WS 2015 | Semiotics of the Circus

Le cirque bouge, bougez avec lui!

France in the 1960s and 1970s:

The traditional circensic code becomes outdated in the performances of the developing genre Nouveau Cirque. The artists in this new form of circus are no longer offspring of circus families, but rather graduates of accredited schools; animals are banned from the programs and the tent is no longer the sole place of performances. The performances of Nouveau Cirque are based on the foundational circus discipline—acrobatics, object manipulation, and clownery—which are elaborated through theatric and choreographic elements. The goal is no longer to use a Babylonian buildup—which arranges the elements according to level of difficulty—to showcase the superhuman achievements of the artists and the exceptionality of the tricks; rather, with a symbolic system, the performance strives to become a kind of happening—a narration. The fundamental method of the constitution of meaning of circensic art is reconstructed.

The seminar occured in cooperation with the German New Circus “Cirque Bouffon”. A central component of the seminar was the first three-day event of the Zirkus | Wissenschaft conference series in Münster, “Semiotics of Circus,” in which lectures by internationally renowned circus scholars were presented. Preparation for the sessions included reflecting on the contents of the conference and making “Circus” conceivable as an object of scientific investigation.