Jan Kranendonk / Shutterstock
There will be almost 3,000 shows playing at this year’s Fringe, which can feel a little daunting, especially for the first timer. Here’s how to get it right.
The National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) in Prahran, Melbourne.
AAP.Image/Glenn Hunt
The relationship between universities and performing arts training in Australia has often been uneasy or contentious.
The Circus by Georges Seurat (1891).
Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt
An expert in the circus in literature and culture explains the root of its resonance as a political metaphor – and why circus performers object to it.
Clowns in American circuses were once considered a form of adult entertainment.
ArtMarie/E+ via Getty Images
Today’s creepy clowns are not a divergence from tradition, but a return to it.
The O d'écH2osystème is a wheel four meters in diameter that can be attached by crane to the deck of a ship, a wharf or the banks of the small and large municipalities along the shores of the St. Lawrence River.
(Geneviève Dupéré)
This article crosses from the river to the stage, to explore the St. Lawrence at the meeting point of marine and freshwater sciences, the fishing, maritime and port industries, and the circus arts.
Cirque du Soleil contortionist Aruna Bataa makes it look so easy.
Ralph Arvesen
Circus is exciting, though sometimes unpredictable. At any moment during rehearsal, performance or travel, injuries can occur.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
Circus Oz was a revelation: so joyous, funny, imaginative, talented, witty – and so Australian.
Big cat showmen have long sought to distance themselves from allegations of animal abuse.
Universal History Archive/Getty Images
The flamboyant big-cat aficionados of the Gilded Age weren’t strangers to fierce competition, threats and bizarre drama.
The Investiture of Zimri Lim Fresco from the palace of Mari gives us an image of royal ideology in the ancient Middle East.
Louvre Museum
The huppû, from modern-day Syria were celebrated athletes, trained in specialist academies, touring to foreign kingdoms, and facing the threat of arts funding cuts.
Researchers found that circus activities improve movement competencies, confidence and motivation.
(© Marie-Andrée Lemire, École nationale de cirque, 2019)
Teaching circus arts — from juggling to trapeze — in physical education classes increased children’s physical literacy, resilience and participation, with greater gender equity.
Yaya Stempler/Sydney Festival
Yaron Lifschitz’s spellbinding physical drama has just the right amount of play, death-defying tricks and whimsical imagery.
A mural of Cardi B updated by the artist Colton Valentine to include a face mask in San Antonio. Cardi B’s instagram post, ‘Shit is getting real’ went viral.
(AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Now that we know what essential work is, it seems the perfect time to reflect upon the not-so-essential work of celebrities.
Under director Yaron Lifschitz, this version of Orpheus and Eurydice is interested in exploring the tragedy implicit in this story.
Jade Ferguson/Opera Queensland
This new version of Gluck’s opera, from Opera Queensland and Circa, is raw, physical and confronting. Completely captivating and deeply moving.
Rock Bang tells the story of Astrid and Otto from Die Roten Punkte as they flee to Berlin.
Mark Turner
A new show pairs the acrobatic skills of Circus Oz with the local comedians Die Roten Punkte.
Performers in Circa’s En Masse.
David Kelly
The incredible physical control of the Circa acrobats, and their ability to make bodies seem weightless, is breathtaking.
Emily Gare, Tara Silcock, and Lachlan Sukroo perform a ‘precarious’ shoulder balance.
Rob Blackburn
Precarious, the latest offering from Circus Oz, centres around the tale of a missing seed. It is suitably staged in Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens.
Wikimedia Commons
From its origin in the early 19th century, lion taming has elicited both awe and horror.
Circus Oz’s Model Citizens seamlessly intertwines entertainment with political and social commentary.
Jaimie Williams
Circus Oz’s latest show furthers the company’s commitment to politically driven, gender balanced circus.
Nazim Uddin/Flickr
Two animal rights experts see little reason to cheer that a circus is closing, as long as humans keep eating meat and dairy products.
Zoos, emphasising natural behaviour and conservation, remain more popular than ever.
Gabriel Pollard/Flickr
With circuses on the wane, are our attitudes towards animals improving?