Ivar van Woenzel is a circus maker and artist specialised in acro-dance, rolling globe and partner acrobatics. He is based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and was born in the city of Breda. Starting out with his circus education at Codarts Circus Arts, he was practising the circus discipline ‘globe’, in which he uses a rolling globe from 85 cm in diameter to perform acrobatic circus skills with. The discipline he later graduated from at Codarts in 2022 was not globe however, but instead a discipline called acro-dance. In which he combines floor acrobatics with dance styles such as breaking and contemporary dance.
Blending the fluidity from dance and the explosivity from acrobatics is what excites Ivar a lot, in order to create clear physical images and more elaborate ‘sentences’ in his movement language. Setting these powerful images is usually the starting point in his artistic process, using them to set a strong atmosphere through his work and bring it to life.
Next to combining the globe and acro-dance, Ivar finds it the most interesting to be on stage and work with other people. Because of this interest he has gained more experience in partnering and partner acrobatics. In all of his disciplines and movement language, Ivar focuses more on the path one takes to get towards certain circus ‘tricks’, rather than the ‘trick’ itself.
After graduating in 2022 he started performing in longer circus/ dance shows with the companies Wirwar, Johnny Mus and one show with Arch 8, next to performing his own solo ‘Waddle’ in the Netherlands, Belgium and recently in the Acrobatic Theatre Festival in Zhangjiajie, China. In 2024 and 2025 he took part in a circus project called Buitengewoon, where he choreographed a 15 minute duet with a person with a mental disability. In this duet the globe, partnering and the theme of inclusion took the centre of the work.
In 2026 Ivar choreographed 's-now-s' together with Giuseppe Spota and MiR Dance company. A 30 minute piece about the struggle and search of finding balance and control. In s-now-s, the 14 dancers of the company move over the stage with rolling globes, blending circus and dance on the stage, finding the balance between acrobatic technique and the fluidity and intricacy of dance.
