- Ur kaos föds allt - Jan Unestam. Foto: Mattias Edwall
- TRIX - Marie-Andrée Robitaille. Foto: Mattias Edwall
- Ur kaos - Henrik Agger. Foto: Matiias Edwall
- 00:00 - Marta Oldenburg. Foto: Mattias Edwall
THE CIRCUS HEART
Contemporary circus first emerged as an artistic genre in the 1970s. The main difference between traditional circus and contemporary circus is that a traditional circus show takes place in a tent and includes acts with humans and animals. Contemporary circus has moved the circus onto the theater stage, and it is influenced by other art forms such as theater, dance, visual arts, music and street arts. Contemporary circus performances are by nature dramatic and often have a narrative thread. There are contemporary circus companies that include animals in their shows, but this is far less common than in traditional circus.
In traditional circus it is the family that train and pass on acts to the next generation of artists. With the emergence of contemporary circus, educational programs opened up to artists that were not born into circus families. Although contemporary circus artists were inspired by the alternative community that the traditional circus had created, they wanted to take an active part in and influence their society.
A contemporary circus stage can be anything from a classroom, a theater, a rock venue – and a circus tent. For the audience the narrative and often animal-free performance of contemporary circus is quite different from what they have imagined. Physical limits are tested – just as in traditional circus – but it creates transboundary art pieces using other art forms and expressions.
CIRKÖR IN SHORT