Circa Annnounces CIRCABILITY

Circa has announced CircAbility, an exciting and much anticipated new program bringing participants from the disability community together to learn circus skills and techniques in a series of month-long workshops and participant performances taking place in Brisbane, Cairns, Ipswich and the Gold Coast. CircAbility will commence in Brisbane on 1 March 2022.

A major new initiative for the company, CircAbility builds on a successful pilot program delivered in 2020. Based on Circa's philosophy of the ensemble, CircAbility has been created in collaboration with local artists and disability community members. The program enables participants to stretch limits, discover capacities and enjoy social contact as they become members of the CircAbility ensemble.

Yaron Lifschitz, Circa Artistic Director said: "CircAbility is an initiative that's close to my heart. It is a joyous sharing of circus and its ability to empower, thrill and nourish. With the generous support of our funding and project partners, the program brings the experience of circus to people with a disability. We have worked closely with members of the community to tailor a program that is accessible, inclusive and impactful. We would love to grow this initiative into an ongoing program that celebrates the potential in everyone."

Leading the project is Queensland based creative Laura Hansford who most recently wrote and directed Opera Queensland's touring production Are You Lonesome Tonight, and is currently a Resident Director at Circa.

"CircAbility is a union of everything exciting about circus. Individually circus is a unique opportunity to surprise yourself, to take your body, your mind and your creativity beyond what you imagine to be possible. As a community, circus is a binding agent, a place where you learn to trust and be trusted, to encounter risk amongst friends knowing that you will be caught, held and lifted.

The program has been in development since 2020 and at the heart of that journey has always been the desire to create a space where people who experience disability can connect, have fun and share the joy and adventure of circus. CircAbility participants can expect to stretch both their creativity and their limits, trying their hand at balancing, tumbling and aerial work, all under the guidance of trained circus artists.

Circa's team has worked in partnership with a group of artists living with disability to create a structured program for all abilities. CircAbility will allow the space for participants to explore and test skills, whatever their interests may be. A range of Low Sensory classes are available through-out the program and all of the host venues were chosen with accessibility in mind," said Hansford

Disability Artist Lauren Watson specialises in aerials, circus, physical theatre and improvised movement and is one of the CircAbility project leads.

"CircAbility offers a fun and safe space to explore circus, movement and physical theatre with one of Australia's most successful contemporary circus organisations. The program looks at how to adapt skills to meet the individual strengths and abilities of participants and highlights the diversity that the community has to offer the artistic world," said Watson.
About CircaCirca Contemporary Circus is one of the world's leading performance companies. Since 2004, from its base in Brisbane, Australia, Circa has pioneered a daring new vision of contemporary circus that combines extreme physicality, music, theatre and acrobatics into a mesmerising spectacle of movement and expression. The company have performed at the world's leading venues and festivals, with seasons at places like the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and London's Barbican Centre as well as major Australian festivals - thrilling over 1.5 million people in 40 countries to date. Their works have been greeted with standing ovations, rave reviews and sold-out houses across six continents, leading their majestic productions to be hailed as a "masterpiece of circus arts" (La Presse, Montreal), "astonishing physical mastery" (New York Times), and "a revolution in the spectacle of circus" (Les Echos, France). Under the visionary direction of Yaron Lifschitz, and the Circa board led by Michael Lynch AO CBE, Circa continues to grow in size and reputation, redefining the limits of what is possible in circus.circa.org.au

CircAbility media opportunity for interviews with the project leads, filming and photography:
Friday 25 February, 10-11am at Brisbane Powerhouse Stores, 119 Lamington St, New Farm

Key dates and registration details
CircAbility registrations open Monday 14 February 2022
Registrations and more information: circa.org.au/circability
Programs may be eligible for NDIS funding.

Brisbane
1 March - 25 March, Brisbane Powerhouse Stores

Ipswich
29 March - 23 April, Studio 188

Gold Coast
3 May - 28 May, HOTA Studio 1

Cairns
30 May - 25 June, Cairns CBD