What is contemporary circus, and what does contemporary circus in Palestine actually look like? When did it start? What do Palestinian circus artists really want? These questions and many more have been under discussion for the past decade in Palestine. To answer them, we must first look back and go through circus’ evolution into the Palestinian circus of today.

Weidenbach, “Acrobatic Exercises and Game of Morra.” The Timeline of Circus According to A.H. Saxon (2019), in an earlier article about circus history: Acrobatics, balancing acts and juggling are probably as old as humankind itself,  with records of such acts being performed in Egypt as early as 2500 BCE. The Greeks practiced rope dancing; early African civilizations engaged in siricasi (a combination of folkloric dance and acrobatics), and the an...