Old Art Form, New Tricks: Contemporary Circus in Poland
What are our associations with the word ‘circus’? Many of us may imagine a large arena, trained animals, and a variety of unusual – and often dangerous – acts, accompanied by a characteristic drumroll. New or contemporary circus, however, offers something else entirely.
A circus without animals?
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Mimi the chimpanzee, Staniewski Circus, Kraków, 1934, photo: audiovis.nac.gov.pl (NAC)
To this widespread, if archaic concept of circus we can add the way the word itself is used in other contexts. In a foreign dictionary, we can read that in colloquial expression, ‘circus’ can also mean a funny, shocking or even troublesome event. Sometimes, we use it with a certain contempt or even leniency toward someone’s incomprehensible or unreasonable behaviour. In combination with its legacy of violence towards animals and the ringmaster’s typical role, we conjure the dull image of simple, commercial entertainment for the masses, with little in the way of taste.
In Poland, one synonym, amongst others, for so clichéd an undertaking is the Zalewski Circus: a troupe which has operated since 1993 and presents shows involving horses, goats and camels. That year also saw the establishment of the Korona Circus, which involved llamas, zebras and monkeys. (Interestingly enough, in 1998, the actor Maryla Rodowicz went on a concert tour with that troupe, visiting ten cities over the course of a month.) In recent years, both groups have encountered criticism from animal rights groups, and as a result, many cities have officially banned shows involving animals. Still, their participation in circuses (and other shows) remains legal under the current animal-protection laws. Although legislation prohibits travelling menageries and requires care for the animals’ safety, the reality is brutal and unpleasant.
A few years ago, there was great talk about the Zalewski Circus elephants. The animals would arouse thunderous applause when they ‘danced’. In fact, their rhythmic swaying was the result of a movement disorder, known in the field as ‘stereotypy’, which results from intense stress. The ‘Cyrk Bez Zwierząt’ (Circus Without Animals) campaign, along with several other organisations, is now working to ban the use of animals in the performing arts altogether. These include the Otwarte Klaki (Open Cages) and Empatia (Empathy) associations.
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OFCA, 2018, photo: promotional materials
This difference between traditional circus and its new formula brings the latter’s ethical and emotional dimensions to the fore. But concern for animals isn’t the only element of new circus’s unique and exceptional character. Born in France in the 1970s, new circus was established to express creative rebellion against the stagnant, conservative traditions of the art form. New circus artists opposed the ossification of circus shows based on ‘numbers’ passed down in secret from one generation to the next, lending an air of mystery and ‘clan’-ness to the art form. As they introduced new ideas, contemporary circus artists increasingly moved away from virtuosity and complex ‘tricks’ towards more complex performances – in which not only technique, but also emotion played a role.
According to Marta Kuczyńska:
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In new circus performances, we see a narrative, a story about life, and not necessarily a show of tricks.
Kuczyńska is a performer, actor, juggler, director and producer who co-founded and serves as president of the Kejos The-At-Er. She also co-created some of the first new Polish circus-theatre festivals.
In Poland, contemporary circus remains little-known and somewhat at the margins of performance work which sees more regular discussion, analysis or reviews. Its visibility, however, is slowly growing: apart from the veteran Kejos Association, which has operated since 2004, there’s the Sztukmistrze (Circus Performer) Foundation as well. Among new circus events, we should highlight Lublin’s Cyrkulacje Wschodnioeuropejski Konkurs Etiud Nowocyrkowych (Cirque-ulation Eastern European Contest for New Circus Studies); the Cyrkopole Cyrkowy Podwórkowy (Cyrkopole Circus Street) Festival in Wrocław; the OFCA Cyrkowo-Artystyczny (OFCA Circus-Artistic) Festival in Oleśnica; and Lublin’s Carnaval Sztukmistrzów (Carnival of Circus Performers). Circus paedagogy, which uses juggling and acrobatics in education and even therapy, has also seen growth and development – the Sieć Pedagogiki Cyrku (Circus Paedagogy Network) was established in 2019.
The term ‘contemporary circus’ is used alternately with ‘new circus’ in order to emphasise this phenomenon’s ties to the present reality as well as its status as a kind of ‘cultural update’. Without rejecting its sources altogether, new circus art is creating a new face for itself, one more consistent with today’s world and its changes. Roman Kubicki, a philosopher and professor at the Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznań, notes that ‘after abandoning the use of animals, new circus had to find a new identity’.
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Multi Visual during Cykrulacja 2017, photo: Jakub Orzechowski / Agencja Gazeta
New circus clearly demonstrates how aesthetics and ethics are intertwined, and that any performance also has a political dimension – in the sense that it resonates with societal and economic changes. This trend goes beyond the poetics of ‘strangeness’ established in traditional circus, involving exoticism and excitement at the sight of difference. Let’s not forget that many older circus and para-circus shows included exhibitions not only of domestic and foreign animals, but also of people – those with non-normative appearances and atypical motor skills, whether they were over- or underweight, smaller in stature, or were people with disabilities.
Circus artists today prove that this art form can be free from discrimination and chauvinism, and that extraordinary skills, developed through trial and error, and constantly being improved, can serve as a source of wonder. Jugglers, acrobats, and performers who work with fire or hula-hoops arouse amazement and admiration in presenting their extraordinary skill with the human body and powers of concentration. New circus also invites individual expression and creativity – unlike the old, repetitive ‘numbers’ preserved for years in circus traditions. Jakub Szwed of the Sztukmistrze Foundation even sees a meditative aspect in practices such as juggling:
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New circus is not just a compendium of characters. It’s an art form concentrated on individual exploration.
The young teaching the old
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Cyrkopole, photo: Piotr Spigiel / promotional materials
Although new circus sometimes involves elaborate stories, which are usually intended for older viewers, it is most often geared towards families. As Szwed notes, children’s shorter attention spans mean a performance involving a variety of elements is more likely to spark their interest, rather than bore them: ‘Children naturally find themselves at the circus’. At the same time, new circus involves not only performances, but also educational activities and workshops – and these are aimed at everyone, regardless of age.
Jakub Szwed and Joanna Reczek-Szwed, who is president of the Sztukmistrze Foundation, estimate that 95% of their programmes are geared towards families. They’re available to a wide audience and, importantly, they can be understood by speakers of any language. Entire families come to train at the Sztukmistrzów (Circus Performers’) Academy, where it’s not uncommon to see children teaching their own parents tricks. As Reczek-Szwed says:
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Circus teaches you how to learn. It builds patience, helps you break up the learning process into different stages, and shows you how to be unafraid of failure. As adults, we’re often afraid of making fools of ourselves. The idea is to see how learning to juggle necessarily involves picking the balls up off of the ground [and trying again].
As such, she stresses that new circus departs from the figure of the ‘guru’ or ‘master’ who, endowed with magical knowledge, initiates others into the arcana of art.
New circus involves a large community of people who are learning from one another. In the past, circus artists came from ‘clans’ – but today, circus is open to anyone who seeks to engage with its new form as a kind of hobby, and who doesn’t necessarily want to do it professionally.
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Mateusz Kownacki & Artur Perskawiec during Cyrkulacja 2017, Sztukmistrze Foundation, photo: Jakub Orzechowski / Agencja Gazeta
But the practices of new circus don’t allow for the development of physical fitness, reflexes and concentration alone. They can also have a positive effect on mental health. New circus can even be used in social work – for example, with children and young adults grappling with difficult life circumstances.
One example is the Dzielnicowe Kultury (Neighborhood Culture) Laboratory, which involves a cycle of arts classes conducted in the spirit of circus paedagogy around Lublin. While the classes do culminate in a final showing for the local community, it’s not what’s most important here. It’s about the process, learning, and overcoming one’s own barriers. Of the participants in these social-circus classes, Reczek-Szwed says:
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These are people who can’t believe that they’re good at anything. The experience of, for example, standing on a large ball and maintaining their balance helps them believe in themselves.
She adds that for children and young people who have low self-esteem, to successfully complete a difficult task or trick, and then hear several dozen of their peers applaud loudly for them, can be very significant in a therapeutic sense.
If it’s possible to speak of virtuosity in new circus, there’s yet another important aspect to explore. This is not so much about the need to consolidate the category of mastery and the resultant hierarchy, but about surpassing one’s own limitations, overcoming fear (i.e. by standing on stilts), and the joy of gaining and honing skills which may have previously seemed unattainable.
New circus can also be part of the everyday under more extreme circumstances. We know from history (including theatre history) that people have worked on theatrical performances and other such activities even amid the horrors of war. It’s no different when it comes to juggling and acrobatics. Reczek-Szwed adds:
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Social circus sometimes takes place in places where there’s armed conflict. One might say this is the last thing people need in such places. But it does exist. For example, in Israel and Palestine: first and foremost, children there gain the chance to move away from the difficult reality, but in addition, they also learn to trust another person. For example, when you make a human pyramid, and you’re at the very top, you have to trust the people at the bottom, who are literally creating its foundation. It builds a strong group bond.
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Cyrkulacja, photo: M. Zakrzewski / organisers’ materials
How does someone get involved in new circus? In Poland, formal new-circus education is just now underway. The Sztukmistrze Foundation plans to launch a circus school, but it’s a large, complex undertaking. The situation in Poland is quite different from many so-called Western countries: in Francophone countries, such as France or Canada, circus education is incomparably more developed, and students can choose from any number of institutions (more than 100 in France alone, some of which offer master’s degrees). In Poland, people who want to study or perhaps even launch a professional career can take workshops or engage in independent training – for example, by using materials available online. Tutorials are available on the website kuglarstwo.pl, which also has a YouTube channel.
It’s hard to resist the impression that new circus could successfully prove itself as part of public-school education. The art form teaches agility, vigilance and precision, but it also allows for building a different relationship to one’s body. Sport predominates in schools today, and while it builds physical fitness, it also breeds competition, a focus on results, and comparing oneself with others, as only the results which can successfully be measured in numbers are rewarded. New circus shows us how joy can be found in movement in and of itself – in the process of learning new things, and in co-operation with others. Reczek-Szwed says:
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When I discovered circus, I really regretted that I didn’t have PE like this in school. I suffered a lot there; I didn’t find any pleasure in movement.
It’s interesting that in an interview for Culture.pl, the choreographer Marta Stokłosa spoke about physical education in a similar way: ‘I think every school should offer dance. Dance – not sport, which is geared around competition’.
Meanwhile, the new circus community is growing – and so is wider knowledge of the art form. As the number of its practitioners grows, so does that of researchers who seek to understand it in the context of theory, artistic lineage, and analysis.
Originally written in Polish, May 2020, translated by Lauren Dubowski, Aug 2021
Sources: ‘Nowy Cyrk – Reportaż’; ‘Bestia Na Arenie Cyrkowej: Zjawisko Nowego Cyrku Jako Przykład Zmian w Relacjach Pomiędzy Człowiekiem a Zwierzęciem’ by Z. Snelewska-Stempień; kuglarstwo.pl; sztukmistrze.pl; otwarteklatki.pl