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Leading circus company Circa, has joined Australia’s other great circus companies represented in the Australian Performing Arts Collection, which is dedicated to preserving the extraordinary legacies of Australia’s dance, music, opera, theatre and circus heritage. With more than 850,000 objects in the collection, it is Australia’s largest collection of performing arts history.

The Australian Performing Arts Collection will acquire and preserve items from Circa including intricate costumes, circus props, and a set model. Each object has been selected for its cultural significance to Circa, global circus performance and Australia’s performing arts history.

This year the Brisbane-based company are celebrating their 21st anniversary, alongside a triumphant return to Arts Centre Melbourne with the internationally acclaimed Humans 2.0, presenting at the Play house until 24th May. Last year Circa delivered over 419 performances across 116 cities and towns in 20 countries.

In 1990, the Australian Performing Arts Collection was named the official national archive to the circus industry. Tasked with playing a leading role in the preservation of circus material and traditions in Australia, the Collection provides a window into the Big Top glamour of the traditional circuses such as Wirths’ and Holden Brothers’, as well as the contemporary circuses like Circus Oz and Circa, that have brought the performance genre into the modern age.

Australian Performing Arts Collection curator Ian Jackson, who specialises in circus history and preservation at the Australian Performing Arts Collection notes "Circa’s inclusion in the collection is long overdue.

"Up until now, Circa hasn’t been represented in the collection and that has felt like a missed opportunity. The objects we’ve now acquired from Circa are a representation of various productions that have been performed around the world, across their incredible 20 year history.

"While circus is one of the more popular performing arts genres, it often has less recorded history. This makes the Australian Performing Arts Collection’s task of preserving the history of circus in Australia that much more important. As Australia’s national circus archive, we couldn’t be more thrilled to be adding some part of Circa’s achievements to the Australian Performing Arts Collection.

The acquisition from Circa is of particular significance as the acquisition process was a close collaboration with the Circa team. Circa’s Head of Design and Engagement, Libby McDonnell and Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Yaron Lifschtiz put the word out asking the Circa team what objects and costumes they thought told Circa’s story.

Highlights of Circa’s donation include costumes from acclaimed production Carnival of the Animals (2014–present), two clown noses – a surprising first for the collection – and sparkling red stilettos from the groundbreaking act ‘Heels’ which featured in Circa’s breakthrough production The Space Between (2004).

Lifschtiz shared "each of the costume pieces and props we are donating hold a special place in Circa’s history. The trapezes from Rock n’ Roll Circus tell the story of where we started, and costume pieces like the sparkling red stilettos from Circa chart our evolution as a company. We are thrilled to become a part of the collection and play a role in preserving Australia’s unique circus history."

This initial donation represents the start of an ongoing collecting partnership between Circa and the Australian Performing Arts Collection, with the intention that by the end of the year a second acquisition will be made that includes archival posters and photography.

The acquisition is a full circle moment for Arts Centre Melbourne, the Australian Performing Arts Collection’s custodian. Between 1877 – 1963, the site – now occupied by Arts Centre Melbourne’s Theatres Building and Hamer Hall – saw various travelling circuses pitch their big top beside the Birrarung (Yarra River), as well as the only permanent circus venue in Australia until the 1950s, Wirth’s Olympia.

Circa’s donation to the Australian Performing Arts Collection follows last week’s announcement of the Australian Museum of Performing Arts (AMPA), a new museum and cultural destination at Arts Centre Melbourne set to open later this year. Objects and costumes from the Australian Performing Arts Collection will be part of the displays available for public viewing.

Acquired Circa Items

• Sparkling red stilettos from ‘Heels’ act, Circa, c. 2012, and The Space Between (2024)
• Acrobat’s costumes with clown noses from Carnival of the Animals (2014 – present)
• Prop suitcase from Circus of the Animals (2014 – present)
• Hand grips used for strength and grip in hundreds of performances around the world
• Trapeze from Rock n’ Roll Circus (1990s)
• Set model from Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show (2021 – present)
• Prototype headgear from Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show (2021 – present)

Image top. ‘Heels’ act, Circa; image below: sparkling red stilettos from the groundbreaking act ‘Heels’ which featured in Circa’s breakthrough production The Space Between (2004).

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