow border, and blue, yellow, white and red type listing the time, date and venue of each performance, and on the reverse, colour photographs of performances by Skinning the Cat, the company logo in yellow and white type, the festival logo, and information about Skinning the Cat's 'Rubicon' performance in white type.
Bird costume sketch, c2000
Black ink sketch for a Bird costume from one of Skinning the Cat's shows.
Born Digital Files, c1988 - 1999
Skinning the Cat company archive files containing digital photographs of their performances and a PDF file of final draft of Aerialist: The Colourful Life of a Trapeze Artist book by Becky Truman, Transferred from donor's PC onto NFCA hard drive, contains 28 folders of colour photographs and a PDF file.
Bubble Girl Costume Sketch, c2000
Black ink sketch for the costume of Bubble Girl, including handwritten annotations and material samples.
Business Records, 1999 - 2004
Costume designs for Skinning the Cat shows by Rebecca Truman, as well as business records inclusing financial records and correspondence.
Business Records, 2002-2004
Business records related to Skinning the Cat including; Rebecca Truman's business card, various documents related to trapeze frames and rigging containing structural calculations and designs by David Young Associates, quotes from Litestructures and the Angle Ring Company Ltd.
Business Records, 2003-2004
Business records related to Albatros Rig, including sketches, photographs, costing from Lifestructures, technical drawings and calculations and invoices.
Business Records, c1999 - 2004
Various items of business records produced by Skinning the Cat , a report on Circus in the UK by Circus Arts Forum and a report on project development and strategic planning by Richard Sobey Creative Business Development and Strategic Planning.
Circus of the Sky Presents: Rubicon, c2002
Colour photograph from a Skinning the Cat performance, with the Circus of the Sky logo in white in the top-right corner, the name of the performance in grey type and the company website on a black background on the front, and on the reverse a colour photograph from a Skinning the Cat performance, the cast listing and production team in white type on a black background.
Circus of the Sky Presents: Rubicon, c2002
Colour photograph from a Skinning the Cat performance, with the Circus of the Sky logo in white in the top-right corner, the name of the performance in grey type and the company website on a black background on the front, and on the reverse a colour photograph from a Skinning the Cat performance, the cast listing and production team in white type on a black background.
Costumes, c1988 - 2004
Four costumes designed and made by Rebecca Truman for Skinning the Cat shows called Scrimple, Drippy, Firebird Sequin and Stretch twins (2).
Cupola: A Circus Installation, 11 November 2017 - 22 April 2018
Cupola: A Circus Installation, 11 November 2017 - 22 April 2018
Eclat 95: 10e Festival Europeen de Théâtre de Rue d'Aurillac: Catalogue des Compagnies, 1995
Aurillac, France. Red, white and black type on a black and white background with a grey number 10 and illustration of a man on the cover, inside an introduction to the Aurillac street theatre festival, with black and white photos and descriptions of each act in alphabetical order and some handwritten notes on the spine and the inside pages, and an index at the back, featuring Skinning the Cat on page 96, 120pp.
Euroscene Leipzig Festival Programme, 1996
Leipzig, Germany.White type giving the name and date of the festival on a red, yellow, blue and white print of a painting on the cover, colour commercial advertising on the inside cover, inside an introduction to the festival, black and white photographs and information on each act and the time, date and location of their performance, and commercial advertising. Also, a letter from the festival director, dated 4 October 1996, on letter-headed A4 paper, 64pp.