Contemporary circus

Touring, Programming, and Funding Big Tops in Europe - the guide is out!

Circostrada is very proud to present the network's later resource focusing on Touring, Programming, and Funding Big Tops in Europe! This hands-on guide is stemming directly from the first edition of SPARK, a transdisciplinary laboratory organised by Circostrada, in collaboration with Festival Circolo, which took place in 2022 in Tilburg, in the Netherlands.

Aimed at artists, producers and venues wishing to produce shows in a big top in European countries, you will find inside practical tips and in-depth articles on: 

• administration
• financing
• organising tours in Europe
• technical, logistics and security
• parenting 
• disability
• diversity
• advice from experts for artists and presenting partners

This guide was written by Axel Satgé and Déborah Boëno and illustrated by Vasco Maio.

The guide is available in English and in French.

Have a good reading!

Discover the Spark#1 - The podcast on the future of circus tents!

This podcast is a collection of the thoughts and ideas that came up during he first edition of Spark. An event that took place on April 28th to 29th 2022 in Tilburg (The Netherlands), co-organised with Festival Circolo. It was an event for discussing and imagining the future of big tops and exploring new possibilities for the mobility of circus tents and big tops,

Spark brought together a small group of participants combining Circostrada members, artists architects and designers that exchanged best practices, experiences and brainstorm collectively to come up with a list of recommendations to circulate within the field at local, national, and European levels.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE 

DISCOVER THE CS LAB#4 PUBLICATION

This publication follows the 4th edition of the CS LAB, co-organised by Circostrada with Re Riga! and Rigas cirks from July 2 to 4, 2019, on the theme "Circus Commons", or how circus and the values it conveys and promotes can feed our professional practices. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Diary of a CS LAB experience 
• The Sphere
• Becoming multiple: the concept of the unit of embodying
• Changing the world: workshopping the third thing 

BRACE YOURSELVES FOR THE FRESH CIRCUS#4 PUBLICATION!

Following the fourth edition of FRESH CIRCUS – International Seminar for the Development of Circus Arts – organised for the first time in Brussels from 13 to 15 March 2018 by Circostrada/ARTCENA, in partnership with Espace Catastrophe and Wallonie Bruxelles Théâtre Danse, in the frame of Festival UP!, we are happy to communicate this report, which provides a comprehensive overview of this exciting and fruitful experience, designed around the strapline "More than Circus!".

This publication will give you an overview of the stakes the contemporary circus sector is facing, from an international perspective and focusing on the three following sub-themes: Innovation, Artistic paths and creation processes, Images and audiences. It includes a mix of in-depth articles and interviews with artists and key players from the field. 

This publication follows the third KAWHA meeting, which took place in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) from March 6 to 9 2020, in the frame of the third edition of the RICA – Intercultural Circus encounters – and the MASA – Abidjan Performing Arts Market. The meeting was organised by Circostrada, in partnership with La Fabrique Culturelle and the French Institute from Ivory Coast and gathered many African and European circus professionals, including a delegation of Circostrada members. 

During these few days, participants could take part in a rich programme featuring among other things: sharing and brainstorming sessions, interactive workshops, professional meetings, artistic programming, roundtables, visits of local cultural venues, which enabled them to get a real picture of the circus ecosystem in Ivory Coast and Africa in general.

This publication provides the context, knowledge, meetings and the experience gained through this Ivorian interlude.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

•  Abidjan, the rallying force of circus
• The stakes and realities of circus arts in Ivory Coas and Africa
• Three African circus players team up on a co-production project
• Overview of the companies who performed at the RICA 2020
• Professional corner: overview of the field's players
• Next meetings
• Resources

You were waiting for it… The FRESH CIRCUS#5 publication is now out!

While creations and artistic projects anchored in their territory are more than ever relevant considering the current sanitary context, this publication comes along just at the right time!

This publication gathers some reflections and insights that emerged during the 5th edition of the International Seminar International Seminar for the Development of Circus Arts, co-organised with CIRCa - National Pole for Circus. This 2019’s edition took place in Auch (France), in the course of the 32th edition of the contemporary circus festival.

Entitled "Circus is everywhere!" FRESH CIRCUS#5 explored the relation between circus and territories, with an emphasis on rurality. In this publication a wide range of circus professionals coming from all over the world share their thoughts on this issue, questioning the contexts of each project, its  singularities and its territories, confronting knowledge and experiences.

Picture: Fragan Gehlker © Patrick Barbier

This second edition follows the steps of the 2016 “European Funded Projects” guide and maintains the same main three purposes: to identify projects and networks currently active in the circus and street arts sectors, to promote available opportunities for artists and cultural professionals, and to highlight inspiring community-related grants.

During the past three years, we have witnessed many artists, companies, collectives, cultural professionals and organisations making good use of this publication, and we have also been pleasantly surprised to see that policy makers and funders at multiple levels of competencies (European, national, regional and local) started using it too, so as to better understand the trends and evolutions of these sectors, both in terms of aesthetics, formats, and contents.

The European Charter for Hosting Circuses in Towns was inspired by a project previously implemented in France: the Charter “Establishment for the Circus”. This was signed in May, 2001 by the Ministry of culture and several orga- nisations, representative associations of local government and professional trade unions, who committed to distri- buting and promoting it amongst its members in order to support and develop the hosting of circuses throughout the national territory. A similar project was implemented in Spain in 2007, by the APCC - Catalan Association of Circus Professionals, as the “Collaboration Charter for Circus on Big Tops Tours”.

The European Circus Charter has been developed with the aim of promoting circus arts in public spaces throughout Europe, by suggesting good practices to which signatories – circuses, local governments and other hosting enti- ties – may willingly commit themselves. A series of elements required by both parties are set out, and may be used as a methodology to assist with the touring of tented performances.

This Charter has the following objectives

• to respond to the public’s engagement with the art form by making circus accessible to all, whatever the age, and the social, economic, cultural or language origins
•  to increase awareness and recognition of circus arts both at national and local level
• to promote circus arts in public spaces, to open up new spaces for circus companies
•  to promote a cultural exchange between the circus companies and the towns
•  to improve the facilites provided and more generally the hosting conditions for circuses
• to encourage discussion and trust-based collaboration between local authorities and other hosting entities and the circus professions
• to promote a “make things possible” philosophy, within the frame of a shared concern for the safety of the public

On April from 13 to 15 2016 in Paris, Circostrada Network, in partnership with La Villette, organised FRESH CIRCUS#3 - European Seminar for the Development of Circus Arts.

The third edition of this flagship event brought together 400 international professionals, artists and policy makers for a key focus on circus arts. Open panels, geographical round tables, thematic workshops and an artistic programme were on the agenda of
this 3-day seminar, which addressed the theme 'Moving borders'. The objective? To explore in all latitudes the geography
of circus arts to draw a picture of the development of contemporary circus across the globe. 

This publication delivers the dynamic conclusions of all the sessions and formulates a series of practical recommendations for all professionals to improve the structuring and recognition of the sector in Europe and beyond. 

Table of Contents

• Opening key note:#1 "Some thoughts on the purpose of stuff and other things" (Lucho Smit)
• Opening key note#2: "Universality of circus arts: from utopia to reality" (Pascal Jacob)
• Geographical roundtables #1 to #7
• Thematic workshops #1 to #8

You can download the publication in PDF, or read it on Issuu. 

The 6th edition of En la Cuerda Floja 2017 left us big moments, big artists, workshops, spectacles and reflections. We leave you a small summary of the 6th Circus International Meeting of Santander.
Thanks to Stefan Sing, Kim Langlet, Oriol Escursell Domenech, Ana Jordao, Javier Ariza Barcina, Cie Circadì, Garazi Pascual Esnaola, Andrés Vázquez-Prada Batet, Sebastian Spinella, Vane Peripecias, Ursula Mainardi, Arce López Gutiérrez, Cheryl Vizioli, Elena Ros, Anthony Mathieu and CdAT team. Long life to Circus!! And thanks Band on the bend for the video.

Watch the video below!