Three by Three:
Guest Artists in Focus

QUESTION 2.    You perform in a wide range of settings, from intimate children’s parties to festivals and circus environments. How do you adjust scale, rhythm, and interaction to suit different spaces and audience dynamics?

• ANSWER 2.     My routines can really differ from style to style of event; I perform varying show lengths, have changeable routines, choose different tools and pick from a variety of outfits, all depending on my audience. Even my bubble mix can vary depending on what I plan to do and what kind of performance I am putting on.

  I am aware that when I perform outside, what I am physically capable of doing can be extremely dependent on weather conditions. Extremely windy days means more mix gets used and larger bubbles are more difficult to make. Adjustments are needed on how to hold the wands and which nets will still create some great bubbles. Working outside, the crowds are very close to me and I often communicate with them while I make bubbles, getting them excited for the upcoming wands, sharing some bubble science or even just laughing with them as they run and pop bubbles.

  At my shows, the level of formality of the event will determine how much I interact with the audience. When everyone is sitting in formal seating, I don't often speak, as the character I perform is mime-like. On the other hand, when there are kids sitting directly in front of me, they often try to stand up and pop the bubbles in the space where I am performing. This can be challenging, but I try to consider my role to have changed from solely a performer to more of a children's entertainer - chatting with them and getting them excited for the things they are seeing, as well as kindly encouraging them to sit down to stay safe.

  At the end of the day, I try to consider who my audience is and what it is that they need to get out of my performance. My goal is for everyone to have left with a sense of excitement and awe, no matter what style of performance they have experienced.

Ashley Rettie
Bubble Artist (Bubbleologist)

BIO:    Ashley Rettie was born in Canada and now resides in Stoke-on-Trent, England. She began her performance career in singing, acting and puppetry, and in 2023 was introduced to bubbleology. While working as an actor, she was trained to perform simple bubble shows and large outdoor bubbles displays. She was amazed by how engaging bubbles could be and loved seeing the joy that bubbleology brought to audiences. After finishing a circus tour, she realized she could create her own bubble act. Since then, she has performed at many music festivals as well as indoor science centre shows and ticketed events. Ashley believes that art should be created and performed by humans rather than AI. Art should be something that comes from within, created from effort, thought and emotion, not computer generated or put together from stolen images and performances. She knows that real art should be valued and wants to continue to create real, live performances for people to enjoy.

LINK:    BonjourBubbles

QUESTION 3.    Participation is central to your work, with audiences often invited to touch, hold, or stand inside bubbles. What insights have you gained about connection, trust, or shared joy through this kind of hands-on engagement?

• ANSWER 3.     The wonderful thing about bubbles is that they really appeal to all the senses. You can see the light bouncing off the bubbles, you can hear the splashes from the mix as it drips off your hands, you smell the scent from the soap and if the audience gets to physically interact with the bubbles, that's the icing on the cake.

  During my shows, I feel that it is important to make some bubbles in the audience, for them to pop. When I take the smoke-filled bubbles into the crowd, I get an even bigger reaction than with regular bubbles, as the audience is captivated as they watch the smoke escape when they pop. I was surprised when I first introduced my foamer (a tube that I blow into that creates foam), how much the kids loved it. During my outdoor bubble displays, I often take time to make foam towers in the children's hands. The kids are so excited and keep coming back for more, which really surprised me, as it is such a simple thing that seems to create so much joy and excitement. Often the very young children feel quite shy at first to hold the foam, which is quickly solved by having a parent try it first. I love this because it brings the adults to participate as well.

  Putting people inside bubbles creates a very special memory, which is often accompanied with a photo that they can look back on later. I was once taught that live performance is about the shared experience of the audience - it's creating memories together and experiencing shared feelings. I believe that watching bubble performance, along with participating in it, heightens the excitement and strengthens the lasting memory.

QUESTION 1.    Effects like steam bubbles, smoke-filled bubbles, foam, and large-scale sculptures rely on very specific physical conditions. Can you describe how experimentation and failure factor into developing a new effect before it becomes reliable enough for live performance?

• ANSWER 1.    Learning a new skill can be extremely difficult. Soap bubbles are incredibly fragile and break very easily. When working with a newer tool, I often have to try it again and again, until I succeed even one time. So often I see a trick that I would like to learn and it can take me an incredible amount of time to figure out. I often have to troubleshoot, reviewing the basics about bubbles, like the importance of moisture and the speed of a trick, to discover some way to make it work. Sometimes it takes days until I can figure it out and other times, I need to reach out for advice from the Bubble Community. Once I have finally cracked the code, I need to practise it over and over again until it works about 85% of the time. At this point, I feel confident enough that I can perform it live in one or two attempts.
  

Hand Bubble Tricks and Basic Tools

Outdoor Bubbles with Various Nets and Wands

Indoor Bubble Act Highlights Using Smoke, Lights and Steam

All copyright and reproduction rights are reserved by Ashley Rettie.
Artwork may not be reproduced in any form without the artist's express written permission.

VIDEO

VIDEO

VIDEO