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:
Terschellings Oerol: programma, 9 - 18 June 1995
Terschelling, Netherlands. Black type on a green background with black and white photograph of a nude woman with digital colourisation on the cover, inside an introduction and description of the festival, black and white photographs and descriptions of each act, and black and white and colour commercial advertising, featuring Skinning the Cat on page 37, 77pp.
The Firebird Costume Sketch, c2000
Black and red ink sketches for the costume of The Firebird, including handwritten annotations and material samples.
The World Famous City Varieties Music Hall programme, c1994
City Varieties Music Hall, Leeds. Colour illustration representing performers, and the show title in blue type on a cream background on the cover, colour commercial advertising on the inside cover, inside black and white photographs of the performers and descriptions of each act, information about future performances at the venue and a songsheet at the back, featuring Becky Truman on page 8, 13pp.
Theatre Magazine, 1995
Theatre magazine.
Theatre Royal & Opera House Wakefield presents: Aladdin, 1996 - 1997
Venezianische Messe Ludwigsburg programme, 12 - 14 September 1997
Ludwigsburg, Germany. Colour photograph of two people in costume with a white border on a black background and white type with the event logo on the front cover, inside white, black and cream pages with running order, introduction, black and white and colour photographs, and descriptions of each act and commercial advertising, featuring Skinning the Cat on page.
Warrior Princesses: A Skinning the Cat Production, c2001
Colour photograph of two members of Skinning the Cat during their Warrior Princesses performance, the performance name and subheading in white type and a red border.
Warrior Princesses: A Skinning the Cat Production, c2001
Colour photograph of two members of Skinning the Cat during their Warrior Princesses performance, the performance name and subheading in white type and a red border.