Circus and Beyond. Rethinking the History of Popular Entertainment
In 2018, different institutions in the UK will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the modern circus under the label Circus250. The conference 'The Circus and Beyond' will take this opportunity to explore the historical impacts of the circus, aiming to discuss new ways to contextualise these entertainments. It endeavours to bring together scholars interested in various aspects of circus, as a phenomenon as well as a form of performance, during the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. This focus, in turn, feeds into the growing scholarship in human-animal relations, and also becomes a window through which we can take a fresh look at the questions of imperialism, exoticism, urbanity, body, and performativity of the self. The study of the circus becomes an excellent tool to compare new research paths on the history of popular culture. It also helps to deepen the relationship between mass culture and politics, between high and low culture.
Programme
Humanities Research Institute, University of Sheffield
www.circusandbeyond.wordpress.com
#circusandbeyond
Registration
8.45 Arrival and Coffee
9.00 Introduction
9.15 Welcome: Vanessa Toulmin (Sheffield, Advisory Board Member of Circus 250)
Keynote 09.30 to 11.00
Marius Kwint (Portsmouth), From 'the debauching of Servants and Apprentices' to 'the temple of English Pastime': the Legitimization of the Circus, c. 1758 - c. 1842
11.00 - 11.30: coffee break
Panels 1 and 2 11.30 - 13.00
Panel 1: Circus and Modernity
Gareth Davies, The Clown, Geese and Washing Tub: Raising a crowd in the Victorian Circus
Teo Greenstreet (Sheffield), What ever happened to New Circus …?
Olga L. Sorzano (London), ‘Modern Circus’ and the origins of circus as a performing art
Panel 2: Visual and Verbal Representations of Circus
Julia Calver (Leeds), Tales, Toil and Tea, Conversations with a Circus Artist
Rose Gridneff (Kingston), Twice Daily: The Visual Language of Circus Posters
13.00 - 14.00 Lunch, HRI atrium possibility to visit the National Fairground and Circus Archive (NFCA)
Panel 3 and 4 14.00 - 15.30
Panel 3: Performative Representations of Circus
Jon Davidson (London), A Brief History of Clown Fashion: Using Material Evidence of Costume for Research
Margarete Fuchs (Marburg, Germany), Marginalization of Circus Arts
Rosie Kelly, Juggling as told by Jugglers/ Juggling through time/Juggling in animation “what’s up with that?!”
Panel 4: Circus and Nation: Nationalism, Empire and Political Agenda
Stav Meishar (New York, USA), Forgotten Legacies for Present Day Audiences: Circus Jews under National Socialism
Layachi El Habbouch (Fes, Morocco), Collecting Nativity, De-collecting Ethnicity: Sidi Ahmed Ou Moussa, Charles Darwin and the British Empire
15.30 - 16.00 Coffee break possibility to visit the NFCA
Panel 5 Circus and Intersectionality: Race and Gender in the Ring
16.00 to 17.30
Urban Angels Theatre Company (Leeds), Oh Susannah (Performance)
Kate Holmes (Exeter), Empowering Interwar Female Bodies: Changing Perceptions through Performing Aristocracy and Aerial Movement
Eric McGill (Cardiff), Queer Representation in the Circus of Today
17.30 to 18.00 Final Discussion
18.00 - 19.30 Conference Dinner
Sabine Hanke, University of Sheffield