London Celebrates 250 Years of the Circus

 
 
 
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Battersea Circus Garden

Sadiq Sadiq and Vendetta Vain, Our House

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Battersea Circus Garden
Cirque Berserk!
Giffords Circus: My Beautiful Circus
Circus Abyssinia: Ethiopian Dreams
Roof East gets a circus makeover
Circus Sampler
Circus Originals
Circus 1903
 

 

In 2018 London celebrates the 250th anniversary of the circus with a Big Top in Battersea, Ethiopian Dreams on the Southbank, a Friday Late at the V&A and a new show by Giffords Circus.

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Roof East

The rooftop playground for grown-ups gets a circus makeover with bell tents and jugglers.

Level 8 Stratford Multi-storey Car Park, Great Eastern Way, Stratford, London, E15 1XE

Tube: Stratford Station

 
 

This summer Roof East in Stratford gets a circus makeover as the rooftop adult playground is done up with bell tents and jugglers and the Rooftop Film Club screens a special circus style Moulin Rouge. Gerry Cottle Jnr., the brains behind SFG Club, is a true son of the circus and follows in the footsteps of both Mr Astley and his own father, Gerry Cottle Senior. Rumour has it some relics from Gerry Cottle Senior's circus may be up on the roof, and watch out for the car full of clowns. A new look Birdies mini-golf set-up, Sluggers batting cages and hip-hop bowls are all set up in honour of the great art of circus entertainment.

 
 
 

Circus Abyssinia: Ethiopian Dreams

Underbelly Festival, Jubilee Gardens, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX

Tube: Waterloo Station , Embankment Underground Station

 

Dates: 06th April - 20th May 2018

 

Circus Abyssinia, an African acrobatic spectacular from Ethiopia, makes its London premiere at the Underbelly Festival but if you saw Giffords Circus in London last summer, juggling brothers Bibi and Bichu and their troupe will be familiar old friends. Cal McCrystal, who works with Giffords and who directed Iolanthe performed by the English National Opera in spring 2018, has written Ethiopian Dreams, a tale inspired by the cast's childhood dreams of becoming circus performers.

 
 
 

Cirque Berserk!

Harold Pinter Theatre, 6 Panton Street, London, SW1Y 4DN

Tube: Piccadilly Circus Station , Leicester Square Station

 

Dates: 19th April - 07th May 2018

 

Combining contemporary circus skills with thrilling stunt action, Cirque Berserk is a danger-filled spectacle that promises to amaze audiences of all ages. Acts include the "off the scale awesome" (Daily Telegraph) Globe of Death with three motorcyclists speeding at over 60mph inside a steel cage. The troupe (the brain-child of Martin 'Zippo' Burton and theatre producer Julius Green) includes over thirty jugglers, acrobats, aerialists, dancers, musicians and clowns as well as death-defying stunt men. Coming to the West End for three weeks, the show is part of circus250.com, a worldwide celebration of 250 years of the circus, championed by Sir Peter Blake.

 
 
 

V&A Friday Late: Circus - Past, Present and Future

Victoria and Albert (V & A) Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2RL

Tube: South Kensington Station

 

Dates: 27th April 2018

 

Dalston Superstore, the Roundhouse Street Circus Collective and Giffords Circus are at the V&A as it celebrates 250 years of the circus at its Friday Late this April. Enjoy an evening of italo gymnastics, high wire funk, and cosmic disco as young circus artists and hip-hop dancersaged 16 to 25 perform against a backdrop of Renaissance painting. Discover the dynamics of clowning at a drop-in workshop, hear how Philip Astley transformed an open-air riding school in Lambeth into the first circus and see spectacular acrobatics, dance and physical theatre in the John Madejski Garden.

 
 
 

Battersea Circus Garden

Shillington Park, Este Road, London, SW11 2TB

Tube: Clapham Common Station

 

Dates: 04th - 13th May 2018

 

As part of the celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of circus, a small park behind Clapham Junction is transformed into Battersea Circus Garden for two weeks during Wandsworth Arts Fringe. The Big Top will be filled with acrobatic troupes and award winning acts starting with Hoops and Loops and including the acclaimed Lost in Translation's comic family friendly dramatisation of the domestic adventures of a dysfunctional family of misfits, The Hogwallops. Bagpipes blend with storytelling, dance and comedy, there's a theatrical staging of a magical story about sibling relationships in Moonfall, and Esprit Concrete combines parkour, dance, and storytelling in Grit. There are 13 different acts to see, from breathtaking acrobatics to juggling and live music.

 
 
 
 

Giffords Circus: My Beautiful Circus

Chiswick House and Gardens, Burlington Lane, London, W4 2RP

Tube: Turnham Green Station

 

Dates: 28th June - 09th July 2018

 

Nell Gifford, Tweedy the Clown and the glorious Giffords Circus make a welcome return to Chiswick House with My Beautiful Circus - and what a beautiful circus it is. A new big top welcomes Italian circus performers, The Curatola Brothers, Diana Vediashkina and her adorable dachshunds and Lisandra Austin performing her aerial silk act. Like a scene from Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem, Tweedy enters in a vintage caravan, pushed by Pozo the Strongman who later shows his strength, carrying not just four children but a grown man. The Portuguese Dias Family of eight perform gymnastic and balancing acts, Dany Reyes impresses with some amazing juggling and guiding us through the show is Nancy Trotter Landry, a glamorous 1930s flapper who sings, dances and does a fabulous comedy double act with Tweedy. Everyone's invited into the circus ring at the end... don't be shy, dancing with the troupe is a joy and will leave you with a yearning to join the circus.

 
 
 

Circus Originals

An exploration of the history of circus.

Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA

Tube: Temple Station

 

Dates: 25th July - 07th August 2018

 

Running simultaneously with Circus Sampler - the biggest free outdoor contemporary circus event in central London - Somerset House presents Circus Originals. The show and this accompanying exhibition take place in celebration of the 250th anniversary of contemporary circus. Circus Originals explores the history of contemporary circus, from the beginnings of modern circus in the 1800s to the radical acts of the 1980s and present-day interpretations. The display will showcase a number of pioneers and new thinkers who have transformed the circus genre. One feature includes a new site-responsive installation by Rose English, who traces her fascination with the circus industry through the figure of Katja Schumann, a renowned rider of the traditional circus.

 
 
 

Circus Sampler

The biggest free outdoor contemporary circus event in central London.

Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA

Tube: Temple Station

 

Dates: 28th July - 05th August 2018

 

In the year that circus celebrates its 250th birthday, Somerset House presents the biggest free outdoor contemporary circus event in central London. Taking place across two weekends - one in July and one in August - Circus Sampler will premiere exciting and distinctive shows in the spectacular 18th-century courtyard. One the first weekend, Far From The Norm and a group of international and London artists will perform the London premiere of Union Black, which combines fast-paced footwork and physical floor-work with Chinese pole and tight-wire. On the second weekend, Gandini Juggling give the world premiere of a special commission, Cascade. Performing in tandem with the rise and fall of the 55 water jets of the courtyard fountain, 30 jugglers will send balls flying through the air in a magnificent display. Running concurrently with Circus Sampler, Somerset House will also host the Circus Originals exhibition, exploring the history of contemporary circus.

 
 
 

Circus 1903

A fitting finale to the year of circus we've enjoyed in London.

Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX

Tube: Waterloo Station , Embankment Underground Station

 

Dates: 19th December - 05th January 2020

 

Roll up, roll up! American circus company, The Illusionists, takes us back to 1903, one of two Christmas shows at the Southbank Centre and an appropriate finale to the year of circus we've enjoyed in London. There's no story, just the good old fashioned thrills and spills of turn-of-the-century entertainment - the golden age of circus - by sew-sawing acrobats, a contortionist, jugglers, a blind-folded knife thrower, skilled cyclist and high wire performers. You'll see "gasp-inducing" performers, "like an aerial act in which a burly man treats his partner as if she were a slab of hand-pulled noodles" (New York Times) and wonderful elephants imagined by the War Horse puppetry team.

 
 
 

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