Right in the heart of Bristol we have one of the most acclaimed circus skills in the world, which today begins its 25th birthday celebrations with a showcase of their prodigious skills in their beautiful performance space in Portland Square, St Paul’s.
Fool Time, the first circus school in the UK and the precursor to what later became Circomedia, opened its doors on April Fool’s Day 1986.
Circomedia’s artistic director Bim Mason said that this weekend’s celebratory events will “celebrate the vibrancy of Bristol’s current circus culture as well as to celebrate the dedication and achievements of all those brave non-conformists and eccentrics who created it”.
Thursday, March 31, 7.30pm
Circomedia Showcase; The Church, Portland Square; tickets £12/£10
Green Eyed Zero presents the Bristol premiere of their new show, Folie à Deux, followed by Fullstop Acrobatic Theatre, from Brussels with a selection of their recent work. Tom Wainwright will be performing an extract from Pedestrian, his solo show, along with Leo and Yam, a London-based contemporary circus company specialising in solo and doubles aerial acts.
Saturday, April 2, 10.30am-6pm
‘What are we doing about circus in the UK?’ Open Space Event
The Church, Portland Square
The first ever UK Open Space event for Circus: “an exciting open-ended event that enables a self-organising group to use its collective imagination to deal with complex issues and it will achieve this in an incredibly short space of time”.
Saturday, April 2, 9pm
Circomedia Cabaret; The Church, Portland Square; tickets £5
A spectrum of performances from students of Circomedia, past and present, featuring a huge diversity of performances from UK and international acts, to include aerial, juggling, acrobatics and magic.
Sunday, April 3, 11am-3pm
All Sunday events are free
Circomedia celebrates its 25th Anniversary with a series of drop-in talks and presentations from leaders in UK Contemporary Circus, including Fool Time founder Audrey Michel, Doug Francis of Invisible Circus and Bim Mason.
2pm: Book Launch Flying High: New Circus in Bristol
Monica Connell premieres her collection of photographs charting circus and street performance in Bristol. Introduction by Bim Mason.
3pm-6pm: Circomedia in the Park. Taster sessions and activities throughout the day in St Paul’s Park – open to all ages.
For more information, visit www.circomedia.com.
