CIRCLE SQUARED COLLECTIVE
The Circle² Collective is interested in exploring the intersection of traditional storytelling and avant-garde experimental film and theatre techniques to bring diverse voices to a new generation of audiences. Our goal is to create art that is both innovative and accessible.
The C2C was founded in 2013 by a core group of alumni from California State University- Los Angeles' M.F.A., M.A., and B.A. programs in Dance, Film, Music, Television, and Theatre.
In 2019 Founding Artistic Director, Ricky Pak, accepted a full-time professor position in the Department of Drama at Syracuse University. He and Associate Artistic Director Whitney Tenney Pak relocated to New York and created a second circle of the C2C based in Syracuse New York. Meanwhile, Associate Artistic Director Yvette Herrera continues to create theatre in the Southern California area.
The C2C primarily creates new work using Moment Work, a method of devised theatre making that does not begin with text and instead explores generating theatrical work using alternate stage elements. We have been a BIPOC led organization since our inception and creating diverse theatre is fundamental to our core beliefs.
OUR NAME
Circles, both literal and figurative, are common in many cultural, spiritual, and storytelling traditions. A circle gives connotations of perpetual motion—of beginnings and endings. Circles also play an important role in our creative process—we usually "circle up" at the beginning and end of a rehearsal—and circular staging is a prominent part of storytelling theatre.
Squares are the opposites of Circles. One is rigid and structured, the other is smooth and flowing. Many of the stories we tell are about both recognizing differences and trying to reconcile opposing forces; this idea is present in our name, "Circle Squared." Circles and Squares are also very evocative of childhood as an artistic ensemble we try to always remember our sense of playfulness and imagination.
Finally, in the mathematical sense "squaring" something makes it greater than it once was, which is something that we're constantly striving for both individually and as a collective.