A bold, contemporary circus programme transforming Portsmouth Historic Dockyard into an open-air, walk-through experience with aerial performance, tightwire, and vertical dance.
Circus in Motion takes over Portsmouth Historic Dockyard on 17 and 18 July, and it's a bit different from your usual circus day out. Instead of one stage you sit in front of, the performances are spread across the dockyard's open-air spaces, so you wander through the site and come across them as you go. It's the first time a performance like this has been staged across the whole dockyard, and it's part of The Point Is Portsmouth, a city-wide programme of high-energy events running from June to September to mark Portsmouth100, the city's centenary year.
The line-up brings together artists working at the forefront of contemporary circus. You'll find aerial performance, tightwire, vertical dance, physical theatre and interactive works scattered throughout the site rather than on a single stage. Among the acts are OSADÍA (Whose Hair Dares), Poppy Plowman on contemporary tightwire, If Circus with Melic, Company Zid with Zarbia, and Delrevés, who bring the whole thing to a close with a vertical dance finale.
If you're in the industry, there's a bit more on the second day. On 18 July, the event includes an industry micro-conference for artists, programmers and producers to talk about reimagining heritage spaces through live performance. There's street food and refreshments available on-site, so you can hang around between the acts.
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Entry is free, though donations are welcome. It runs across both 17 and 18 July at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
