Contemporary circus
circus developed in the 20th century
Contemporary circus (or cirque contemporain in French-speaking countries) is a contested term in circus studies. In this article, it is used in contrast to the term 'traditional circus', combining with the genre elsewhere disambiguated as new circus or nouveau cirque. Many circus scholars prefer to separate these styles, as elaborated in circus. Contemporary circus, by this definition, is a genre of performing arts developed in the late 20th century in which a story, theme, mood or question is conveyed through traditional circus skills. Traditional circus skills are blended with more choreographic, character-driven or mechanical approaches. Animals are rarely used, akin to variety shows.
Contemporary circus —encompassing the New Circus movement—originated in the late 1960s, and has spurred the creation of unique schools to teach the format, as well as books for the contemporary circus performer, assisting them with their careers.
Contemporary circus
The new circus or nouveau cirque movement originated in Australia, the West Coast of the United States, France and the United Kingdom from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s. The impetus came from the "new wave" theatre movement and street theatre as well as from traditional circus.
Early pioneers of the new circus genre included: The Royal Lichtenstein Quarter-Ring Sidewalk Circus, founded in San Jose, CA in 1969 by Nick Weber, SJ; Circus Oz, forged in Australia in 1977 from SoapBox Circus (1976) and New Circus (1973); the Pickle Family Circus, founded in San Francisco in 1975; Ra-Ra Zoo in 1984 in London; Nofit State Circus in 1984 from Wales; Cirque du Soleil, founded in Quebec in 1984; Cirque Plume and Archaos from France in 1984 and 1986 respectively.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Contemporary circus” is circus developed in the 20th century. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Contemporary, circus and developed, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “circus developed in the 20th century” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 8, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q194662. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1969, 1977, 1976 and 1973.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Contemporary circus”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Contemporary circus primary sources, Contemporary circus archive and Contemporary research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Contemporary circus”?
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This entry incorporates text from “Contemporary circus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.