History
The nouveau cirque movement originated in the late 1960s in France, Australia, the West Coast of the United States and the United Kingdom.
Early examples of nouveau cirque companies include: Circus Oz, forged in Australia in 1977 from SoapBox Circus and New Circus, both founded in the early 1970s; 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.
More recent examples include: Cirque Éloize, founded in Quebec (1993); Arizona's Flam Chen (1994); New York's Bindlestiff Family Cirkus (1995); Sweden's Cirkus Cirkör (1995); Teatro ZinZanni, founded in Seattle (1998); the West African Circus Baobab (late 1990s); Montreal's Les 7 doigts de la main (2002); San Francisco's Vau De Vire Society; Wanderlust Circus from Portland, OR; and American cirque noir companies Lucent Dossier Experience, PURE Cirkus (2004), and the Red Light Variety Show of Boise, Idaho (2008).
The genre includes other circus troupes such as the Vermont-based Circus Smirkus (founded in 1987 by Rob Mermin), Le Cirque Imaginaire (later renamed Le Cirque Invisible, both founded and directed by Victoria Chaplin, daughter of Charlie Chaplin), the Tiger Lillies, and Dislocate, while The Jim Rose Circus is an interesting take on the circus sideshow. In Northern England, Skewed Circus combines punk, rap, dance music, comedy, and stunts to deliver "pop-circus" entertainment to young urban audiences.
It could be argued that the blending of traditional circus arts with contemporary aesthetic sensibilities and theatrical techniques has revitalized the general public's interest in and appetite for the circus. Certainly the most conspicuous success story has been that of Cirque du Soleil, the Canadian circus company whose estimated annual revenue now exceeds US$810 million, and whose nouveau cirque shows have been seen by nearly 90 million spectators in over 200 cities on five continents.
Read more about this topic: Contemporary Circus
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