Contemporary circus

Hurrah for the juggler! (Vsevolod Meyerhold)

Circus Arts: a contemporary vision of circus

Nouveau Cirque debuted in France in the 1970s, breaking away from traditional circus in  a number of ways: challenging the circular presentation style, not using animals in the performances and presenting acts that involve a variety of skills – both circus and theatrical – in a way that leaves room for artistic expression and creativity. Nouveau cirque introduced the concept of “circus actor”, giving actorial status to the new circus artists who were formed in multi-disciplinary circus schools such as CNAC and Academie Fratellini. Today circus has become a major art form whose performances   are presented  both  under big top and on theatre  stages and are scheduled for opera houses and high-profile  multi-disciplinary international festivals. Key characteristic  of contemporary circus is multidisciplinarity and  interaction  with other art forms: dance, theatre, music, video arts, architecture, visual arts.
Contemporary  circus artists are called upon to be  multi – skilled, both creators and performers in powerful shows where extreme physical skills go together with dramaturgy, sophisticated coreography, deep emotions.

Circus and Commedia dell’Arte

Circus and Commedia dell’Arte are closely related in terms of history, multi – disciplinary, creative, indipendent artists coupling acrobatic and stage presence, skilled based performances, multidisciplinary shows, strong relationship with the audience.