What does space mean for circus? What can circus mean for space?

Editorial 

This issue of the magazine focuses on the notion of “space” in its many possible understandings, meanings, and shapes.

Space, in its most immediate, physical understanding, is crucial to circus and to the creative process of artists. Space lends its dimensions to the creation of meeting points with the public, and it can very well become a contributor to a performance. Essential in designing movement and building scenography, space impacts stage arts at all levels – creation, delivery, reception, and reflection.

Equally important is to consider space for its non-physical meanings in the arts and in circus particularly: the immaterial, imaginary, representational, political. Allowing space for diversity and inclusion; imagining other spaces, as an exercise of creative freedom; creating alternative spaces for cross-aesthetic work; designing new forms of creation with space and not just in space; challenging the formula “visible=present” – these are driving forces in the work of many contemporary circus artists today.

For us, at DYNAMO, space has always been at the core of our work – our mission is to provide training space for artists, and at the same time to carve space in the Danish cultural milieu for the art form of circus. We have built DYNAMO in a repurposed silo we have inherited from other cultural actors – a lineage of former industrial spaces that shows the potential of art to bring new life to old spaces. We work and create on land we don’t own, which has given us a new perspective on the importance of collaboration and sharing of a common goal.

In this issue, we invited artists, thinkers, academics, and creators from within and without the circus world, whose work deeply impacts contemporary circus. The contributors are movers and shakers of the art form, who inspire, create, lead, and educate. In the following articles, they ponder on ideas such as: infrastructures of circus; the spatial awareness of bodies in circus; public space and natural environment; space for diversity and otherness; or the unseen spaces of circus.

Enjoy!

More info: https://dynamoworkspace.dk/for...

Cover photo by: Einar Kling-Odencrants