Circus and Beyond. Rethinking the History of Popular Entertainment

Sabine Hanke Announcement
Location
United Kingdom
Subject Fields
Cultural History / Studies, Colonial and Post-Colonial History / Studies, Local History, Popular Culture Studies, Theatre & Performance History / Studies

In 2018, different institutions in the UK will celebrate the 250​th 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 

Contact Information

Sabine Hanke, University of Sheffield

Contact Email
shanke1@sheffield.ac.uk