Art Circus! takes the reader on a magical journey into the artistic world where they can discover their creative muse which is waiting to come out and play. It is at heart a technique book for altered artists, but is housed within a wonderful, spectacular fantasy land. The book will bring the reader, the daydreamer, the explorer, the artist, to a place have never been, where they can unleash their artistic dreams and explore hidden worlds through cutting-edge techniques, creative projects, and beautiful images. The book will include easy tutorials on basic digital altering effects for new and vintage images, step by step instruction for projects, a gallery of inspirational projects from other artists, and clip art and vintage images for readers to use in their own projects. The book will cover digital and paper alteration, creating from found and household objects (jars and boxes), will feature playful illustration, vintage imagery, and use a myriad of other mixed-media materials ranging from glitter and wire to crinolin and coloring agents.

What are the characteristics of contemporary circus? In what way does contemporary circus differ from theater, dance, and performance? Where do hybrid forms exist? Where are there observable commonalities? Despite the diversity of contemporary circus performances, are there generalizable characteristics that unite the performances? What potential do these questions have for dramaturgical practice? This book adapts a cultural-semiotic approach to analyze contemporary circus performances. It offers the first comprehensive documentation and interpretation of the art form based on the reading theories of cultural, literature, theater, and dance studies. The volume thereby provides a dramaturgy of contemporary circus, which reveals its generalizable characteristics, fundamental techniques and structures, and the effects they produce. At the same time, theories and methods are modified and further developed regarding the characteristics of the circus. This book is designed for students and scholars in the field of theater and performance studies, as well as for artists, dramaturges, and directors working in the field of circus.

The Routledge Circus Studies Reader offers an absorbing critical introduction to this diverse and emerging field. It brings together the work of over 30 scholars in this discipline, including Janet Davis, Helen Stoddart and Peta Tait, to highlight and address the field’s key historical, critical and theoretical issues. It is organised into three accessible sections, Perspectives, Precedents and Presents, which approach historical aspects, current issues, and the future of circus performance. The chapters, grouped together into 13 theme-based sub-sections, provide a clear entry point into the field and emphasise the diversity of approaches available to students and scholars of circus studies. Classic accounts of performance, including pieces by Philippe Petit and Friedrich Nietzsche, are included alongside more recent scholarship in the field. Edited by two scholars whose work is strongly connected to the dynamic world of performance, The Routledge Circus Studies Reader is an essential teaching and study resource for the emerging discipline of circus studies. It also provides a stimulating introduction to the field for lovers of circus.

This collection aims to map a diversity of approaches to the artform by creating a 360° view on the circus. The three sections of the book, Aesthetics, Practice, Culture, approach aesthetic developments, issues of artistic practice, and the circus’ role within society. This book consists of a collection of articles from renowned circus researchers, junior researchers, and artists. It also provides the core statements and discussions of the conference UpSideDown—Circus and Space in a graphic recording format. Hence, it allows a clear entry into the field of circus research and emphasizes the diversity of approaches that are well balanced between theoretical and artistic point of views. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of circus studies, emerging disciples of circus and performance.

José Carlos Mariátegui is one of Latin America’s most profound but overlooked thinkers. A self-taught journalist, social scientist, and activist from Peru, he was the first to emphasize that those fighting for the revolutionary transformation of society must adapt classical Marxist theory to the particular conditions of Latin American. He also stressed that indigenous peoples must take an active, if not leading, role in any revolutionary struggle. Today Latin America is the scene of great social upheaval. More progressive governments are in power than ever before, and grassroots movements of indigenous peoples, workers, and peasants are increasingly shaping the political landscape. The time is perfect for a rediscovery of Mariátegui, who is considered an intellectual precursor of today’s struggles in Latin America but virtually unknown in the English-speaking world. This volume collects his essential writings, including many that have never been translated and some that have never been published. The scope of this collection, masterful translation, and thoughtful commentary make it an essential book for scholars of Latin America and all of those fighting for a new world, waiting to be born.

The Aerial Circus Training and Safety Manual has step-by-step instructions and is accompanied by over 1,000 photos to guide those interested in learning trapeze, rings, tissue and web work.

In this volume, twenty-four creators come together with three scholars to discuss Contemporary Circus, bridging the divide between practice and theory. Lavers, Leroux, and Burtt offer conversations across four key themes: Apparatus, Politics, Performers, and New Work. Extensively illustrated with fifty photos of Contemporary Circus productions, and extensively annotated, Contemporary Circus thematically groups and contextualises extracts of conversations to provide a sophisticated and wide-ranging study supported by critical theory. Of interest to both practitioners and scholars, Contemporary Circus uses the lens of ‘contestation,’ or calling things into question, to provide a portal into ways of seeing today’s circus performance. Conversations with: Lachlan Binns and Jascha Boyce (Gravity and Other Myths), Tilde Björfors (Cirkus Cirkör), Kim ‘Busty Beatz’ Bowers (Hot Brown Honey), Shana Carroll (The 7 Fingers), David Clarkson (Stalker), Philippe Decouflé (Compagnie DCA), Fez Faanana (Briefs), Mike Finch (Circus Oz), Daniele Finzi Pasca (Compagnia Finzi Pasca), Sean Gandini (Gandini Juggling), Firenza Guidi (ElanFrantoio, NoFit State Circus), Jo Lancaster and Simon Yates (Acrobat), Johann Le Guillerm (Cirque Ici), Yaron Lifschitz (Circa), Chelsea McGuffin (Company 2), Phia Ménard (Compagnie Non Nova), Jennifer Miller (Circus Amok), Adrien Mondot (Compagnie Adrien M and Claire B), Charlotte Mooney and Tina Koch (Ockham’s Razor), Philippe Petit (high wire artist), and Elizabeth Streb (STREB EXTREME ACTION).

An illustrated guide to anatomy and biomechanics for aerialists who want to optimize their performance and train safely Specifically designed for aerialists—including those who do trapeze, silks, and other aerial arts— Applied Anatomy of Aerial Arts is an invaluable resource for those who want to optimize their performance and train safely. Using a biomechanical and movement-based approach, Emily Scherb—a physical therapist who specializes in the care, treatment, and education of circus performers—explains the anatomical rationale for progressions of learning and demonstrates simple movements to achieve the coordination, muscular control, strength, and fitness to hang with correct form, how to progress from hanging into a pull up, an inversion, and beyond with a strong center, precise muscle sequencing, and ease of movement. Aerialists will learn how bones, joints, muscles, and soft tissues allow for specific movements and gain an appreciation for concepts of proximal stability. This full-color illustrated guide lays a solid foundation for beginners and advanced students with a wealth of insights into their own performance as well as refreshers on fundamentals in warm ups and conditioning. It explains how to structure a training session, how to care for injuries, and best practices for basic self first aid.