A brief history of contemporary circus in the UK.
cryingoutloud.org have cobbled together a timeline of recent developments in contemporary circus in the UK. It's a diverting but fairly brief read, and I really wish it was festooned with links, but it ain't.
Nota bene: Navigation is a bit, um, idiosyncratic on Opera, and you are advised to use the orange up/down arrows to access otherwise hidden frames. Caveat emptor, especially Orinoco.
Little Paul - - Parent #
An interesting diversion indeed. It felt like it missed an awful lot out, but I can't quite put my finger on what was missing.
Cedric Lackpot - - Parent #
I'm right with you re missing components, although as a brief potted history it ticks pretty much all the obvious boxes.
But I'd love to see a crowdsourced version where people could pitch in whatever other influences sprang to mind. My first suggestion would be Paul Daniels, who I suspect you hold in as high regard as me for what he did for street and spesh in the late 80s/early 90s.
Little Paul - - Parent #
Paul Daniels inspired a lot of people to get started, but I'm not sure he had much of an impact on "new circus" as such - but undoubtedly he did an awful lot for spesh acts. As did Wheeltappers & Shunters Club, the various chatshows (Bob Monkhouse, Wogan etc)
Although if we're going as far as TV I think Secret Cabaret, while it was notionally a magic show with the occasional spesh act - it had a lot of raw energy in there and drew an enormous amount of influence from the alternative comedy circuit. It's a presentation style I very much associate with early 90s new circus.
For the 90's section I'd like to see The Catch get a mention (obviously!), Swamp, Serious Road Trip, Skylight, The Natural Theater COmpnay Cosmos, Spectral FX all did some really important stuff along the way (in their various ways)
If we were looking at the manipulation side of things then the growth of conventions particularly the BJC and EJC along with MBTM kits did more to raise the awareness of the possible than many of the more avant garde circus troupes. As did the proliferation of shops like Oddballs and Butterfingers.
It seems odd that they mention Circus Space and not Circomedia, or even No Fit State.
Nigel
Interesting points re the manipulation side - certainly it was juggling conventions that made me interested in circus. Does (participating in) gymnastics feed into interest in circus in a similar way, I wonder?
Circomedia is mentioned, btw - it's one of those for which you have to spot and click the orange arrows Jay warned about (website navigation design by a clown...?). No Fit State got a mention also, though not their own section. For recent developments I'd be pleased to see some mention of Seachange arts and the wonderful Out There Festival in Great Yarmouth, and indeed equivalents elsewhere. Much to like about what is included though.
I recently read that Seachange in Great Yarmouth had been given to half a million pounds over three years since 2012 to promote circus and street arts in the area. Living almost 200 miles from this emerging circus centre I have been unaware of its existence. How is the circus scene in the area now, I haven't heard much yet, it sounds like it could be quite promising.
I live in Norfok, but not Great Yarmouth, and I'm afraid I don't know a great deal beyond having been very impressed by Out There. There's a terrific range of circus and street theatre artists there, including some fantastic performers. My impression was that a majority of the performers/companies were not based in the UK. That could be seen as a criticism, though possibly also as a reflection of where talent has previously been encouraged more? And also, I believe one of the things SeaChange are doing is bringing those artists to Great Yarmouth to work with others locally. There are notable UK-based (including world class) exceptions to that, such as the Gandinis, who were there this Sept. I heard from a friend (who's also on Juggling Edge) that this summer's show at the Hippodrome was the best circus show he'd ever seen anywhere (could that be SeaChange influenced/supported, as the link you posted hints at?). To my shame I missed it, but intend to catch the next one!
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