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:
Posters, 1988 - 2012
Skinning the Cat circus posters.
Programmes, 1993 - 1998
Programmes advertising Skinning the Cat shows.
Scrapbook, 1988 - May 2005
A scrapbook containing press cuttings, letter-headed paper, handbills, and other material related to Rebecca Truman and Skinning the Cat, 68pp.
Scrapbook, February 1989 - April 1997
A scrapbook containing tour information, press cuttings, handbills, and other information relating to Skinning the Cat, 46pp.
Scrapbook, 17 February 1996 - 29 January 2004
A scrapbook containing tour information, press cuttings, handbills, and other information relating to Skinning the Cat, 77pp.
Serpent Woman Costume Sketch, c2000
Black ink sketches for the costume of Serpent Woman, including handwritten annotations and material samples.
Show Prep at Rheinahalle Film, 5 December 1994
The Show preparation, the German show, after the show. Footage shows Becky Truman and other performers getting ready for a show, talking to the camera man, scenes in a café, the inside of a church, an aerial performance, performers warm up, make up and rehearsals, sound, colour, copied from VHS.
Sideshow Barker Costume Sketch, c2000
Black ink sketches for the costume of Sideshow Barker, including handwritten annotations.
Skinning the Cat: Aerial Theatre Poster, c1988 - 2003
Colour photograph of a performer from Skinning the Cat during one of their performances, wearing a red and gold costume and hanging from a pole, the company logo in write type, and logos of supporting organisations in gold type on a black background.
Skinning the Cat: Circus of the Sky Film, 1988 - 2003
Compilation of footage of Skinning the Cat performances, colour, sound, copied from VHS.
Skinning the Cat Collection
This collection contains the archive of Skinning the Cat, aerial circus company including press cuttings relating, promotional material, programmes, photographs, costumes and costume designs and business records. It also contains DVDs of footage of performances, a book by Rebecca Truman and digital born files.
Skinning the Cat Handbill, c1997
Image from a Skinning the Cat performance, with three performers in blue, green and red costumes suspended from a rig, with the company logo in white in the top-left corner.
Skinning the Cat Handbill, c1997
Image from a Skinning the Cat performance, with three performers in blue, green and red costumes suspended from a rig, with the company logo in white in the top-left corner.
Skinning the Cat presents: Enchantress, c1996
Colour photograph from a Skinning the Cat performance of Enchantress, with the company's logo and the performance title in white type at the top, a description of the performance at the bottom, and along the right side four small colour photographs from previous Skinning the Cat performances.
Skinning the Cat presents: Enchantress, c1996
Colour photograph from a Skinning the Cat performance of Enchantress, with the company's logo and the performance title in white type at the top, a description of the performance at the bottom, and along the right side four small colour photographs from previous Skinning the Cat performances.
Sky Hooked: An exhibition by Becky Truman, 19 January 2012
The Bradford Gallery, The Yorkshire Craft Centre.Colour photograph of Rebecca Truman in one of her performances, white type on a black background on the front, and on the reverse white and black type on an orange and white background giving the name, date, description of the event and contact information, and logos of various related organisations.
Sky Hooked: An exhibition by Becky Truman, 19 January 2012
The Bradford Gallery, The Yorkshire Craft Centre. Colour photograph of Rebecca Truman in one of her performances, white type on a black background on the front, and on the reverse white and black type on an orange and white background giving the name, date, description of the event and contact information, and logos of various related organisations.
SkyHooked: An Exhibition by Becky Truman Poster, 20 January - 22 February 2012
A colour photograph of Becky Truman during one of her performances, wearing a red, gold and purple feathered costume and red feather headdress, the title of the exhibition, a short description and the time and date in white type on the front, and on the reverse orange boxes containing information about Rebecca Truman, the location of the exhibition and contact information, and colour photographs of the Skinning the Cat company during their performances.
STC Compilation of Edits Film, 1992 - 2008
Compilation of footage of Skinning the Cat performances, including Chameleon, Phenomena & Claire de Lune, Windsor Baths & Panto, Firebird, The Warrior Princesses at Circus of the Street and Rubicon Circus of the Sky, showing Becky Truman and other performers, colour, sound, copied from VHS.
Stretch Twins Costume Sketch, c2000
Black ink sketch for the costume of the Stretch Twins, including handwritten annotations and a material sample.