Circa

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From Brisbane, Australia comes a bold new vision of contemporary circus. A blending of bodies, light, sound and skills. A place where acrobatics and movement meld into a seamless whole. A celebration of the expressive possibilities of the human body at its extremes. Since 2006 Circa has toured to 34 countries across six continents. Circa’s work has been rapturously received by audiences, presenters and critics around the world. Critics have raved about Circa calling the work “stunning…exquisite… heart stopping” and “electrically charged”.

Circa’s current touring shows span diverse contexts from works for families in traditional arts centres to European contemporary arts festivals. Its works are highly innovative genre‐bending pieces that stretch the practice and perceptions of circus. Circa features a full time ensemble, a concentrated administrative team and a dedicated circus studio.

Circa also runs a Training Centre with an impressive workshop program in Brisbane at our professional studio, in schools and with partners wherever we travel. On top of our term based and one‐off training activities, Circa has an impressive track record of producing quality workshops for children, young people and adults in a range of community contexts.

 
 

REPERTORY

2024/2025 SEASON

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Sacre

In the first circus setting of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, critically acclaimed contemporary circus company Circa tightly weaves together powerful world-class acrobatics and dynamic encounters suffused with dark humour and rich tenderness. Featuring new composition by Philippe Bachman alongside Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, the famous high C on the bassoon sounds and the stage explodes with bodies locked in a ritual unto death.

Under the direction of circus visionary Yaron Lifschitz the Circa ensemble puts bodies on the line for Sacre in electrifying explosions of physicality and power.

10 performers | 65 minutes

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ON by Circa

The simple act of giving and accepting another’s mass is transformed into a profound meditation about beauty, loss and trust.
8 performers | 75 minutes

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HUMANS 2.0

Humans 2.0 expands upon the earlier, original production of Humans. As a reflection of our times, Humans 2.0 becomes more intimate, internal and searching. It argues that we must evolve towards heightened connection, care and sensitivity. Next level humanity, next level acrobatics. Beyond Humans 2.0, Circa significantly broadens the digital interaction it offers to presenter partners, ranging from live stream interactive projects, to digital theater presentations and creative engagement opportunities for audiences. 10 performers | 70 minutes no intermission
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What Will Have Been

An intimate production that showcases the core of the Circa aesthetic— awe-inspiring movement of interlocking bodies providing an exposition of physical beauty at its’ purest. The Circa acrobats are joined on stage by a single violinist providing a musical canvas of Bach and electronica.

3 acrobats, 1 musician | 65 minutes

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Duck Pond

Feathers will fly in Circa’s exuberant take on Swan Lake.

The world’s most romantic ballet is reimagined as an acrobatic spectacular, full of Circa’s signature physicality and shot through with cheeky humour, enchanting duets and colourful surrealism. You’ll meet a clumsy film crew, a sequinned flipper wearing duck army and a burlesque black swan. There’ll be
sumptuous aerials, dynamic cyr wheel and of course feathers! Touching, funny and completely entertaining, Duck Pond is a tale of identity and finding your true self.


Created by circus visionary Yaron Lifschitz (“the Caravaggio of contemporary circus”) with ten members of the globally renowned Circa ensemble, this will be one of Circa’s most ambitious works yet with haute couture costumes courtesy
of Libby McDonnell, music by Jethro Woodward (with hints of Tchaikovsky) and lighting from Alexander Berlage.


The thrilling physicality of Humans 2.0 and the playful comedy of Carnival of the Animals combine to make Duck
Pond a must-see circus epic. Direct from sell out seasons across London, Berlin, Montreal and more.

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Opus

Opus is a work of stunning power, virtuosity and poetry. Ten acrobats and a string quartet celebrate the music of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich.

Shostakovich’s quartets are by turns intimate, passionate, lyrical, ironic and deeply moving personal testimonies by one of the 20th Century’s greatest composers. In Opus, three of his quartets form the musical and dramatic spine of a red-hot fusion of extreme acrobatics, lyrical movement and group choreography.

Opus begins from a solo performer suspended on a rope serenaded by musicians, then moves through rapidly alternating scenes of dislocated stillness and violent explosions into geometries of acrobats intersected by extreme physicality to arrive at exquisitely detailed and nuanced choreographies of acrobats flying, balancing and landing.

Opus explores the complex relationships between the individual and the group, between the march of history and the dictates of the heart and between the tragic and the comic. This is groundbreaking work of intense power. A melding of music and bodies at the highest level.

Under the direction of circus visionary Yaron Lifschitz the Circa ensemble puts bodies on the line for Sacre in electrifying explosions of physicality and power.

10 acrobats and string quartet | 65 minutes

GALLERY

EXPLORE

"Shaun the Sheep"
Presenter Pack

"Humans 2.0" Workshops

"Sacre" Workshops

Circus at its purist and most thrilling... utterly captivating.” -Daily Review, Sydney

Drawing their audiences deep into a world of physical daring, Circa is one of the world’s leading performance companies. From their base in Brisbane, Australia, Circa continues to blur lines, push boundaries, and pioneer extreme physicality.

Under the direction of circus visionary Yaron Lifschitz, Circa features an ensemble of exceptional, multi-skilled circus artists. A regular fixture at leading festivals, Circa has been seen in New York, London, Berlin and Montreal with seasons at Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Barbican Centre, Les Nuits de Fourvière, Chamäleon Theatre as well as major Australian Festivals.

PRESS

Duck Pond

“Duck Pond is hugely entertaining and impressive”

- Limelight

Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show

“...an imaginative journey ... There were many breath-taking moments.”

- Limelight

Humans 2.0

“Running liquid bodies leapt into each other’s arms with a great deal of trust and reliance. ”

-Arts Hub

On by Circa

“This extraordinary show sees uncanny acrobatic prowess meet dance”

- The Age

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