The circus appeared during the late 18th century in England. During the two late centuries, circus had developed thanks to the influences of different culture like chinese, american or russian. But, in 1970′s, a new performing art movement appeared, it’s the contemporary circus or nouveau cirque.
Through the Fit State Circus spectacle’s Tabù, we try to bringing to light the headlines of contemporary circus and its problem about communication.
First of all, the contemporary circus is different of traditional circus because of theatrical techniques to convey a story. Indeed, contemporary circus show always telling us a story unlike traditional circus which is a succession of shows without any link. The acrobatic feats are the using medium to telling us the story. Thus, Tabù is about taboos and people’s attitudes to taboos. In this show, there are traditional circus feats like balancing acts but there is a direction to convey the themes. Thereof, the posters of this spectacle must show the performance and the story. Thus, the posters of Tabù shows a woman who do balancing act with court shoes.
Finally, contemporary circus shows are often distributed in circus festivals like “Caravanes de cirques” at Toulouse. These festivals are important for the troupe because they have their chance to make known to the public and festival programmer. Indeed, contemporary circus is a young and little known art, so troupe have some problems to be distribute in cities conversely of traditional circus troupe who easily do a tour. Thus, NoFit State Circus do a tour in Europe but most of the dates are during festivals whereas this troupe is one of the most recognized.
The contemporary circus is a movement of the traditional circus in relation to the direction of the shows and the shows’s scattering. However, this scattering ask the questions for the troupe : How to differentiate itself from other shows at this festival.
