The new Salieri Circus Award in Italy refreshes the concept of circus acts as competition,

elegantly challenging the notions of both the classic and the contemporary. A review and a few meditations on the state of the art. In circus, nothing seems less fluctuating than the conceptualization of genres and styles. The dilemma is even more engaging when following the eternal struggle of ancients-versus-moderns. So, in these sleepy times of forced hiatus, imagine how stimulating the promise of a marriage between classical music and contemporary circus might be. Such an idea, although regularly approached in a few circus productions (such as shows by Circa Company, Gandini or ultimately Cirkus Cirkor), has never been applied to the competition criteria of a festival befor...