2021 ANNUAL REPORT
A LWAY S WA S
Circa is based in Meanjin (Brisbane) on the lands of the Jagera and Turrbal people. We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the many lands on which we create and perform. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
A LWAY S W I L L B E
Cover - Humans 2.0 photo by David Kelly. María de Buenos Aires photo by Agathe Poupeney.
Wa r n i n g : s e e i n g a p er for m a n c e by B r i s b a n e circus company Circa may cause feelings of i n a d e q u a c y, f e a r a n d a w e . ABC, AUSTRALIA
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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2021
in numbers 8 WORLD PREMIERES (PLUS CIRCA ZOO)
255 LIVE PERFORMANCES
7 D I G I TA L P E R F O R M A N C E S
1 4 6 I N T E R N AT I O N A L PERFORMANCES
109 AUSTRALIAN PERFORMANCES (55 in QLD)
85,109 AUDIENCE MEMBERS WORLDWIDE
47 AC RO BATS & 2 2 C R E AT I V E C O L L A B O R ATO R S
TOURED TO 4 COUNTRIES OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA
TOURED TO 42 COUNTRIES SINCE 2006 2
CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
70 74 WO R K S H O P & C L A S S AT T E N DA N C ES
764 HOURS OF WORKSHOPS & CLASSES
53 5 .5 H O U R S O F S PAC E FO R A RT I ST RESIDENCIES & SECTOR SUPPORT
2 7, 4 9 4 FA C E B O O K F O L L O W E R S
2 1 , 3 1 8 I N STAG R A M F O L LO W E R S
2,572 TWITTER FOLLOWERS
1 1 , 6 3 8 V I M E O P L AY S
6 0 D AY S , 5 H O U R S , 1 5 M I N U T E S & 57 SECONDS
O F F O OTAG E WATC H E D O N C I R CA’ S V I M E O C H A N N E L
66,824 WEBSITE SESSIONS
4 9, 5 3 7 W E B S I T E U S E R S
1 75 ,9 3 6 W E B S I T E PAG E V I E WS 61.39% AUSTRALIAN 3 8 . 6 1 % I N T E R N AT I O N A L 2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
Sacre photo by Pedro Greig.
2021 The poet Anne Carson wrote “If prose is a house, poetry is a man on fire running quite fast through it.” This essentially makes 2021 a poem - seeing as how we were all on fire, and all running quite fast. Sometimes this enflamed galloping was just chaos and motion – a swirl of contingencies, travel, interrupted supplies and cancelled seasons. But more often it was energy and illumination. In 2021, a team of Circa acrobats volunteered to head overseas with no fixed end-date. They would be touring for at least nine months. The first Australian performing arts company to tour internationally since the start of the pandemic, they have performed in Lyon, Madrid, London, Riga and spent four months as the company in residence at the Chamäleon Theater, Berlin. Meanwhile, our Australian team created Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show and toured multiple venues across Queensland and around the country while engagement programs and Circa Classes have continued. The statistics are impressive. In 2021 Circa staged 255 performances of 14 shows in 6 countries to over 85,000 people. The question this begs, is why? Why burn? Why run? The answer Anne Carson gives is, I think, absolutely correct. Because it’s poetry. Because we are trying to connect, to say ineffable things, to change the world in small but powerful ways; to be the grain of sand in the pearl that causes beauty or irritation far beyond our scale or clout. To feel the palpable need of audiences to be present, and to experience actual live performance together with others, is to reacquaint oneself with theatre’s origins and purpose in ritual and gathering. This is a new poetics. It’s far from the fairy-floss digestibility of social media and news cycles. It demands we show up, concentrate, open our eyes and ears and hearts and dare to be moved or even changed. It rewards effort and vulnerability. It isn’t afraid to entertain but it knows that the journey starts rather than ends there. It ends, hopefully, in wonder. Which is, according to Socrates, where wisdom begins.
YA RO N L I FSC H I TZ
M I C H A E L LY N C H AO C B E
S H AU N C O M E RFO RD
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CEO
CHAIR
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
Tubular Bells photo by Manuel Harlan.
new work “So is love the secret of acrobatics? It is trust, yes: the desire to cross over into the other. The acrobat’s body is his soul. Is the crossing vertiginous? Like every crossing. Useless to contemplate or fathom what separates: the abyss is always invented by our fear. We leap and there is grace. Acrobats know: do not look at the separation. Have eyes, have bodies, only for there, for the other.”
H É L È N E C I XO U S
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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HUMANS 2.0 ...a seriously sensational spectacle: as aesthetic as it is athletic, as comedic as it is grave, and all in all, a visceral delight.
…both athletic and graceful – jaw-dropping, seat-clawing and armchair-exhausting.” ARTSHUB, AUSTRALIA
THE CONVERSATION, AUSTRALIA
A symphony of acrobatics, sound and light, this is next level circus by Circa. Ten bodies appear in a flash of light. They move in harmony for a fleeting moment and then descend into a sinuous trance. Towers grow and decay, bodies leap and are caught as physical limits are pushed to their extreme. Can we ever find a perfect balance or is adapting to constant change the only way forward? This next chapter of Circa’s internationally acclaimed Humans is a tightly woven choreography of bodies, pulsing with music by composer Ori Lichtik and revealed in Paul Jackson’s dramatic lighting. Created by circus visionary Yaron Lifschitz, Humans 2.0 is intimate, primal and deeply engaged with the challenge of being human. Commissioned by The Mondavi Center, UC Davis.
TOURED TO 13 - 20 January 2021 Sydney, Australia Sydney Festival March 2021 (online) St Polten, Austria 17 - 19 September 2021 Dusseldorf, Germany Dusseldorf Festival 4 - 27 November 2021 Berlin, Germany Chamäleon Theater 10 - 20 November 2021 Brisbane, Australia Playhouse, QPAC
WORLD PREMIERE Performances Audience
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48 14,084
CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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Photo by David Kelly.
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CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
SACRE ...a performance of its generation, defying new techniques and new approaches to a traditional circus performance. LA DANCE CHRONICLE, USA
…consistently fascinating choreography… MARLER ZEITUNG, GERMANY
Acrobats from the Circa ensemble bring Stravinsky’s seminal The Rite of Spring to the stage. Pulsating with tension and infused with dark humour, this uncompromising production confronts humanity’s inter-connectivity, our inherent sexual desire and relationship with divinity. Featuring a piercing lighting design by Veronique Benett and a stirring new composition by Phillippe Bachman, Sacre penetrates the senses and stirs the soul. Commissioned by Merrigong Theatre Company and co-produced by La Comete.
TOURED TO 28 - 30 January 2021 Wollongong, Australia Illawarra Performing Arts Centre 14 May 2021 (online) Recklinghausen, Germany Ruhrfestspiele
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
Photo by Pedro Greig.
WORLD PREMIERE Performances: 10 Audience: 1564
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SHAUN THE SHEEP’S CIRCUS SHOW …so entertaining, and so packed with physical marvels, that no child who sees it will ever forget it. THE AGE, AUSTRALIA
…plenty of physical comedy, a slick blend of cute animation and live performance, and of course the stylish acrobatics for which Circa is rightly in demand worldwide.
TOURED TO 2-14 March 2021 Brisbane, Australia Lyric Theatre, QPAC 26 - 28 March 2021 Cairns, Australia Cairns Performing Arts Centre 14 - 18 April 2021 Melbourne, Australia Regent Theatre 19 - 23 May 2021 Wollongong, Australia Illawarra Performing Arts Centre
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, AUSTRALIA
Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show combines the extreme physicality and awe-inspiring feats of Circa with the playful charm of the multi-award-winning TV series Shaun the Sheep. A visual spectacle for the whole family, Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show is packed full of Aardman’s signature wit and outright hilarity. The Circa ensemble continue to blur the lines between movement, dance, theatre and circus as Shaun and the flock entertains the audience through incredible feats of daredevil acrobatics and vibrant circus skills.
17 - 18 July 2021 Mackay, Australia Mackay Entertainment Convention Centre
WORLD PREMIERE Performances Audience
46 24,254
Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show was presented by QPAC, Screen Queensland, Merrigong Theatre Company and Circa with Shaun Comerford and Yaron Lifschitz. By Special Arrangement with Aardman. Based on the Television Series “Shaun the Sheep” devised by Richard Starzak. Based on an original idea by Nick Park.
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CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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Photo by Prudence Upton.
MARIA DE BUENOS AIRES Lifschitz unleashes a theater of bodily dissolution, overcoming gravity and the imaginable. KLASSIKINFO, GERMANY
phantasmagorical FRANCE MUSIQUE
TOURED TO 24 - 26 June 2021 Lyon, France Grand Théâtre Les Nuits de Fourvière
WORLD PREMIERE Performances Audience
14
Under the direction of Yaron Lifschitz and in collaboration with Opéra de Lyon, 11 Circa acrobats, two dancers, two soloists, tango musicians and a string orchestra reimagine Maria de Buenos Aires in a fiery ode to the fatal beauty of tango and its hometown. Created in 1968 by the master of tango and bandoneon, Astor Piazzolla, Maria de Buenos Aires is a unique opera-tango that follows the story of Maria, a singer who, after a tragic end in a brothel, becomes a shadow condemned to drift in the lowlands of Buenos Aires. It is a story of curse and redemption, wandering and liberation, brave defiance to death and a hymn to love. Circa’s adaptation explores the friction between the harshness of the world and the human soul’s thirst for the absolute in this “dream of tango and the tango of a dream.”
3 5,315
CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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Photo by Paul Bourdrel.
Photo by Manuel Harlan. 16
CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
TUBULAR BELLS …feats of acrobatic marvel. THE TIMES, UK
Mike Oldfield’s masterpiece on stage with a full band in an acrobatic interpretation by Circa. The spectacle marks the 50th anniversary of Tubular Bells, the debut studio album by English multi-instrumentalist, composer and songwriter Mike Oldfield. Oldfield, who was just 17 years old when he started composing the music, recorded and played almost all of the instruments on the album. Conceived in 1971 and finally released in 1973, it gained worldwide acclaim when the opening theme was used for the soundtrack of horror film The Exorcist. Tubular Bells is a progressive journey through classical, jazz, folk, prog-rock and electronica. Directed by Yaron Lifschitz, 11 performers from Circa present Oldfield’s work in physical form, their heart-stopping acrobatics intricately woven together to reflect the music.
TO U R E D TO 7 - 15 August 2021 London, UK Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre
WORLD PREMIERE Performances Audience
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
10 15,021
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COLLIDER TOURED TO 15 - 16 January 2021 Gold Coast, Australia HOTA SCOOP! Festival
WORLD PREMIERE Performances Audience
6 1,020
Photo provided by SCOOP! Festival.
In the Large Hadron Collider particles are accelerated close to light speed and spun until they collide – creating energy and unlocking some of the deepest secrets of the universe. In Circa’s Collider, choreographer Elise May spins a company of Circa’s acrobats within the Torus – a large clear plastic structure. As they gather pace, acrobatic encounters and near misses build in intensity - revealing moments of joy, intensity and powerful beauty.
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CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
BOUNCE BY CIRCA When one of the world’s most important performing arts companies teams up with a globally renowned architect, the result is paradise, built from the air. From the moment the audience approaches and its members put on their earphones, they are transported to a fully immersive world. Bounce by Circa’s tent was commissioned from AL_A architects (UK). Amanda Levete CBE and her team envisioned a luminous structure: the exterior is an eye-catching constellation of chrome bubbles while the interior holds a world of wonders and delights.
TOURED TO 07 - 18 July 2021 Madrid, Spain Veranos de la Villa, Juan Carlos
Commissioned by Brisbane Festival, Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival, Darwin Festival, Melbourne Fringe, Merrigong Theatre Company, Canberra Theatre Centre, Cairns Regional Council, Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre, Empire Theatre and HOTA. This project has been produced by Brighton Festival, Düsseldorf Festival, Noorderzon Festival of Performing Arts & Society Groningen, Norfolk and Norwich Festival, The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi, Veranos de la Villa Madrid, Wales Millennium Centre Cardiff, Zürcher Theater Spektakel. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government’s Major Festivals Initiative, managed by the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, in association with the Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals Inc. Supported by the Australian Government as part of the UK/AU Season of Culture and the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland's Space and Places Activation fund. Due to operational considerations, future seasons of Bounce by Circa have been deferred indefinitely.
WORLD PREMIERE 29 1,160
Photo by Ali Cameron.
Performances Audience
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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Photo by Prudence Upton. 20
CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
touring “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” John A. Shedd’s quote was a worthy mantra for Circa from the moment borders closed to international travel in March 2020. As Australia’s most toured performing arts company, our role as explorers, advocates and cultural ambassadors is one of the hallmarks of Circa. Our audiences cross the 42 countries we have performed in, our ensemble are tour hardened warriors – elite at living out of a suitcase and uncovering the best coffee in each new city they visit. When COVID-19 hit, the world stopped. So did Circa’s touring program. For a company defined by our being in motion, the goal was clear: keep moving and making, and ultimately return to touring as soon as possible. So we went digital. Delivering an entirely remotely auditioned, produced and directed production of Cube Studies to audiences on the ground in Santiago, Chile. We streamed repertoire works from Australia to presenters in Europe, the UK and North America, playing to an engaged audience - many of whom were in lockdown. In May, Circa became the first Australian major performing arts company to return to world stages. We embraced our own safety practices and protocols and those of each touring region, faced challenging COVID-19 outbreaks and recoveries. We became pioneers of pandemic touring and shared our experiences, mistakes and learnings with the sector back home in Australia. In 2021, Circa delighted in re-opening venues and festivals worldwide. The risks embraced and obstacles navigated were rewarded with emotional and impassioned responses from our presenters and audiences. On stormy seas, Circa’s ensemble of artists ventured out from the harbour of our studios and back onto stages, where they belong. That’s what Circa’s built for.
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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Photo by Pedro Greig.
HUMANS ...a subtly crafted study of the human condition that will leave you to muse on the wonder and fragility of life.
Courageous, groundbreaking, risk-taking – these are artist/athletes of the highest order. ARTSHUB, AUSTRALIA
THE AGE, AUSTRALIA
Humans is a stirring journey of what it means to be human and how our bodies, our connections and our aspirations all form part of who we are. Created by Yaron Lifschitz, the stage is stripped bare as the vulnerability of a team of highly skilled acrobats is exposed. With incredible strength and integrity they connect each moment seamlessly with the next in a thrilling and heart-stopping performance. Humans finds redemptive power in strength and celebrates what it means to be fiercely human.
TOURED TO 31 August - 30 October 2021 Berlin, Germany Chamäleon Theater Performances Audience
50 7,800
Commissioned by MA scène nationale - Pays de Montbéliard.
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CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
Photo by Dylan Evans.
Photo by Darren Thomas.
C I RCA’S PEEPSHOW ...one of the most entertaining, unbelievable things you will ever see. THE REVIEWS HUB, UK
Circa’s Peepshow turns cabaret on its head, literally. A seductive dance through the hall of mirrors that is our imagination, Circa’s Peepshow lurches from the thrillingly acrobatic to the comically playful. The show features vast towers of balanced bodies, extreme bending and devilishly precarious aerial acts. Circa’s Peepshow breaks apart cabaret conventions - inviting audiences to see the world from the other side of the mirror.
TOURED TO 2 - 14 February 2021 Sydney, Australia Sydney Opera House
WOLFGANG’S MAGICAL MUSICAL CIRCUS ...gilded with comedy that had all ages laughing with raucous enthusiasm, and the music keeps the carousel turning at a frenetic pace… SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, AUSTRALIA
To those who know him, he is Wolfgang, the dart-playing, pun-loving ratbag. To those who are watching and listening, he is the wigged genius Mozart. His irrepressible spirit and vibrant compositions come to life through physical comedy and mischievous antics in this family show with a circus twist. Wolfgang’s Magical Musical Circus reinvents the composer’s magical music in a skilful and illuminating show featuring Circa’s dexterous daredevil artists and an accordionist. Commissioned by The Art House Wyong.
9 - 10 April 2021 Mackay, Australia Mackay Entertainment & Convention Centre 16 - 17 April 2021 Townsville, Australia Townsville Civic Theatre
TOURED TO 19 - 21 May 2021 Adelaide, Australia Dream Big Festival Performances Audience
10 3,457
20 April 2021 Ayr, Australia Burdekin Theatre 9 - 31 December 2021 Berlin, Germany Chamäleon Theater Performances Audience
37 7,413
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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Image provided by Teatro A Mil.
Photo by Christopher Duggan.
W H AT W I L L H AV E B E E N …circus at its purest and most thrilling…utterly captivating.
CUBE STUDIES A mystical atmosphere. KLEINER ZEITUNG
DAILY REVIEW, AUSTRALIA
Hauntingly beautiful and truly virtuosic, What Will Have Been is a sublime display of interlocking bodies, awe-inspiring movement and pure physical beauty. Accompanied on stage by a live violinist and fusing together the music of Bach with spine-tingling electronica, this is an uncompromisingly powerful production about absence and presence. A Norfolk and Norwich Festival and La Teatreria (Mexico) commission.
Circa and internationally renowned design firm Urban Art Projects (UAP) come together for Cube Studies, a spectacular creation that combines visual art and live performance in a series of intimate works. Each edition of Cube Studies is tailored to where it is deployed and completely unique. For Cube Studies Chile we worked in a public space with four simultaneous stages each playing variations of Haydn’s Seven Last Words set for acrobatics, dancers and jugglers.
TOURED TO
TOURED TO
30 November - 5 December 2021 Berlin, Germany Chamäleon Theater
5 - 7 February 2021 Teatro A Mil Santiago, Chile
Performances Audience
24
6 852
Performances Audience
3 600
CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
engagement At Circa we believe circus is for everyone. Circa’s Engagement program gives schools, community groups, adults and young people of all abilities the opportunity to experience Circa on and off stage, in a way that resonates with them. With a focus on access and diversity, Circa offers a broad program of public classes, workshops and masterclasses and community performance projects to participants across Queensland and the world. We are setting up pathways for participation in circus across age and ability. From age two with our Tiny Tumblers class, through to our performance program for talented young people, Circa Zoo, we promote access and inclusion in all that we do. In 2021 we finalised and began implementation of our Accessibility Action Plan, and were successful in securing funding to continue the development of CircAbility, our pilot program of circus workshops for people living with disability. Circa’s strategic goal of ‘Contributing to a better world’ is the driver for the school partnerships we have established, giving students who may not otherwise have the opportunity, the chance to experience the creativity and power of circus. Circa partnered with two schools in 2021, both with an ICSEA (Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage) below the national average to deliver ongoing, weekly circus workshops. Following the YConnect research project in 2017, which measured the impact of the arts on young people, Circa has continued to deliver weekly circus skills workshops with the students of Yeronga State High School where 57% of students identify as Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD). The continued success of the program is reflected in the changing attitudes of the participating students who, for the most part, are at risk of disengaging from school. The partnership is set to deepen as Circa has been invited to join the school’s inaugural Arts Academy program launching in 2022. Initiated through a collaborative project with First Nations arts organisation Digi Youth Arts, and Inala Wangarra, Circa began a second school partnership with Hymba Yumba Independent School where 81% of students identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The performance outcome of the project, Our Home, involved 10 students from years 8-10 and is likely to be further developed in 2022.
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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Photos by Jessica Connell.
Photo by Colyn Huber.
THE FUTURE BEGINS NOW
DANGER CLUB
We are communicating with our audience via art but we are contemplating and thinking about the futures we will all live in together.
So much fun and such an exhilarating thing to do. DANGER CLUB PARTICIPANT
BENJAMIN KNAPTON, CIRCA ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Is the future a place of wonder or devastation? Before the audience’s eyes rises a giant, transparent doughnut that might be a space capsule, a biohazard zone or an incubator for parallel realities. Inside, 60 performers ranging from acrobats to stilt-walkers and dancers collide, collapse and ascend in an extraordinary parade of human possibility. The Future Begins Now brought Circa creatives together with a vast cast from the Cairns community – sharing skills, stories and experiences to create a journey full of colour and movement, great skills, quirky comedy and all the drama of being human in the future.
Safe things are boring. Danger is fun. And that’s the essence of circus – the art of danger. A group of young people from Chinchilla came together seeking the thrill of circus and live performance. Part film, part site-specific performance, this new creation delved into the danger of circus and the aesthetics of danger as inspired by film and visual art. 28 June - 2 July 2021 Chinchilla, Australia Chinchilla Cultural Centre Performances Audience
1 13
3 September 2021 Cairns, Australia Munro Martin Parklands, Cairns Festival Performances Audience
26
1 1,100
CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
Photo by Olivia Williams.
Photo by Olivia Williams.
SPIN CIRCA ZOO
UNDERGROWTH CIRCA ZOO
I want to pursue a career in circus, and Zoo has really helped me get on that track.
I wanted to gain more confidence and get out of my head a lot more and Zoo has helped immensely.
CIRCA ZOO ENSEMBLE MEMBER
CIRCA ZOO ENSEMBLE MEMBER
Spin took audiences on a surreal journey of hula hoops, spinning plates and jaw-dropping acrobatics that opened hearts and made heads spin! Combining joyous tumbling and sublime aerial feats, Spin was presented as part of Toowoomba’s Thrive on Arts Festival.
A fresh and energising new work from an ensemble of 16 young artists who dare to reimagine circus in their own way. Undergrowth was inspired by the patterns and majesty of the natural world.
25 September 2021 Toowoomba, Australia Armitage Centre, Empire Theatre Performances Audience
9 - 10 December 2021 Brisbane, Australia Judith Wright Arts Centre Performances Audience
2 263
1 110
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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CIRCABILITY
Photo by Jan Brutton.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Building on the success of the 2020 pilot program, CircAbility creates a legacy of connectedness, based in Circa’s philosophy of the ensemble. CircAbility’s program development is disability led and has been curated by an Advisory Committee of artists and advocates from the communities in which CircAbility will be delivered.
Photo by Billie Wilson-Coffey.
CIRCA CLASSES
The ongoing Circa Classes program provides an opportunity for people of all ages to experience the joy of circus. Classes run Monday - Saturday across the Circa studios at the Brisbane Powerhouse Stores and our main home in the Judith Wright Arts Centre. Aerials to acro, handstands and tumble, Circa Classes supports the community to learn circus skills, get fit and foster their creativity – all in a safe environment with qualified trainers.
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WORKSHOPS Workshops & Classes Attendees Circase Audience
522 6,526 142
ENSEMBLE MASTERCLASS Attendees 10
CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
Hymba Yamba Our Home photo by Olivia Williams.
SCHOOLS & COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS
Circa delivers circus workshops and masterclasses at home and on the road, in schools and a range of community settings – from youth circus companies to universities. In 2021 we presented 92 workshops attended by 1280 participants. For the first time our program included repertoire workshops to further develop the connection between Circa’s performances and our outreach activity. We’ll continue to find opportunities to share the way the Ensemble create and perform contemporary circus through our engagement program.
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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2021
financials $8.3M $1.78M $3.63M 17% $1.12M
TURNOVER
(GROSS INCOME)
INCOME FROM PERFORMANCES
I N V E S T M E N T I N WAG E S
(FOR ARTISTS AND ARTS WORKERS)
C O R E O P E R AT I O N A L FUNDING
(% OF TURNOVER)
INCOME FROM I N T E R N AT I O N A L S O U RC ES
(EXPORT INCOME)
3 3 .9 % $2.55M
INCOME GROWTH FROM 2020
I N V EST M E N T I N C R E AT I O N OF NEW WORKS
FIGURES FROM 2021 AUDITED ACCOUNTS 30
CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
INCOME $9M $8M $7M
$4M $3M $2M $1M
$5,5 0 0, 138
$5M
2020
$ 8, 319,401
$6M
2021
EXPENDITURE $9M $8M
$6M $5M
$3M $2M $1M
$4 ,882 ,68 8
$4M
2020 2021 ANNUAL REPORT
$9,018, 773
$7M
2021 31
our
supporters Circa acknowledges the assistance of the Australian Government through the Australia Council its arts funding and advisory body, and the assistance of the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
Circa would like to particularly thank and acknowledge the following people and organisations for their support: Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeanette Young PSM, Governor of Queensland Philippe Bachman Louise Bezzina Georgie Black Phil Brown Miranda Brown Sharyn Byrnes Caryn Cavanagh Antonin Coutouly Ross Cunningham AM Charlie Cush Heleen De Boever
Dominique Delorme Serge Dorny Paul Dyer AO Hon Leeanne Enoch MP Hon Warren Entsch MP Hon Trevor Evans MP Hon Paul Fletcher MP Guislaine Foiret Stephen Foster John Glenn Tom Gutteridge
Paul Grabowsky Ngaio Harding-Hill Kirsten Herring Andrew Helmore Paul Henry Simon Hinton Wolfgang Hoffman Hayley Johnson John Kotzas AM David Lieberman Allen Moon
Michael Napthali Dare Power Bob Manning Paul Martyn Gilles Mattana Kylie Munnich Michael Stevens Daniel Tobin Damien Walker Cinnamon Watson
Shaun the Sheep's Circus Show
© and TM Aardman Animations LTD 2021
CircAbility is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.
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CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
our
donors Martin Evans
Jon Bonaventura
Carrillo Gantner & Ziyan Gantner
Nathan Boyle
Piri Goodman
Geordie Brookman
Keaton Henton-Killian
Julianne Cavalieri
Bridie Hooper
Warwick Cavanagh
Sophie Lieberman
Rhiannon Cave-Walker
Cecilia Martin
Kerry Comerford
Christine McEwan
Jessica Connell
Vera Smiljanic
Ingrid Costello
Peter Willadsen
Graham Edwards & Georgie Black
Billie Wilson-Coffey
Photo by David Kelly.
Philip Bacon AM
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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our
team PAT R O N Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeanette Young PSM, Governor of Queensland
BOARD Michael Lynch AO CBE (Chair) Ric Roach (Treasurer) Chris Brady Kerry Comerford Alanna Herbst Anita Heiss Michelle Hyams Ian Walker Lisa McCready (Secretary)
ENSEMBLE Fran Alvarez Caroline Baillon Jon Bonaventura Holly-Rose Boyer Nathan Boyle Rhiannon Cave Walker Jessica Connell Jarred Dewey Marty Evans Piri Lee Goodman
Scott Grove Nancy Gutierrez Keaton Hentoff-Killian Bridie Hooper Sam Letch Gerramy Marsden Cecilia Martin Hamish McCourty Alice Muntz Daniel O’Brien
Kathryn O’Keeffe Paul O’Keeffe Kimberley O’Brien Lachlan Sukroo Jarrod Takle Luke Thomas Georgia Webb Billie Wilson-Coffey Ashley Youren Christina Zauner
GUEST ARTISTS Claire Bindoff Andreas De Ryck
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Solomon River Sage Renato Soares Dias Nelson Smyles
Skip Walker-Milne Danny Vrijsen
CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
Photo by Billie Wilson-Coffey.
S TA F F ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CEO Yaron Lifschitz
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Shaun Comerford
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Danielle Kellie
HEAD OF TOURING Zöé Caldwell
RESIDENT DIRECTORS Laura Hansford Aoife Carry
HEAD OF OPERATIONS & ADMINISTRATION Lisa McCready
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS Steph Cox Jodie Roche-Jones
HEAD OF CIRCUS Rowan Heydon-White
ADMINISTRATOR Latoya Lucas (till October) Luke Diamond (from October)
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Jason Organ
HEAD OF DESIGN Libby McDonnell
HEAD OF PRODUCTION (ACTING) Graham Ironside (till August)
COSTUME COORDINATOR Anna Handford
PRODUCTION MANAGER Richard Clarke (till March) Mark Carry
HEAD OF ENGAGEMENT Katherine Duhigg (from June)
TECHNICAL COORDINATOR Luke Laidler ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR & TOUR DIRECTOR Benjamin Knapton ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR & CREATIVE PRODUCER Geordie Brookman
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Rose Gamble HEAD OF MARKETING Tim Broughton (till May) Rebecca Grace (from June)
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES MANAGER Sophie Lieberman
MARKETING MANAGER Rebecca Grace (till June) Jade Fantozzi (from June)
FIRST NATIONS MANAGER Nadine McDonald-Dowd
MARKETING COORDINATOR Olivia Williams
HEAD OF FINANCE Evan Wright
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Lauren Bearkley (from June)
FINANCE OFFICERS Penelope Christopoulou (till November) Israt Jahan Tinni
CIRCA CLASSES MANAGERS Manelaya Kaydos-Nitis Anna Murray
CIRCA CLASSES TRAINERS Rhylee Chapman Ellen Cox Tami Dawson Anelyse Keane Abby Kelso Grace Law Izzy Lawton
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
Michael Maggs Rhys Miller Riley McDonald Maite Miramontes Alex Mizzen Mayu Muto
Lulu O’Brien Jacob Ramis Zoe Joiner Eve Timmins Christina Goodwin Alex Wecks-Huck Maddison Costello
35
C O N T R ACT S TA F F BOUNCE PRODUCTION MANAGER Simon MacColl
PRODUCTION MANAGER Richard Aishford
RIGGER/ELECTRICIAN Leo Fitzgerald
HEAD ELECTRICIAN Shanon Barclay
ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER Marta Gutierrez
WARDROBE COORDINATOR Jade Mulholland
PRODUCTION MANAGER Andrew ‘Panda’ Haden
PRODUCTION MANAGER Mick Murray
CASUAL RIGGER Kaleb Hawkins
PRODUCTION TECHNICIAN Lachlan Paterson
CARPENTER Geraint Holmes-Clark
DEPUTY HEAD MECHANIST Tom Pugh
RIGGER/TRUCK DRIVER Bruce Jobin
TECHNICIAN Med Rann
PRODUCTION TECHNICIAN Freddy Komp
ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER Alistair Richardson
VIDEO & AUDIO TECHNICIAN Joshua Braithwaite ASSISTANT DESIGNER Selene Cochrane PRODUCTION TECHNICIAN Stuart Cochrane TRUCK DRIVER Andrew Dunn STAGE MANAGER Yanni Dubler PRODUCER Karen Engel
SOUND ENGINEER Fabien Lauton
TECHNICIAN Lee Evans PRODUCTION MANAGER Ken Francey
SOUND DESIGNER Ben Ringham Max Ringham
STAGE MANAGER Pip Loth
TOUR DIRECTOR Shannon Rush
PRODUCTION TECHNICIAN Ruth Luckins
G U E S T C R E AT I V E S COMPOSER Philippe Bachman
LIGHTING DESIGNER Paul Jackson
SCENIC DESIGNER Dan Potra
LIGHTING DESIGNER Veronique Benett
SOUND DESIGNER Ori Lichtik
DESIGNER Daniel Toben
ASSOCIATE LIGHTING DESIGNER Alex Berlage
ASSOCIATE CHOREOGRAPHER Elise May
VIDEO DIRECTOR Craig Wilkinson
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Heather Fairbairn
DESIGNER Ho-Yin Ng
COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER Jethro Woodward
GUEST ARTISTS ACCORDIONIST Gareth Chin
VIOLINIST Dorothee Royez
ARTOUR PRODUCERS Julie Beveridge | Laura Bonner | Joanne Currey | Katherine Duhigg (till June) | Tanya Malouf MARKETING MANAGER Rebecca Grace (till June) | Jade Fantozzi (from June)
CIRCABILITY ARTIST ADVISORY COMMITTEE ARTIST ADVISORS Velvet Eldred | Jarrod Mellish | Laura Solomon | Lauren Watson
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CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
2021 ANNUAL REPORT
37
Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show photo by Prudence Upton.
CIRCA.ORG.AU
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