Hosting/Coordinating Organisations

Hosting Organisations

These are the organisations that will host emerging leaders in their organisation for a 3 week full-time experience. Click here to see the Coordinating Organisations.

CIRKUS CIRKÖR – STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

Cirkus Cirkör is a non-profit and politically independent organisation started in 1995, when Tilde Björfors and a group of artists went to Paris and fell in love with the possibilities that the contemporary circus offered. Since then Cirkus Cirkör works both artistically and educationally. Their core values are: cooky commitment, quality madness and collective individualism.

Twenty five years later more than 2 million people have seen a Circus Cirkör show on stage and in festivals around the world. 400 000 children and youth have trained, created and been taught with contemporary circus. The students from our Upper Secondary school graduates each year with great skills and many of them become professional artists. They also do site specific events and events on demand. Cirkus Cirkör also runs Cirkör LAB – a creative development platform with residencies for creators and artists from all over the world.

CIRCUSINFO FINLAND – HELSINKI, FINLAND

CircusInfo Finland provides information services on professional circus in Finland. It supports the artistic and cultural development of Finnish circus through its strong networks, promotional activities and mentoring. Founded in 2006, it receives yearly funding from the Ministry of Education and Culture, and many of its activities are also carried out with project-based funding. A possible fusion with Dance Info Finland is under consideration.

As core activities, Circusinfo organises workshops and provides mentoring for Finnish circus professionals, with a focus on international touring and collaborations. Circusinfo is a strong national partner in advocacy and lobbying for the circus art, providing statistics, reports and surveys for cultural officials, funding bodies and decision-makers.

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REYKJAVÍK DANCE FESTIVAL – REYKJAVÍK, ICELAND

Reykjavík Dance Festival (RDF) is an international centre for choreographic practices in Iceland that curates an year-round conversation with its audiences through the artists they present, support and produce.

Founded in 2002, RDF’s central activity has been its international August festival. Since 2014 however, RDF has extended beyond its activities in August, to include national and international initiatives throughout the year in the form of mini-festival formats, workshops, and residencies.

The RDF November 2019 edition won a Gríman Award 2020 (Icelandic Stage Arts Award) for dedicating the platform of the festival to groups and communities that usually don’t have the spotlight, for example children, the elderly, teenagers and the disabled, and allowing them to share their view of society through performance art.

Read more at: reykjavikdancefestival.com

AFUK – COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

AFUK stands for Academy of Untameable Creativity. Based in Copenhagen, the cluster organisation encourages and creates the frame for non-traditional education, focusing on stimulating the creative mindset, from idea to execution. The physical space of the academy is based in an old factory. it is raw, open and full of life to giving each person the freedom to generate, develop and cultivate their own individual creative interests and paths.

The fundamental idea of the academy is not to instruct but inspire, to help strengthen already existing skills, be able to engage in creative processes, give confidence in oneself and in others, tickle curiosity, give space for both daydreaming and learning. It’s about both professional and personal development. AFUK also is also a venue, with space for all kinds of performances, festivals and productions both internally and externally created.

INSTITUT FOR X - DENMARK

Institut for (X) is a culture, business and education platform founded in 2009 in Aarhus, Denmark.
It is an independent and not-for-profit culture association arising from citizen initiatives.

The organisation works to: create the best possible neighborhood for all; Facilitate and enhance cultural activities, combining artistic creativity with business, public debate and public education; be a dynamic organisation and a laboratory for urban experiments, where initiatives grow organically.

DYNAMO WORKSPACE – ODENSE, DENMARK

Founded and led by circus artists Rune Vadstr'm and Gry Lambertsen, DYNAMO is a creation space, residency center, venue and festival for circus and performing arts, located in an old industrial building at the harbor in the center of Odense, the third biggest city in Denmark.
Since the opening in February 2017, the purpose of DYNAMO has been to provide space as well as other technical and artistic requirements for performing arts, mainly within the genre of contemporary circus. Their mission is to support the genre, nationally as well as internationally, throughout the spectrum from artistic idea, over research and creation, to presentation, performing and touring. They focus on the artistic creation process with residencies, co-productions and our own productions. DYNAMO keeps a close connection to local and national audience by presenting guest performances, work in progress presentations, workshops and an annual international circus festival in August.

BÆRUM KULTURHUS – SANDVIKA, NORWAY

Since Bærum Kulturhus opened its doors in 2003, they have established themselves as a steadfast purveyor of high quality culture events for Bærum and the greater Oslo region. They annually house more than 550 concerts, dance performances and other events, and is the leading venue in Norway for programming contemporary circus.

Programming both international superstars and local talent, Bærum Kulturhus have managed to build an institution that is both popular and developing the national art scene.

FOUNDATION TARTU 2024 – TALLINN, ESTONIA

City of Tartu together with 19 Southern Estonia municipalities were awarded the title of European Capital of Culture 2024 in August 2019. “Arts of Survival” is the leading theme of Tartu 2024’s artistic concept. It is meant to express the power of the arts in affecting Europe’s future in three larger areas of life: environmentally friendly culture with a focus on real human communication; strong communities; and essential skills for living and survival in the coming years. The three main themes of the concept are “Tartu with Earth”, “Tartu with Humanity” and “Tartu with Europe”.

The preparations and implementation of the European Capital of Culture are coordinated by the Tartu 2024 Foundation.

Tartu 2024’s cultural and educational programme activities include developing and implementing programmes involving youths, elderly and volunteers as well as capacity building programme for cultural organisers and audience engagement programme.

RIGAS CIRKS – RIGA, LATVIA

Rigas Cirs is a state-owned enterprise and the national centre for contemporary circus in Latvia. It’s becoming a contemporary art centre – a place where different disciplines of art – circus, theatre, dance, music and cinema – come together; and here’s much to see, find out and learn for people of all ages and interests.

Rigas Cirks School hosts circus classes and performances for children & adults for the public and run extensive programmes of circus development for professionals in the circus sector both in Latvia and internationally. Rigas Cirks believes its spectators must see a really good and modern circus, yet the circus is not just a spectacle, it is also understanding, passion and development of one’s own abilities.

Coordinating Organisations

These organisations are partners in the project and work to support the hosts and ensure emerging leaders have a great experience. Click here to see the Hosting organisations.

ACTING FOR CLIMATE – NORWAY
COORDINATOR: EMMA LANGMOEN

Acting for Climate is a performing arts company and an organisation aiming to inspire people to act for a more sustainable future. Founded in 2015, Acting for Climate now includes a core crew of six artists from circus and physical theatre, an active network of over 40 artists and experts, and a Scandinavian and a North American branch of the company. Through our performances and workshops we work as an umbrella organisation for everybody interested in arts and environmentalism.

Acting for Climate is coordinating the hosting with Bærum Kulturhus.

HRINGLEIKUR – ICELAND
COORDINATOR: EYRÚN ÆVARSDÓTTIR

Hringleikur is a new Icelandic circus company that aims to promote Icelandic circus culture. Our members are circus artists and those who work in the field of circus in Iceland.

The members of Hringleikur come from a variety of backgrounds, but all share a passion for the circus arts and building a diverse circus culture in Iceland. The artists in Hringleikur come from backgrounds from gymnastics, drama and dance, as well as education in circus schools abroad, such as at the Codarts Art Academy in Rotterdam and AFUK in Copenhagen. In addition, the group has worked together for many years under the name of Sirkus Island.

Hringleikur is coordinating the hosting with Réykjavik Dance Festival.

ESTONIAN CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS DEVELOPMENT CENTRE (ECCDC) – ESTONIA.
COORDINATOR: GRETE GROSS

Estonian Contemporary Circus Development Centre (ECCDC) was created by Estonian circus professionals in 2014. This is a voluntary work based umbrella and information providing organisation with 11 members: Circus Studio Folie, Piip and Tuut Theatre, The Society of Estonian Magicians, The Society of Dance and Circus Therapy, Tsirkusekool, Big Wolf Company, CAK Productions, Carousel Company, Circus SaboK, Grete Gross, Karmen Aasanurm.

The aim of ECCDC is gathering and spreading information about Estonian contemporary circus scene, partnering with various international circus organisations and organising events such as Baltic professional circus showcase EPICIRQ with the aim to reach the establishment, visibility and national funding for contemporary circus as an art form in Estonia. ECCDC works for the increasing of Estonian Contemporary circus competitiveness, sustainability and export capability.

ECCDC is coordinating the hosting with Tartu 2024.

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CIRKUS SYD – SWEDEN.
COORDINATOR: LINA B. FRANK

Cirkus Syd is a platform to connect people, ideas and practises across borders and genres. We work in the cultural sphere using our expertise in contemporary circus arts, collaborate to inspire structural development and new opportunities.

We are excited by innovation, entrepreneurship, DIY, DIT and artistic research and champion culture as an agent for democratic participation.

We are an international NGO with a global membership base and we invite collaborators, partners and stakeholders to create visionary and developmental projects bringing people together to explore transdisciplinary cultural practises in our society.

Cirkus Syd is coordinating the hosting with AFUK.