June 30, 2014
Iceland’s first and only circus
The circus tent Jökla has risen in Klambratún park, by the corner of Flókagata and Langahlíð. The circus will be in Reykjavík until July 13th. Then it travels to Ísafjörður, Akureyri, Selfoss and Keflavík and then back to Reykjavík late August.
The circus has three different shows:
Heima er best (Home is where the heart is) is the big family show performed to Icelandic music. Here is a short video from the show.
S.I.R.K.U.S is a show for the youngest ones and the young at heart. Here is a short video from the show.
Skinnsemi is the adult circus cabaret. It is not suitable for children and is performed on Friday and Saturday evenings. Here is a short video from the show.
Ticketsales are on www.midi.is and by the tent.
About Sirkus Íslands:
The circus is a very young company, especially in the circus world. It is Iceland’s first and only circus. Lee Nelson was a traveling street performer, who visited Iceland on his life’s journey. Iceland was country number 99 on his list. He stumbled into the legendary bar Sirkus (that translates to circus) - and fell in love.
So he came back and stayed - in a country with very little culture for street performance and no circus scene. Trying to find like minded people he started giving free hand stand classes in Kramhúsið dance studio on Sunday evenings in the fall of 2007, paying the rent of the studio with helping out with paint jobs and other handy jobs around the studio. The first weeks no one showed up - but then a little group of people started attending. Handstands were learned, then juggling, acrobatics, clowning.. and little by little people found a skill to master. The dance studio was no longer good enough - and to be able to learn aerials and more complex things the circus now practices in Ármann gymnastics.
The first big show was premiered in December 2008, and since then four shows have been made. Summer of 2013 the circus participated in the international circus festival Volcano in Reykjavík, when the members realized they were just as good as international circuses.
After the festival all the circus tents left the country, and the little circus realized that theaters didn’t have the same magic as a real circus tent. With the help of the crowd funding website Karolina Fund the circus managed to pull of the biggest crowd funding in Iceland for the first Icelandic circus tent. The tent arrived in April, and members have been practicing putting the tent up and putting together the shows since then. This summer Sirkus Íslands performs in Reykjavík, Ísafjörður, Akureyri, Selfossi and Reykjanesbær.
Today twenty people work full time on the circus. The business revolves around putting up circus shows, performing in private parties, kindergartens and schools, and circus classes for children and adults.
The circus tent Jökla has risen in Klambratún park, by the corner of Flókagata and Langahlíð. The circus will be in Reykjavík until July 13th. Then it travels to Ísafjörður, Akureyri, Selfoss and Keflavík and then back to Reykjavík late August.
The circus has three different shows:
Heima er best (Home is where the heart is) is the big family show performed to Icelandic music. Here is a short video from the show.
S.I.R.K.U.S is a show for the youngest ones and the young at heart. Here is a short video from the show.
Skinnsemi is the adult circus cabaret. It is not suitable for children and is performed on Friday and Saturday evenings. Here is a short video from the show.
Ticketsales are on www.midi.is and by the tent.
About Sirkus Íslands:
The circus is a very young company, especially in the circus world. It is Iceland’s first and only circus. Lee Nelson was a traveling street performer, who visited Iceland on his life’s journey. Iceland was country number 99 on his list. He stumbled into the legendary bar Sirkus (that translates to circus) - and fell in love.
So he came back and stayed - in a country with very little culture for street performance and no circus scene. Trying to find like minded people he started giving free hand stand classes in Kramhúsið dance studio on Sunday evenings in the fall of 2007, paying the rent of the studio with helping out with paint jobs and other handy jobs around the studio. The first weeks no one showed up - but then a little group of people started attending. Handstands were learned, then juggling, acrobatics, clowning.. and little by little people found a skill to master. The dance studio was no longer good enough - and to be able to learn aerials and more complex things the circus now practices in Ármann gymnastics.
The first big show was premiered in December 2008, and since then four shows have been made. Summer of 2013 the circus participated in the international circus festival Volcano in Reykjavík, when the members realized they were just as good as international circuses.
After the festival all the circus tents left the country, and the little circus realized that theaters didn’t have the same magic as a real circus tent. With the help of the crowd funding website Karolina Fund the circus managed to pull of the biggest crowd funding in Iceland for the first Icelandic circus tent. The tent arrived in April, and members have been practicing putting the tent up and putting together the shows since then. This summer Sirkus Íslands performs in Reykjavík, Ísafjörður, Akureyri, Selfossi and Reykjanesbær.
Today twenty people work full time on the circus. The business revolves around putting up circus shows, performing in private parties, kindergartens and schools, and circus classes for children and adults.