About Us

The Circus Arts Forum has been set up by a working group of people with a professional involvement in circus. The group includes representatives from both the traditional and contemporary circus community; from the major UK promoters and circus training centres; from touring circus companies and community circus schools; from venue-based circuses and other circus arts projects. This working group is currently chaired by Verena Cornwall.

The Circus Arts Forum is hosted by Total Theatre Network, which celebrates and promotes physical and visual performance. Total Theatre Network's director, Annabel Arndt, was instrumental in bringing the group together, and continues to work in support of the Circus Arts Forum.

The Circus Arts Forum and Total Theatre Network have appointed a project co-ordinator, Dorothy Max Prior, who works to further the aims of the Forum.
Those aims are:

To raise the profile of circus as a cultural activity
To promote training and sharing of skills
To ensure that circus is a viable industry offering secure and worthwhile employment
To provide a forum between the different facets of the industry

The ways in which we are currently working include -

• Advocacy - giving a positive image of circus to the outside world; correcting misapprehensions about circus as an art form and as a commercially viable entertainment; encouraging dialogue within the community so that a united front can be presented when needed.
• Research - finding out more about circus in the UK today: who is doing what - where, when and how! We will be creating a lobbying document to present to arts funders and other bodies.
• Communication - through this website and through our newsletter the Circus Arts News, which is published as a 4-page insert in Total Theatre Magazine. It is also distributed to circus companies, schools and venues. The Circus Arts Forum co-ordinator can also be contacted to give information to anyone with a circus-related enquiry. She is currently available by telephone on Wednesday or Thurday on 020 7729 7944 or by email at [email protected]