Concordia Professor Patrick Leroux describes a field school program he organized for this summer that allowed graduate students a deeper delve in to circus studies as it relates to Quebec. We have monitored some of their related articles.

This summer, I led the first international graduate field school in Québec Performing Arts with a particular focus on contemporary circus, but as it has engaged in dialogue with theatre and dance in Québec.

Circus as the focus of academic inquiry and scrutiny? Absolutely.

Contemporary circus—the non-animal, acrobatics and narrative-based one, is a hybrid form of artistic performance and elite sport. The particular case of Québec-based circus with its billion-dollar economy is a fascinating one as one can easily expand its study to include marketing, global business, creativity and experience economies, as well as its international reach through cultural paradiplomacy. Concordia University’s Dean of Arts and Science’s initiative for international summer field schools allowed me the opportunity to offer a graduate level seminar on the research I conduct and regularly present internationally, but never actually get to teach at my home institution where circus didn’t quite fit into my otherwise very literary home department.

In a world of hyperspecialization and more narrowly focused newsfeeds and interests…

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