Over seventy participants from at least sixteen different countries gathered in Lambeth, London, to discuss The Early Evolution of European Circus and its Disciplines, c1760s – 1860s, and the sun shone for all three days!
This was especially welcome on Friday which started with two Birth of the Circus led walks, followed by lunch in Brixton markets and a tour of the Ringside! exhibition (which runs to April 12th) at Lambeth Archives, and ended at the National Centre for Circus Arts for a tour and performance by Chris Barltrop of his one-man show Audacious Mr. Astley. Over the weekend there were seventeen 20-minute talks (see the previous post for topics) in the atmospheric Cinema Museum and, at the end of each day, discussion ran late into the night in a local pub.
The conference ended with thanks to all those who had contributed to the event, then a show of hands showed overwhelming support for future conferences on a biennial basis. Even better, institutions in Copenhagen, Verona and Amsterdam expressed interest in hosting them.
A few photos below give a taste of the event.
Below, the second led walk group, led by Charlie Holland, at the same location. Photo: Des FitzGerald.
European Circus History Conference 