Circus and its Others IV
Conference schedule
Centro Cultural Gabriel García Márquez (CGGM)
Centro Nacional de las Artes, Delia Zapata (CNA) 
Cl. 11 #5 - 60, Bogotá

Circus, solidarity, difference, mobility 
Circo, solidaridad, diferencia, movilidad 

To register for the conference, please click here. Please note, the registration form is in Spanish, and all conference participants (keynotes, presenters, chairs, AV room speakers) do not need to register at this link. Conference participation means that you are already registered.

Wednesday February 28 

9:00 - 9:45  Conference welcome 
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM

Speakers include:
Juan David Correa Ulloa (Minister of Cultures, Arts, and Knowledge, Colombia)
Pierre-David Jean (Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy of Canada, Colombia)
Rosa Elena González Moreno (Circus area coordinator, Minister of Cultures, Arts, and Knowledge, Colombia)

9:45 - 10:45   Circus and Inclusion (Chair: Marco Antonio Coelho Bortoleto)
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM

  1. “Circus and Disability: How narratives about disabled bodies influence contemporary circus.” Kaamos Metsikkö  (Theatre producer and writer, Iceland) 

  2. “As atividades circenses e a educação de surdos: Possibilidades do ensino de circo em Libras.” Elizandra Garcia da Silva, Giovanna Mozart de Souza Silva, and Ingrid Lourenço de Amorim Corrêa (Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brasil).

10:45 - 11:15 Coffee break

11:15 - 12:45 Exceptional, Grotesque, and Female Narratives (Chair: Karen Fricker)
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM

  1. “Políticas e poéticas do circo contemporâneo.” Maria Carolina Vasconcelos Oliveira (Unesp Arts Institute, Brasil) 

  2. “Artistas da força na América do Sul: O grotesco e as mulheres circenses.” Letícia Fonseca Braga Machado (Unirio & Circo Crescer e Viver, Brasil) 

  3. “‘Lifting Belly’: Queering Circus Technique with Gertrude Stein.” Jordana Greenblatt (Circus artist and scholar, Canada) 

  4. “Show Me How You Burlesque.” Lauren Abel (Multidisciplinary artist and scholar, USA) and Em Holt (Dancer, mover, and acrobat, USA) 

1:00 - 2:00 Lunch

2:00 – 3:30 Questioning Contemporaneity and Identity through Autoethnographic Research and Practice (Chair: Charles R. Batson)
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM

  1. “Searching for an Escape: An Autoethnographic Study of Aesthetic Innovation in Professional Circus School.” Sarah Norden (National Circus School, Canada) 

  2. “Entre a técnica e a entrega / Between technique and delivery.” Nat Menosum and Pao Ollitsak (ENCLO, Brasil)  (virtual presentation) 

  3. “Por Um Fio – Dramaturgias Autobiográficas Urgentes nos Circos Contemporâneos" Diocélio Barbosa (UFBA - Federal University of Bahia / Trupe Arlequin de Circo Teatro, Brasil)

  4. “Montercermundo y la comedia criolla contemporánea.” Carlos Montenegro Ortega (Multidisciplinary artist, Colombia)  

3:30 – 3:45 Coffee break

3:45 – 5:00 Plenary. Circus Studies in South America: Transgressing [hi]story, politics, curriculums, and borders 
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM

A dialogue between Marco Antonio Coehlo Bortoleto (University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brasil); Julieta Infantino (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina); and Olga Lucia Sorzano (University College Dublin, Ireland). 

5:00 - 6:00 Achura Karpa official opening: Danza de los Guaguas (Mexico)
Location: Plaza México, CGGM

6:00 Black Box Performance
Location: Sala Fanny Mikey, CNA

8:00 Gala performance
Location: Sala Delia Zapata, CNA

Thursday February 29

9:00 - 10:15 Circus Pedagogies Beyond Educational Paradigms (Chair: Carlos Alexis Cruz)
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM

  1. “O desafio de inserir o ensino de circo na educação básica: A escola Castanheiras - Brasil como inspiração.” Danielle Amaral Ambrósio (Escola Castanheiras, Brasil)  [Coautor: Marco Antonio Coelho Bortoleto (Universidade de Campinas (UNICAMP), Brasil)]

  2. “Circus pedagogy as a ‘pedagogy of solidarity.’ Preliminary analysis of the evaluation research of Caravan’s training for trainers programme CTF.” Ilaria Bessone (AltroCirco, Italy) [Co-authors: Ian Walsh (National University of Ireland, Galway) and Heta Mulari (Tampere University, Finland)] 

  3. “Circo: Descolonizando a universidade.” Lucas Nathan Silva Vilela (University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brasil) [Co-author: Marco Antonio Coelho Bortoleto (University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brasil)]

10:15 – 10:30   Book launch: 360° Circus: Meaning. Practice. Culture. (Routledge, 2023), edited by Franziska Trapp

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break

11:00 - 12:30 Circus across Communities and Borders (Chair: Selnich Vivas Hurtado)
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM

  1. “Perfomances femininas circenses em perspectiva histórica e a yoga aérea como ferramenta para o circo.” Isabella Mucci Miraglia (Artista de circo, Brasil) 

  2. “Youth and Social Circus as a Catalyst of Youth Activism in the USA and the Czech Republic.” Barbora Adolfová (Academy of Performing Arts, Czechia) [Co-author: Jennifer Agans (Pennsylvania State University, USA)]

  3. “How the circus was born in la Localidad de Ciudad Bolivar – Bogotá.” Lucho Guzman Cardozo (Circus artist, Colombia)  [Co-author Jair Ramirez (Circus artist, Colombia/New Zealand)] 

12:30 - 1:45 Lunch

1:45 - 3:15 Findings of Active Research Projects across Ibero-America (Chair: Julieta Infantino)
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM

  1. “Mujeres en el Circo - una investigación sin final.” Macarena Simonetti Gallardo (Anthropologist, photographer and cultural manager, Chile) [Co-author: Ebana G. Coronel (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)] 

  2. “Está Pasando. Mapping Latinamerican circus.” Miguel Manzano Olmos (Architect, illustrator, cultural manager, and trainer, Spain) 

  3. “Investigando nuestra historia y memoria del circo en Colombia.” David Quiroga, Paula Salamanca, and Guillermo Alfonso Forero (Profesionales de artes circenses, Colombia) 

3:15 - 3:30 Coffee break 

3:30-4:30 Keynote address: “Pedagogy, Difference, and Creative Solidarity.” Rubén Gaztambide-Fernandez (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada)
Introduced by Olga Lucía Sorzano
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM

4:30-6:00 Reception and book launch
Introduced by Selnich Vivas Hurtado
Location: CGGM

Books about Latin American circus to be launched:
Pedagogías circenses. Experiencias, Trayectorias y metodologías, edited by Julieta Infantino, Mariana Saez and Clarisa Schwindt Scioli (Ediciones Filosurfer, 2021)
Toda una vida en el circo. Memoria en varios actos by Dagoberto Chavarro (Ink Side Ediciones, 2022)
Mis memorias by Andrés Atayde Arteche, edited by Sergio López Sánchez (Creática, 2023)
A arte do circo na América do Sul. Trajetórias, tradições e inovações na arena contemporânea, edited by Julieta Infantino (Ediciones SESC, 2023)
El arte del circo em América del sur. Trayectorias, tradiciones e innovaciones em la arena contemporánea, edited by Julieta Infantino (Ediciones Filosurfer, 2024)  

6:00 Black Box Performance
Location: Sala Fanny Mikey, CNA

8:00 Gala Performance
Location: Sala Delia Zapata, CNA

Friday March 1

9:00 - 10:30  Concurrent sessions

Panel A Human-Non-human: Objects, Apparatus, and Presence (Chair: Charles R. Batson) 
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM

  1. “Consider the apparatus. Experience the apparatus, Part 1: Dramaturgy and Phenomenology in the Analysis of Circus Performances.” Milena Pereira dos Santos (Concordia University, Canada) and Louis Patrick Leroux (Concordia University, Canada) 

  2. “Consider the apparatus. Experience the apparatus, Part 2: Dramaturgy and Phenomenology through the Creative Process in Circus.” Keely Whitelaw (Concordia University, Canada) and Louis Patrick Leroux (Concordia University, Canada) 

  3. “Sweaty Labour: Dynamics of Materiality amongst Circus Apparatus Fabricators.” Jessica Kendall (Circus director and scholar, Canada) 

  4. “Freak Hauntology or Circus’ Necessity to Learn to Live with Ghosts.” Ante Ursic (East Tennessee State University, USA) (virtual presentation)

Panel B Circus hiSTORIES (Chair: Aastha Gandhi)
Location: Auditorio Porfirio Barba Jacob, CGGM

  1. “Viajes de Giuseppe Chiarini en México, 1864-1868.” Sergio López Sánchez (Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL), Mexico)

  2. “Not so far from the madding crowd: The aesthetics and politics of ‘skill’ in the embodiment of human - nonhuman animal circus acts in colonial Bengal (late 19th to early 20th century).” Prodosh Bhattacharya (University of Warwick, UK) 

  3. “Unbreakable Bonds: Business Ties and Family Relations Between Jewish Circus Artists and Gentile Circuses, Before and During the Nazi Regime.” Stav Meishar (Theatre/circus artist and educator, UK/USA) 

10:30-11:15 Coffee break + performance by Luis Gerardo Rosero (Teatro Danza Pies del Sol, Colombia) 

11:15-12:30 Maromeros and danzarines: Connecting Material and Spiritual Worlds (Chair: Olga Lucia Sorzano)
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM

  1. “Ceremonia ritual de los Guaguas en agradecimiento.” Emilio Francisco Dorantes (Coordinador danzante, Voladores de Papantla, Mexico)

  1. “La(s) cuerda(s): entre prácticas tradicionales y circo contemporáneo experimental.” Charlotte Chloé Ada Pescayre Bourdais (Université de Paris Nanterre/UNAM)

  2. “Ni clowns… ni payasos; ‘Chidima’ el que se pinta el rostro, para alegrar el alma…” Guillermo Alfonso Forero Neira (Profesional de artes escénicas, Colombia) 

12:30-1:45 Lunch

1:45-3:00 Womanhood and Maternity in (and across) Circus Bodies and Territories  (Chair: Franziska Trapp)
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM

  1. “Maternity as a new research and creative territory: dialogue between Chile and Québec / La maternidad cómo territorio nuevo de investigación y creación: diálogo entre Chile y Quebec.” Mathilde Perahia (Circus artist and scholar, Canada) [Co-author: Javiera Osorio Ghigliotto (Actor, playwright, and director, Chile)] 

  2. “Performing Motherhood: When inability drives abilities.” Ülfet Sevdi (Concordia University, Canada) 

  3. “m/OTHER-ing: Dubble Duch at werk.” Dana Dugan (Concordia University, Canada) 

3:00-3:30 Coffee break

3:00 – 7:00 AV room open

During the conference, films and videos about circus will be screened, including La Maroma a la Antigua by Charlotte Chloé Ada Pescayre Bourdais and Maromeros de Santa Teresa Sochiapan; Circus Without Borders by Susan Gray/Northern Lights Productions; “Payasita! Clowning Through Screens” by Rémi Baert; Juggling Politics by Guto Barra; and Los fotos de Olga by Victoria Barker, Julieta Infantino, and Camila Losada.

Speakers will include Charlotte Chloé Ada Pescayre Bourdais (Université de Paris Nanterre/UNAM); Guillaume Saladin (co-founder and co-leader, Artcirq Inuit Performance Collective, Canada); Rémi Baert (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France); Jennifer Miller (Circus Amok and Pratt Institute, USA); and Julieta Infantino (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina).  

3:15- 4:45     Circus across Multiplicities of Temporality and Spatiality  (Chair: Madeline Hoak)
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM
1. “’ORB’ una aproximación al circo contemporáneo desde la creación e interpretación musical.” Juan Pablo Camacho Osorio (Musician, Colombia) 
2. “Aging and Circus Performance.” Doyle Ott (Sonoma State University, USA) 
3. “Frailty and Infertility; How Victorian-era Gender Myths Still Permeate Modern Day Circus.” Morgan Ashley Barbour (Circus artist and historian, UK) 

6:00 Black Box Performance
Location: Sala Fanny Mikey, CNA

8:00 Gala Performance
Location: Sala Delia Zapata, CNA

Saturday March 2

9-10:30 Concurrent sessions

Panel A Circus Enacting (other) Possible Worlds (Chair: Julieta Infantino)
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM

  1. “Dissident friendships: Collective authoring as a tool for radical change in circus.” Gaia Vimercati (Quattrox4, Italy)

  2. “Entrenar la esperanza. Reflexiones en torno a la práctica circense y el entrenamiento acrobático como formas para la imaginación y construcción de otros mundos posibles.” Mariana Lucia Saez (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina) 

  3. “Circo social: innovación, pedagogía interactiva y activismo social.” Daniel Mosquera (Union College, USA)

  4. “Safety of Chest Binding Practices for Transgender Circus Artists.” Izzi Kessner (École de Cirque de Québec, Canada)

Panel B Identities and Activisms: Personal and Professional (Chair: Jennifer Miller)
Location: Auditorio Porfirio Barba Jacob, CGGM

  1. “Holding and Release.” Roy Gomez Cruz (Artist and scholar, Mexico) (virtual presentation)

  2. “A Literary Exploration of Circus, Ambivalence, and the Anthropocene.” Nick Zelle (New York University, USA)  

  3. “Yo con el circo, una relación con el lenguaje.” Francisco Negri (Investigador independiente, Argentina) (virtual presentation)

  4. “Circus as Practices of Hope.” Marie-Andree Robitaille (Stockholm University of the Arts, Sweden) 

10:30-10:45 Coffee break

10:45-12:15   Local Artists and Global Mobilities (Chair: Karen Fricker)
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM

  1. “Las mujeres en la historia del malabarismo, una mirada desde las ciencias humanas.” Esteban Vélez Álvarez (Malabarista, investigador e historiador de malabarismo, Colombia) 

  2. “Mobilities across Asia and Africa: Journeying the world with circus artists.” Aastha Gandhi (Ambedkar University, India)

  3. “Challenging Categories. Human & non-human, Global North & South, and Tradition & Innovation in 23 Fragments de ces derniers jours.” Franziska Trapp (Université Libre de Bruxelles)

  4. “Gravity 101: An(other) Approach to Decolonizing.”  Yann Szuter (Dancer, circus artist, choreographer, and author, France)

12:15-1:15 Lunch

12:15-1:15 Informal meeting of Young Researchers Network in Circus Studies (YOUR | Circus), Led by Franziska Trapp, Director
Location: Auditorio Porfirio Barba Jacob, CGGM

1:15-2:15 Feminisms, Politics, and Bodies (Chair: Selnich Vivas Hurtado)
Location: Auditorio Rogelio Salmona, CGGM

  1. “Genealogía Excéntrica: siguiendo las huellas de mujeres payasas en Colombia.” Catalina Del Castillo Silva (Pompeu Fabra University, Spain)

  2. “Cuerpos entrenados, legítimos, hegemónicos y disidentes. Anthropological reflections on the tensions, ambiguities, transitions and body perceptions in aerial acrobatics on canvas.” Mariana Lucía Sáez (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina) [Co-author: Tatiana Furiasse (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina)]

  3. “Circo y feminismo en Buenos Aires: transformaciones técnicas, estéticas y políticas.” Camila Losada (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina) (virtual presentation)

2:15-2:30 Coffee break

2:30-4:00 Lecture/Performance: Creative Accessibility in Performance
Introduced by Karen Fricker
Location: Sala Fanny Mikey, CNA

Erin Ball and Maxime Beauregard (Circus artists and disability arts activists, Canada)

3:00 - 7:00 AV room open

4:00-5:00 Closing (Introduced by Charles Batson)
Location: Sala Fanny Mikey, CNA

“Five things I’m leaving this conference thinking about.” 
Conference keynote speakers/performers and academic and creative committee 

6:00 Gala Performance
Location: Sala Delia Zapata, CNA

8:00 Black Box Performance 
Location: Sala Fanny Mikey, CNA

9:00 Closing Party
Secret Location: Near CNA

SUNDAY MARCH 3

3:00 - 7:00 AV room open