Are Community Circus Shows Still Relevant? --A Case Study with Vulcana Women's Circus - CircusTalk

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Are Community Circus Shows Still Relevant? –A Case Study with Vulcana Women’s Circus

The last couple of years have seen Brisbane’s circus profile on the rise, with a large number of circus companies from the region touring shows around the world to much acclaim. In fact, it has even been claimed by the media as the number two-circus hub in the world, outside of Montréal. With many attributing this success to the drive to create more high skill professional shows, we pause to ask the question: Are community shows still relevant and why are they important? We sat down with Vulcana Women’s Circus‘ Artistic Director Celia White to find out. “A community show is an opportunity for people who are new to performing, or who have some experience, or even have a lot of experience to work together to create a full show. They get to be supported by really high quality artists, like musicians, composers, production crew and directors and then present that to the public” White  explains. “It is collaborative, but it’s not scary, in that if you don’t know what to do with your ideas, you’re not on your own. You have a community of people to support that process”
A scene from As If No One Is Watching. Photo courtesy of Rod Noending Vulcana has a long history of creating community shows with performers that come from a range of communities. The process relies heavily on drawing on the skills and experiences of the group, and allows an opportunity for stories and experiences that are less commonly heard, to make it to the stage. When talking about why community shows are important, White cites these as key reasons,“There are a range of reasons these shows are important. One is, that in the cultural world of performance, there’s a lack of representation of diversity on our stages, and that diversity can be as simple as the number o...
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Angela Peita

Angela Peita is a Brisbane based artist, arts writer and event coordinator. She is co-director at Ruckus Brisbane, and spends her day times in the office at Vulcana Circus.