Australia's other boom: the rise of community circus
Young Australians are being drawn to community circus in a big way.
By Ben Collins
from: abc.net.au
3 October, 2012
A uniquely Australian phenomenon is the exponential growth of community circus.
Every sport loves to claim the title of 'Australia's fastest growing'. From football, to cycling, to roller derby: in their own particular context they're all contenders. Well here's another one to add to the list: circus. Not the knife throwing, lion taming variety; the growth area is the community version of the style that Circus Oz has been performing since the late '70s. It's not really a sport, but it's attracting large numbers of Australian kids who might otherwise be swimming, kicking and shooting goals.
Three years ago the Australian Circus and Physical Theatre Association (ACAPTA) had 50 members. This has virtually doubled each year since to now have over 300 members.
"We've been charting the development, it's a huge growth." says ACAPTA Director Gail Kelly. "It's the best kept secret. We keep getting in touch with a small town who say 'We've started a community circus too.'"
Exactly how many Australians are currently involved with circus is a big unknown. Gillian Arrighi is a Lecturer in Drama at the University of Newcastle and has been doing some research into community circus.
"Anecdotally there seems to be quite a lot of interest." she says. "But no one knows exactly how big circus is in Australia."
Ms Arrighi points out that part of the process of measuring Australia's growing interest in circus will be defining exactly what you're counting. Circus has many forms with professional circus performers touring the nation, people working part time delivering workshops to disadvantaged groups, and purely amateur community based troupes just doing it for fun.
read more at:
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/10/03/3602775.htm
By Ben Collins
from: abc.net.au
3 October, 2012
A uniquely Australian phenomenon is the exponential growth of community circus.
Every sport loves to claim the title of 'Australia's fastest growing'. From football, to cycling, to roller derby: in their own particular context they're all contenders. Well here's another one to add to the list: circus. Not the knife throwing, lion taming variety; the growth area is the community version of the style that Circus Oz has been performing since the late '70s. It's not really a sport, but it's attracting large numbers of Australian kids who might otherwise be swimming, kicking and shooting goals.
Three years ago the Australian Circus and Physical Theatre Association (ACAPTA) had 50 members. This has virtually doubled each year since to now have over 300 members.
"We've been charting the development, it's a huge growth." says ACAPTA Director Gail Kelly. "It's the best kept secret. We keep getting in touch with a small town who say 'We've started a community circus too.'"
Exactly how many Australians are currently involved with circus is a big unknown. Gillian Arrighi is a Lecturer in Drama at the University of Newcastle and has been doing some research into community circus.
"Anecdotally there seems to be quite a lot of interest." she says. "But no one knows exactly how big circus is in Australia."
Ms Arrighi points out that part of the process of measuring Australia's growing interest in circus will be defining exactly what you're counting. Circus has many forms with professional circus performers touring the nation, people working part time delivering workshops to disadvantaged groups, and purely amateur community based troupes just doing it for fun.
read more at:
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/10/03/3602775.htm
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