The International Circus Award winners are announced! In the vein of the Tony Awards® and the Academy Awards® came the International Circus Awards on October 9th, 2021, the only one of its kind where companies, artists, and circus producers from around the globe had their circus productions recognized for their outstanding achievements. The International Circus Awards celebrated extraordinary achievements within the global circus community by honoring the artists engaged in creating, performing, directing, and designing circus shows.

The awards were overseen and managed by the Contemporary Circus & Immersive Arts Center (CCIAC) in Troy, New York. In its inaugural year, a voting committee comprised of over 30 circus industry leaders and professionals were chosen to adjudicate the submitted shows and to present awards in 10 different categories and culminated in a digital ceremony to celebrate the accomplishments of the art form over the past two years. Hosted by Aaron Marquise, featuring a musical number that explained what contemporary circus is (or perhaps rather what it isn’t), the show was an entertaining peek into a diverse art form. Without further ado, here are the winners of 2021’s awards!

MEET THE AWARD WINNERS

Outstanding Performance by an Artist(s)

Phelani Ndakroka

SOUTH AFRICA

Outstanding Digital Production

Moya – Zip Zap Circus & Sabine Van Rensburg, Brin Schoellkopf, Samuel Renaud
SOUTH AFRICA, CANADA, UNITED STATES

Outstanding Achievement in Circography

The Pulse – Gravity & Other Myths
AUSTRALIA

Outstanding Achievement in Dramaturgy

Se prendre – LION LION
CANADA
Claudel Doucet, Cooper Lee Smith & Félix-Antoine Boutin

Outstanding Achievement in Design

The Pulse – Gravity & Other Myths
AUSTRALIA

Lighting and Set Design Geoff Cobham
Composer Ekrem Eli Pheonix

Outstanding Emerging Company

Sweat & Ink – Cirque Barcode
CANADA

.Outstanding Production

The Pulse – Gravity & Other Myths
AUSTRALIA

Special Award Honoree – Community Impact Award

Uncle Junior Project – Veronica Blair
UNITED STATES

Audience Choice Award

AURA – Cirko Alebrije

MEXICO

CircusTalkCritics’ Choice Award