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It’s 2021 and it’s rockin’ along…

Kia ora circus whānau,

We hope you’ve all had an incredible summer and are enjoying the freedom that we are lucky enough to be experiencing in New Zealand during a global pandemic! It’s been a busy summer full of festivals including the 29th annual New Zealand Juggling Festival which took place last weekend. Checkout this review below from one of the attendees.

“Last weekend the New Zealand Juggling and Circus Festival was hosted in Founders Heritage Park in Nelson. The combination of a beautiful venue, great weather, and amazing workshops made for a wonderful festival.

On Friday night the public gala show showcased some amazing talents from all over New Zealand. The public audience members enjoyed the show just as much as us festival-goers.

During the days there was a great assortment of workshops, both planned and impromptu, and people had the opportunity to show off what they learnt at the casual renegade shows. Lisa Komatsubara also hosted our first Kendama Games.

Saturday night was ‘Fight Night’ where the top 8 contenders for Club Combat faced off, until we were left with one winner. I was at the edge of my seat the whole time, I’ve finally found a sport I care about. Degge Jarvie came out victorious, and is now ranked fourth internationally.

On Sunday afternoon Zane and Degge hosted the Circus Games, where festival goers and one brave member of the public competed for a prestigious medal. The games included hula hoop races, three ball limbo, Kendama Combat, and of course, Club Combat.

Finally, it was time to pack away our tents and juggling equipment, and go back to the real world. I’m sure everyone will come back next year with a new arsenal of tricks and apparatuses, and Juggling Festival never fails to inspire new talents. See you next year!” - Festival goeer, Artemis Goed.

Zane and Degge teaching club passing at the New Zealand Juggling Festival

Bumping In? Bumping Out?

As our workload picks up again, it's important to take a look at what systems/processes we have in our toolbox to keep ourselves/employees/colleagues/friends/audiences safe. Whether in rehearsals, onstage or during bump in / bump out.

There is always a multitude of factors to think about - appropriate rigging equipment, scheduling rests, thoughtful costuming, hydration, loading equipment, managing audiences... to name a few.

We've put together a couple of resources to assist in your processes:

1) Risk Assessment matrix template - a tool which can be repurposed for each environment you're in.

2) Bump in / Bump out Risk Management Guideline Take a look:

Youth Circus Festival 2021

Applications are now open for the Youth Circus Festival 2021 in conjunction with Youth Week and supported by Creative New Zealand and Auckland Council.

The festival is looking for performers aged 12 - 25 to show their crazy cool skills on stage in Auckland on the 8th of May for this very special event which aims to empower, support and engage youth circus artists in Aotearoa.

This is a paid opportunity. Please email any questions to sara@circability.org along with your applications by the 4th of March.

What are you waiting for?!

Your ANZCA login

And just in case you haven’t seen it yet our website has been updated… you can login to update your details, access information and renew your membership! Please get in touch if you don’t know what we’re talking about or can’t find your login!

Upcoming from us!

The guidance document on ethics within Circus in Aotearoa is still in draft consultation phase and we’re still looking for collaborators. If you have thoughts in this area please get in touch!

Also across 2020 we undertook a bunch of consultation within the sector, if you missed out on a chat with one of the team and would like to contribute your experience and ideas, please get in touch!

All this mahi will fold into a strategic plan which we’ll release within the next few months.

That’s it from us! Happy circus-ing everyone!