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Is Circus CANCELLED!?! Circus Professionals Talk About how Social Distancing Affected the Industry

Kim Campbell
circus video
Noeli Acoba, a Montreal-based circus artist specializing in aerial rope, describes herself as your friendly neighborhood circus artist. She has performed her rope act internationally in festivals and at premier venues such as TOHU. She also collaborated in researching new, inventive apparatuses with companies such as Cirque du Soleil and Acrobatic Conundrum. Lately, Acoba has been compelled to make sense of the impact of quarantine on our circus community so she has put together a mini-documentary about how social distancing in quarantine times has effected circus.
circus interview
Interviewees from the circus world: Rain Anya, Shana Carroll, Ruth Juliet Wikler, LeeAnn Ball, Terry Crane, Augustin Rodriguez Beltrane

When I asked her what her inspiration was for the video, she replied, “There has been so much loss in the circus community during this challenging time. I know a lot of us have been feeling quite defeated, so I wanted to create something that would bring hope to the circus community in an honest way. I decided to interview professionals in the industry who have always inspired me. I wanted to gain their insights on how COVID-19 impacted them and what their thoughts are on the future of circus. I built this mini-documentary because I truly believe that their thoughts and advice have the power to uplift and inspire others within this community.”

Interviewees are: Agustín Rodriguez Beltran: Ecole Nationale de Cirque Grad 2020, Shana Carroll: Co-Founder & Co-Artistic Director of 7 Fingers, Rain Anya: Co-Founder & Co-Artistic Director of Paper Doll Militia, Ruth Wikler: Deputy Director of Programming, Circus Arts at TOHU, Terry Crane: Founder & Artistic Director of Acrobatic Conundrum Follow Acrobatic Conundrum, LeeAnn Ball: IPSF Aerial Hoop World Champion.

Kim Campbell
Writer -USA
Kim Campbell has written about circus for CircusTalk.News, Spectacle magazine, Circus Now, Circus Promoters and was a resident for Circus Stories, Le Cirque Vu Par with En Piste in 2015 at the Montreal Completement Cirque Festival. They are the former editor of CircusTalk.News, American Circus Educators magazine, as well as a staff writer for the web publication Third Coast Review, where they write about circus, theatre, arts and culture. Kim is a member of the American Theater Critics Association.

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Kim Campbell

Kim Campbell has written about circus for CircusTalk.News, Spectacle magazine, Circus Now, Circus Promoters and was a resident for Circus Stories, Le Cirque Vu Par with En Piste in 2015 at the Montreal Completement Cirque Festival. They are the former editor of CircusTalk.News, American Circus Educators magazine, as well as a staff writer for the web publication Third Coast Review, where they write about circus, theatre, arts and culture. Kim is a member of the American Theater Critics Association.