Dear readers, dear artists, dear audience,
In this issue of VOICES, we shift our perspective: away from the stage and into the auditorium. We turn our attention to the people who attend contemporary circus performances – and to those who do not. We explore both the external and internal conditions of access: the accessibility and potential of circus performances, as well as the circus experience itself, shaped by experience, emotion, and understanding. And we examine how that experience is shaped by circus artists today.
Since the rise of performance art in the 1960s, artists have been reimagining the role of the audience –challenging, activating, and involving them in new ways. Performance has become a social process in which spectators are invited to participate, to be seduced, provoked, and engaged. In the performing arts, immer-sive formats now abound, and collective experience has become part of the artistic mission. This issue of VOICES explores circus-specific approaches, questions, and performance contexts. We seek to articulate a distinctly circus-specific perspective1 in dialogue with current discussions around sustainable cultural practices, the relevance of cultural programming, and cultural participation.
The circular architecture of the circus ring – performance in the round – evokes both a (hoped-for) immediacy in communication with the audience and a sense of communication among audience members themselves. The trick-based dramaturgy that is central above all to classical circus — the display ofextraordinary skills at the heart of the performance — creates a distinctive connection with the audience: spectators are involved emotionally, and, at times, even physically; suspense spreads equally to everyone inthe space, and the separation between ring and auditorium is temporarily dissolved through that shared feeling. No intellectual understanding or prior knowledge is required here; circus is immediately accessibleto all in low-threshold way. (Traditional) circus has always been about moving, thrilling, and captivating. In today’s cultural discourse, this has become a legitimate strategy for enabling cultural participation.
Contemporary circus, too, sees itself as open, accessible, and relatable – as an art form capable of reaching especially diverse audiences. But does this self-image stand up to closer scrutiny? When, and under what conditions, does it hold true? Or does contemporary circus run the risk – not least through increasing academisation and its growing entanglement with the established cultural sector – of reproducing the very same barriers that keep much of the population2 at a distance from institutionalised theatre? Who, in fact, sits in the audience – and who does not? Who feels addressed, and who feels excluded? What role do social, cultural, and economic factors play? Between the aspiration to artistic complexity and the promise of accessibility, questions arise that go far beyond attendance figures.
In this issue of VOICES, we bring together a range of perspectives and voices, with a particular focus on the German-speaking world and on circus companies that are regularly present there. We invite readers to look more closely, to question common assumptions, and to become part of the audience themselves. In the spirit of the CircusDanceFestival motto “Come Closer,” the magazine sees itself as an invitation to create closeness – and to encounter circus anew.
The magazine opens with an article by Vienna-based circus scholar Dr. Birgit Peter, who traces the history of circus audiences from the eighteenth century to the present day. She reflects on the enormous popularity of circus as a genre and reveals the many kinds of people who have made up circus audiences over time. Her contribution also serves as a historical reconnection, deliberately highlighting the shared roots of contemporary and classical circus in order to draw links to present-day questions. Among other things, she examines aspects of circus reception that go beyond the much-cited “male gaze,”3 while also reminding us of the deeply disturbing chapters in the history of circus audiences.
We were delighted to speak with Mikey Martins, one of the most inspiring festival organisers on the international festival circuit. Drawing on his many years of curatorial and programming prac-tice, we spoke with him about the complex relationships between festivals and their audiences. The conversation touches on barriers and community projects, responsibility, strategies, and political statements. It offers insight into the perspective of anorganiser who does not regard the audience as a given, but as something that actively shapes and is shaped by the event.
Under the heading “Statements,” we have gathered reflections and voices from both artists and audiences. The five artists Hanna Mampuys, Benjamin Richter, Yann Ecauvre, Amaia Valle, and Clémence Gilbert speak about the role of the audience in their work, as well as the approaches and motivations that lead them to consider and involve spectators in different ways. In between, the audience itself is also given space to speak, in voices ranging from circus professionals to people who do not attend circus at all.
In the closing interview with Ole-Kristian Heyer – photographer and committed member of the Insane UrbanCowboys from Gelsenkirchen — we widen our focus beyond the framework of conventional circus events and turn our attention to sustainable change in public space. From his local perspective on the Ruhr region, Heyer speaks about an audience that cannot be understood merely as group of spectators, but as part of a wider social and urban fabric.
This magazine is by no means complete. Many voices, perspectives, and topics are missing – including, for example, the entire field of audience engagement and educational work, as well as the broader question of how circus is received. We are also fully aware that the articles and interviews in this issue are written exclusively by white Central European contributors. For us, editing this issue of VOICES has been a balancing act between the desire for authenticity, fragmentary insights and the current structural limitations of the circus field. All of us working in circus are part of an ongoing learning process as we seek to foster a more diversity-conscious approach within circus structures.4
We are convinced that our society needs spaces where connection can be experienced as a way of countering polarisation and division. Shared moments can create the basis for greater mutual understanding. Circus, in whatever form it takes, still has the power to bring people together. Participatory formats in contemporary circus create embodied experiences for audiences and show just how valuable collective, physical collaboration can be. Circus’s distinctive way of engaging with objects5 opens up new ways of relating to our environment, including to that which cannot be controlled. In this time of wars, climate change, and global upheaval, circus experiences – very much in the spirit of “circus as practices of hope”6 – can make tangible the fact that people are capable of facing challenges together, and that dreams and utopias remain both imaginable and achievable. It is for this reason that we invite everyone to come to the circus.
Jenny Patschovsky and Joma Langhans
Cologne, April 2026
1 Further circus-related publications on the subject include, among others: Costa, Bruno / Vilar, Daniel (eds.), When We Step Outside, What Place Are We Looking For? Art in Public Space and Placemaking. Bússola: Outdoor Arts Portugal, 2025; Vilar, Daniel, Shared Stages: A Comprehensive Guide to Participatory Circus. BETA CIRCUS, 2025.
2 Around half of Germany’s population is not interested in publicly funded cultural institutions. See: Mandel, Birgit, Ergebnisseeiner repräsentativen Bevölkerungsbefragung zur Legitimität öffentlich geförderter Theater in Deutschland, in KULTURELLE BILDUNG ONLINE: https://www.kubi-online.de/index.php/artikel/ergebnisse-einer-repraesentativen-bevoelkerungsbefragung-zur-legitimitaet-oeffentlich (last accessed 3 April 2026). See also: HOW TO (NOT) DO A FESTIVAL. 5 Erkenntnisse für bessere Publikumsarbeit. Ed. FESTIVALFRIENDS. Dortmund, 2025.
3 This refers to the male voyeuristic gaze that a particular performance setting, unconventional costumes, and the specific staging of female or female-read performers were intended to evoke. See Hildbrand, Mirjam / Künkel, För, Zirkuskunst in Berlin um 1900. Berlin, 2025, p. 49.
4 We welcome further exchange on this. Feel free to write to us at: voices@circus-dance-festival.de
5 In his statement, Benjamin Richter introduces the concept of “jugglicality”.
6 Vgl./Cf.: Robitaille, Marie-Andrée: Circus as Practices of Hope: A Philosophy of Circus. (Diss.) Stockholm University of the Arts, Departmentof circus. Stockholm 2024.