The international contemporary circus festival "Circulation" is once again breaking established traditions. Raised under the hot summer sun, event is moving into the autumn season, expanding the geography of events and inviting you on a journey through experiences and artists' work.
The theme of the festival, which will take place from October 30 to November 16, is “Returns (and Discoveries).” It will invite you to meet artists who have already been part of “Circulation” – this time they are returning with completely new works that mark their creative path. This international program will not only open up new forms of performances, but will also invite the audience to recognize and get to know the creators more deeply, and to take a fresh look at contemporary circus as a changing, living art form.
The festival program includes troupes from Canada, Belgium, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Lithuania, which will visit eight Lithuanian cities - from the capital to regional centers - in order to maintain the essential idea of "Circulation": to bring contemporary circus closer to everyone.
The duo of artists Arno Ferrera and Gilles Polet (Belgium) is returning to Lithuania. 2022. Beautiful The performers, who have captivated audiences, return this year with a highly physical acrobatic performance called "Armour", which explores the concept of masculinity. The performance seeks to provoke our understanding of relationships, tenderness and roughness, and the various forms and expressions of love.
This is not the first time that the Swedish duo Louise Bjurholm von Euler and Henrik Agger will be in Lithuania. Their family-friendly show "två" (Lithuanian: "Two") will take us back to our childhood memories, performing nine times in different cities across the country.
A few years ago, there was barely enough room for everyone who wanted to see Czech artist Eliška Brtnická. This time, the capital's Smoke Factory is presenting her meditative work "Thin Skin", which combines visual art and circus.
“The theme of the “Circulation” festival is “Returns (and Discoveries)”. An international program that welcomes circus artists who have previously visited the festival. In 2025, they return with their new works. In this way, we aim to deepen our knowledge of the contemporary circus field and the creative path of famous artists in the field. By focusing the festival audience’s attention not only on the performances, but also on the creators themselves, we want to provide the viewer with the opportunity to get to know the artists from a broader perspective than just one performance,” says the festival’s artistic director and director Gildas Aleksa, introducing the program.
This fall, the Circulation program will feature How A Spiral Works, recognized as the best contemporary genre performance of the 2023–2024 season at the Latvian Dance Awards, as well as the latest works by Lithuanian contemporary circus creators Kanta Company, būda.collective, and Teatron. In collaboration with the contemporary circus network circusnext, a performance by emerging European artists that recently won a competition on this platform will also be presented.
The highlight of the festival's discovery will be the performance of the Canadian troupe "People Watching" at the capital's Arts Printing House "Play Dead". A dynamic, physical and visual story that intertwines beautiful, twisted and funny human behavior, admiring the absurdity of everyday life and reminding us to celebrate life.
"This young troupe consists of creators who have already appeared in the world's most famous troupes, but now they have come together to create something of their own, unique and new. They are rapidly gaining popularity and are attending the world's largest festivals, so there is a lot of joy that "Circulation" has appeared on their map," G. Aleksa urges not to miss this performance.
In addition to stage performances, this year, for the first time, a visual highlight of the festival is being presented – an exhibition by photographer Donatas Ališauskas, which captures the body techniques, emotions and movement dynamics of contemporary circus creators. This is a visual look at the circus, which will complement the live experience of performing arts. The festival program will open up space for professionals for a deeper field of discussion. Together with a partner – the New Vilnius Cultural Center – the organizers will invite to a discussion about the possibilities of the spread and acceptance of contemporary circus in the regions of Lithuania and an open seminar to learn about the dynamics and unique development of Scandinavian contemporary circus.
International Contemporary Circus Festival "Circulation" "Returns (and Discoveries)"
October 2025 – November 30, 16, in Alytus, Anykščiai, Kaunas, Palanga, Prienai, Tauragė, Vilnius and in New Vilnius.
