New Artistic Director of Circusstad Festival: Menno van Dyke
CircusTalk would like to congratulate Menno van Dyke on his recent promotion to Artistic Director of the Circusstad Festival.
Starting June 1, Menno van Dyke will take over the role of artistic director of the Circusstad Festival. He will be replacing his predecessor Maaike van Langen, who founded Circusstad in Rotterdam with Dirk Evers and has held her role of artistic director for 12 years.
Born in Amsterdam, Menno van Dyke is a seasoned circus professional. He has been active in the industry for 20 years at this time. More than just business, circus is a driving force in his life. Him and his wife Emily van Dyke-Weisse have been performing their juggling tango act together across the world since 2007. Their act combines Argentine tango with juggling feats and was honored with the Oscar Carré Trofee. Although his travels have taken him across many seas, van Dyke currently calls Rotterdam home.
The selection committee looks forward to his expertise as someone with such a profound circus background. Samuel Wuersten, member of the selection committee, explains the merits of their new appointee: “With him Circusstad Festival Rotterdam has managed to appoint an artistic director who has circus in his blood. His view on this special art discipline is broad. He embraces the entire spectrum of innovation, tradition, talent development and social significance.”
Despite the new role, van Dyke will not vanish from the stage. While his time as an artist may look different, he assures us, “As the artistic director of Circusstad Festival I would like to show the full breadth of contemporary circus. Today, circus can take place anywhere, in many forms. By continuing to focus on quality, I also hope that circus will be appreciated even more as an adult member of the performing arts.”
In an additional comment, van Dyke explains his wishes for the upcoming festival:
“After the two cancelled editions in 2020 and 2021, it’s my biggest wish to be able to re-connect with our audience through live performances in May 2022. While there’s some great and very interesting online-content that has been created during the pandemic, it never replaces, in my opinion, the special magic that happens between circus performers and audiences during a live show.
As for the festival itself, I will keep the focus on presenting both international “state of the art” and performances from the emerging Dutch field. But I also plan to add another new element to the festival that will prominently celebrate the circus arts, the festival and Rotterdam as circus capital of the Netherlands.”
Due to COVID-19, the 2021 Circusstad Festival has been moved to September 10th, 11th, and 12th. The full program will be announced June 1st.
This information is courtesy of Dijlan van Vlimmeren and Circusstad
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