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AnnuAl RepoRt 2014

ANNUAL REPORT 2014

cirkus cirkör ideell förening is created in 1995. its goals are to artistically and educationally establish contemporary circus as an art form in sweden; to develop and to deepen the possibilities of the culture of contemporary circus; to put sweden on the world map of contemporary circus, and to inspire and be inspired by young people and the street. cirkör’s vision is to change the world with contemporary circus.

20 years later, two million people have seen cirkus cirkör live and 400,000 children, young people and adults have participated in training with them. there’s a higher education program, artistic research and a surprisingly large number of circus companies who even have their own professional association – manegen. one of the nordic countries’ most widely touring performing arts phenomena is a contemporary circus – cirkus cirkör. Who could have imagined this 20 years ago?

CONTEmPORARy CiRCUs = A NEw AREA iN ThE ARTsthe history of contemporary circus in sweden is closely linked with the development of cirkus cirkör. but the art form is much more than just cirkör. there is a professional organisation (manegen); circus training for various age groups is available all over sweden; there are university level courses and programs as well as academic research on the subject; different venues show-case contemporary circus; there are about 40 companies and artist constellations, and around a thousand people make a living from the art form. contemporary circus has even begun to be accepted as a separate art form, with its own unique conditions and possibilities.

whAT mAdE This dEvELOPmENT POssibLE?as always, it came down to people, to a few dedi-cated individuals or groups of individuals. cirkus

cirkör grew from the ground up and gradually met with forward-looking civil servants and politicians, as well as artists and people from other profes-sions. the pioneer spirit was strong: they went where no one, or only a few people, had gone before. cirkus cirkör met with resistance, because there will always be sceptics, and resources were locked in a system that just plodded along. in time, it managed to make the rest of the world see that it held potential for creation and development for individuals and art, as well as societal issues in a wider sense. some advantages of contemporary circus were that it was young and undefined. The young enthusiasts who had discovered contem-porary circus were free to define what its soul and possibilities were in the times they were living in, in a way that is not possible with other art forms, where traditions and preferences of definition have long been in place.

the people who were drawn to cirkör realised that contemporary circus was interdisciplinary, inter-national, nomadic and that it was concerned with systems of how practices arise through the meeting of different skills and characteristics. It was also an entrepreneurial art form which was, and is, provoca-tive for parts of the existing arts establishment.AN idEA Cirkör did not lend itself to definition within any old models. cirkör was not just a theatre or dance group, or a performing arts company, or a course, or a school, or an events’ agency, or a research institute, or a regional culture institution… cirkör was all of the above, all at once.

Financial contributors initially advised cirkör to choose a path, but came, in time, to see the po-tential in not doing so, and that the will to not be defined was a key element to success. They sensed that cirkör was primarily an idea; a burgeoning experiment with the all possibilities that can arise when art is a starting point and a driving force.

CiRköR is An ideA

TimE fOR mAPPiNg ANd A PLAN Of ACTiON20 years have passed. contemporary circus still only obtains a very small slice of the funding that is available to various performing arts, when com-pared to theatre, dance and opera. From a culture policy point of view, the art form of contemporary circus is ready to have its present state mapped. a national plan of action for the development of the art form is also needed.

You are holding the annual report for 2014. this has been our biggest year ever with regard to financial revenue and many successful artistic projects, in the shape of performances, events

and new, international development processes. We are well on our way to becoming an inter-national development centre for contemporary circus! Read about the local, regional, national and international proliferation of circus; about our courses, our secondary school and other educa-tional programmes; our competence development for artists and educators; our eu-collaborations; cirkör lab and one of this year’s proudest pro-jects: the development of cirkus äldre de luxe.

enjoy your read!

anders Frennberg, ceo of cirkus cirkör

In 1995, Cirkus Cirkör is founded as a non-profit organisation. Among the founders is the person who will take charge of Cirkus Cirkör and who is still our artistic director; Tilde Björfors. At the time of writing, 20 years have passed and it is time for a summary.

henrik Agger: p. 11:1Linnea Arbab: p. 14, 16mats bäcker: p. 4, 5, 6, 7, 23:1-2mattias Edwall: coverAlex Hinchcliffe: p. 3, 12-13, 17

Einar Odencrants: p. 15, 20, 21Christina simpson: p. 8Johan stomberg: p. 19Emma Therkelsson: p. 11:2

iMAGe list

ARTisTiC OPERATiONs

UNdERART – OdE TO A CRAsh LANdiNgunderart, cirkus cirkör’s new international pro-duction, directed by olle strandberg, premiered at stora teatern in gothenburg on the 12th of september 2014. underart is based on olle’s own story about a crash – a moving, cataclysmic bang, which could have been the end. instead, it became a new beginning and a way forward.

Director olle strandberg has a background as an acrobat and juggler at cirkus cirkör. in December 2005, he broke his neck whilst performing a triple somersault and was paralysed from the neck down.

”The story about my crash is not completely unique, but it is my most important story. It has shaped me, and it has been like tinnitus to me when I have attempted to create anything else. To build a show around it is like throwing oneself straight into a cliché of self-disclosure, at a time where there are so many important things to talk about. Then again, it is not about personal fulfil-ment but rather the open sharing of that which is not perfect and the exposure of a part of me that has needed help.”

underart received good reviews at its premiere and throughout its entire tour:

”Wonderful to watch … celebrated by the audience like a ninth wonder of the world.” Dn

”The result is beautiful contemporary circus poetry at its best: Melancholy and funny at the same time. A full body-experience that reaches deep into the heart ...” svD

”… without a doubt world-class… contemporary circus can pull off anything …” expressen

”… an all-embracing work of art” gt

”With humour and poetry, they tell us about the things we all contemplate – love, loneliness, happiness and sorrow.” kulturnyheterna svt

”Wonderfully different … a philosophical stage essay about the beauty, lightness and frailty that is life” kleine Zeitung, graz

”… the result is an aesthetical experience of the highest order.” Die Presse, graz

underart continued from gothenburg to a run of performances at Dansens Hus in stockholm, and then played in botkyrka, västerås, Falun, växjö, Halmstad and Örebro in sweden and concluded the year at the circus festival cirque noël in graz in austria.

underart has been performed a total of 57 times during 2014, to a combined audience of 25 554 people. in botkyrka municipality, underart was performed for pupils in year 9.

ensemble: methinee Wongtrakoon, alexander Dam, iris Pelz and christopher schlunk, matias salmenaho, in addition to anna ahnlund and andreas tengblad, who collectively make up the music duo Ripple & murmur.

creative team: Direction and idea – olle strandberg, composers – andreas tengland and anna ahnlund (Ripple & murmur), set design and costume – katarina Wiklund and susanna Wiklund, lighting design – Jenny andré

pReMieRinG duRinG 2014

KNiTTiNg PEACE (PREmiEREd iN 2013)knitting Peace, directed by tilde björfors, started the year with a highly successful run at Dansens Hus in stockholm. throughout 2014, the piece toured venues both in sweden and abroad, visiting places such as skövde, Helsingborg, norrköping, gothenburg and malmö in sweden; Fredrikstad, askim and lilleström in norway; chateau arnaux, sainte maxime and velaux in France; copenhagen in Denmark; Düsseldorf in germany; girona in spain, and the Hague and s’-Hertogenbosch in the netherlands. the tour concluded at artipelag in värmdö in sweden.

knitting Peace has been performed a total of 116 times during 2014, to a combined audience of 57 733 people.

”The Swedish artists from Cirkus Cirkör create a dreamlike performance … Knitting Peace – the curious power of stitches” la Provence

”Break-neck poetry in a home-spun world” Dn

”In Knitting Peace, Cirkus Cirkör plays at peace in a disarmingly beautiful way” svD

”an aesthetical whole, a well-composed picture poem, performed with theatrical, contemplative calm” expressen

”This is contemporary circus based on poetry rather than fiction. Wonderfully enjoyable – and with breathless moments cause by the abilities of the body … Knitting Peace is a strong and hopeful experience.” gP

Ensemble:aino ihanainen, ilona Jäntti/nathalie bertholio, mikael kristiansen, matleena laine/tiziana Prota, alexander Weibel Weibel, and samuel ”looptok” andersson/olof göthlin.

Creative team:Direction and idea – tilde björfors composer and sound design – samuel ”looptok” andersson set design – Fanny senocq, tilde björfors, stefan ”Drake” karlström, Joel Jedström and members of the ensemble knitted set design and costume – aino ihanainen costume design – anna bonnevier mask design – Helena andersson lighting design – ulf englund choreography consultant and artist’s coach – cilla Roos

Can You Knit Peace?in connection with the show, we have started a call for knitting, which encourages people from all over the world to knit and send us their knittings, along with replies to three questions: Why do you knit, what do you strive for and can you knit peace?

This has resulted in thousands of knittings flood-ing in. some of them have been used in the set design, but the majority are included in our exhibition knitting Peace, which follows the tour and has also been displayed at Dansens Hus and artipelag. the knitting appeal has been utilised by organisers during the tour, who have engaged local knitting enthusiasts, those interested in arts and crafts and knitting artists. knitting exhibitions have been built in foyers, and knitting cafés and philosophy evenings have been arranged. the knitting appeal has also garnered a lot of interest from the press and in social media. on the whole, there are over a thousand knittings in cirkör’s col-lection, and we will create a larger knitting Peace-exhibition, to be held at the army museum during 2015-2016.

ARTisTiC OPERATiONs ARTisTiC OPERATiONs

pRoduCtions pReMieRinG in 2015bORdERs cirkus cirkör’s next big production borders began its artistic process during 2014.

“When i was a child and took the boat between limhamn and Dragör, i used to try to feel where the border between sweden and Denmark lay. i could not understand how there could be a border in something which is as continually moving and flow-ing as water”, says circus director tilde björfors.

in the Western world, we are very busy challeng-ing one another to step outside of our comfort zones. at the same time, we guard our european borders more strictly than ever. in the background noise of our everyday lives, there are reports of refugees in boats, filled to more than their capacity, chasing after freedom and security.

the creation and establishment of cirkus cirkör has been a celebration of the transcendence of boundaries by the circus performer, in the shape of risk, pain and the limitations of the body, but also in playful explorations of new possibilities. contemporary circus is an art form that moves, without borders, between different nationalities. It also transcends boundaries – without conventions – between varying genres, art forms and modes of expression. circus is entertainment, but it can also carry incredibly painful stories. It is difficult to transcend boundaries without moments of chaos and disorder … and yet, something compels us to do it.

the show borders 1 is created in collaboration with malmö stadsteater and is performed during 2015.

borders 2 is the working title of cirkus cirkör’s next, large-scale internationally touring produc-tion, which will open during 2016. it is also the name of the theme that the entirety of cirkus cirkör will work with, both internally and exter-nally, for the coming three years. the theme of borders will be explored both educationally and artistically. We will create meeting spaces that include our operations for children and young people, our professional performance operations and our audience, in addition to internally, where our different departments will take part in trans-boundary work.

the inherent impulsion for cirkör and circus at large to seek cross-pollination, affirm differ-ences and strongly believe in an approach that transcends boundaries has been essential to our success and development. the borders project shows our desire to further develop and highlight this. it will also be the over-riding theme as we celebrate cirkus cirkör’s 20 year anniversary during 2015.

ARtistiC developMent And CIrKör LAB an important part of cirkus cirkör’s operations is the work we do to strengthen circus as an art form. We achieve this by the creation of platforms and collaborations for artistic processes, research and development, in addition to opening up for exchanges between various participants.

one of the most essential platforms for this work is cirkör lab (laboratory for artistic brilliance). it is a place of residency for circus companies from all over the world, as well as interdiscipli-nary research projects, educational development, film and think tanks about creative leadership. In cirkör lab, international networks are deepened and new ideas are taken further. it is also the place where we share our own and others’ artistic processes, both within the industry and with our audience.

seeds to our own shows are born and grown in and around cirkör lab, too, for example our upcoming shows borders 1 and 2. For a show to be successful, it requires long artistic processes where the creative team and the performers are involved. theatre’s process, with eight to ten weeks of rehearsals, does not work for a circus perfor-mance, as the circus performers’ participation is necessary for the creation of artistic themes

as well as circus technique and construction. our assessment is that it is in fact the long research processes that lay behind the success of our recent shows.

During 2014 we have, in addition to rehearsals and laboratory explorations of our own shows, offered fourteen residencies for external artists, performers and companies, who work within the spirit of contemporary circus. in total, there have been fourteen residency presentations performed for a combined audience of around 900 people.

REsidENCiEs AT CiRKöR LAb Sofie & Tuk (DK) Johan Wellton (se) circus next *– Zero gravity (Fi) Åsa Johannisson (SE) circ vost (FR) klara mossberg (se) katarina Rosén (se) augustine Rebitez (be) nathalie Wahlberg & manda Rydman (se) tysta tankar; isak arvidsson & Petter Wadsten (se) alexander Weibel Weibel (se) sara Runsten (se) tanter (Dk, se, no) svalbard (se, es, gb, ge)

*= circus next is a european support programme for innovative artistic circus projects and is run col-laboratively by 23 european organisations. cirkus cirkör/cirkör lab is an associate partner, and olle strandberg is part of the jury’s panel of experts.

cirkör lab has also collaborated with kulturkraft and organised: circus & street workshop Juggling workshop kulturkraft masterclass Rope kulturkraft (arranged by managen) masterclass Pole kulturkraft (arranged by managen) cirkus in school subjects kulturkraft

During 2014, cirkör lab also held: a lecture at the Royal college of music about the creative process of knitting Peace, in addition to a caRe-presentation at the international circus fair, subcase, at subtopia.

ThE EU-PROJECT CAREcaRe stands for circus art and Research ex-change. cirkus cirkör shares many issues and challenges with circus companies from different parts of the world, for instance, how to deepen

our artistic endeavours and make space for this work in our financially punishing realities, but also how to work in ways that gives rise to innovation, where creativity can flow and we can avoid repeat-ing old truths in old patterns. caRe is made up of companies from six european countries and seven partners: cirk la Putyka from the czech Republic, circo aereo from Finland, cahin-caha and un loup pour l’homme from France, nordic House from iceland, cirkus Xanti from norway and cirkus cirkör from sweden.

21 different activities are organised by CARE during 2013-2015, where directors, artists and creators meet and collaborate in interdisciplinary labs, art-ists’ talks and meetings, seminars and residencies. During 2014, five activities were held as part of the project: lab linking genres in Prague, the czech Republic, artistic meeting in Prague, the czech Republic, lab circus & choreography at cirkus cirkör in sweden (a presentation to 50 people), la Putyka’s residency at cirkus cirkör in sweden, and the network meeting at circo aereo in Finland.

CARE is supported by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. Several of the partners have also received national funding from their respective countries – in Cirkus Cirkör’s case, it was funding from the Swedish Arts Council and the city of Stockholm.

CiRköR eventDuring 2014, cirkör event has met a combined audience of around 47 000 people and held close to 150 events. in 2014, we have seen an increase in demand and interest as regards creating events that are more closely linked to values and themes that are conveyed through cirkör’s performances. these themes have sometimes been directly con-nected to the client’s core values or core message through workshops, lectures and performances.

During the year, we held around fifteen events with themes taken from either knitting Peace or Wear it like a crown. this type of event ensures a unique, artistic product and is something that separates cirkör from other event producers.

We have also started using cirkör House in alby as a venue and have held several events of varying scope there, everything from a seated dinner for 260 guests to a kick-off for twelve participants.

ARTisTiC OPERATiONs ARTisTiC OPERATiONs

one example of a successful event in cirkör House was an event held for cirkör’s recurring client seco tools. in this case, the guests were meant to get the feeling that they came ”home to cirkus cirkör”. Pupils from the circus secondary school were training in the hall, and the guests got to try their hand at circus skills, before sitting down to a good meal where the dinner entertain-ment consisted of circus acts. it was a highly suc-cessful evening and a completely unique experi-ence for the guests.

other exciting and fun assignments during the year:

• the opening of swedbank’s new premises in sundbyberg. cirkör custom-made qualitative entertainment as a framework for the opening event and a staff party.

• linnaeus university, where the themes from knitting Peace were used in operations regarding collaborations between different schools.

• the church of sweden, skara diocese, where cirkör performed a show in conjunction with the celebration of the diocese’s 1 000 year jubilee.

• minnesota communications who, on behalf of microsoft, bought a workshop for 500 partici-pants which was concluded with synchronised mass juggling.

another exciting collaboration is the one with tom tits experiment in södertälje. it resulted in mini-shows during the summer, as well as workshops and performances throughout the autumn on, in total, around 90 occasions.Cirkus Cirkör has also had a Christmas buffet collaboration at stockholm olympic stadium. We performed 29 shows there, where cirkus cirkör provided entertainment in the shape of five circus performers and one singer.in addition to the above, cirkus cirkör held just over 60 events during the year, with generally very successful results.We had recurring collaborations with several big events’ agencies, which was something we focussed on during the year, and we held several events in norway for scan one, where Wear it like a crown was a recurring theme.

inteRnAtionAl opeRAtions

contemporary circus is an international phenom-enon, and we collaborate internationally within all our operations, with regard to production, sales and in the development of our educational work. the exchanges we take part in through cirkör lab and the eu-project caRe are also examples of this.

our shows meet an international audience, and during 2014, knitting Peace and underart have been performed 43 times to a combined audience of 22 675 people outside of sweden. our inter-national tours are made possible through intense networking and sales work.

During 2014, the overarching ambition for in-ternational sales has been to continue to build and strengthen relations with cirkus cirkör’s network of organisers. this consists of swedish and international organisers, who regularly book our shows, because of their long-term business relationship with us, and who are also willing to book shows before they have even opened. as interest for cirkus cirkör is very wide-spread, our network of organisers is continually growing. this provides an essential foundation for the securing of proceeds for our operations. our goal for the future is to expand the network to include all parts of the world, and to have longer runs at individual theatres abroad.

in 2014, we have targeted our operations towards new markets. our aim to further develop our net-work of organisers in south america secured us funding from the swedish institute for a business trip to argentina, chile, uruguay and brazil, with a view to creating conditions that would make it possible to tour knitting Peace there during 2015. We visited buenos aires and Rosario in argen-tina, santiago in chile, montevideo in uruguay and são Paulo in brazil. During the trip, meetings with potential organisers and theatres were mixed with business visits to our partner scania and their operations in buenos aires, Rosario and são Paulo, to try to deepen our collaboration on the south american continent.

iNTERNATiONAL OPERATiONs iNTERNATiONAL OPERATiONs

our co-operation with scania continued during 2014.

knitting Peace at Østre gasvaerk in copenhagen

as a step in market development, the most long distance trips since the international sales office was instated were undertaken, with a focus on south and north america, as well as asia and australia. We participated at more performing arts conferences than ever before, including aPaP in new York, aPam in brisbane and ietm in melbourne; montreal complètement cirque, tanzmesse in Düsseldorf, Pams in seoul, circa aucH in France; cinaRs in montreal and contemporary circus exposure in israel in tel aviv and Jerusalem. We also participated at the local international confer-ences subcase in alby and swedstage in stockholm.

iNTERNATiONAL EdUCATiONAL COLLAbORATiONbetween the 24th and the 31st of october, cirkus cirkör went to seoul, on invitation from seoul Foundation for arts and culture to carry out ”the seoul aesthetic engagement Workshop” (saeW). the invitation had been preceded by a selection process, involving around a hundred organisations from several european countries. cirkus cirkör

was chosen because of our unique educational work, which combines physical training with sci-ence subjects – Plugga matte med cirkör (“circus maths”).

the workshop participants were korean perform-ers, performer-educators and teachers. During a one-week, intense workshop, 70 participants tried their hand at circus skills, examined their own roles as educators, developed new exercises in a group setting and deepened their knowledge of various approaches to learning, in addition to participating in a circus and maths relay and exercises linked to Plugga matte med cirkör. it was a highly appreciated workshop, and several of the participants are still in touch with cirkus cirkör with the aim of developing collaborations around contemporary circus in korea.

mia crusoe (manager of courses and training 2006-2014) also gave a lecture on the theme of “everything is Possible: a Qualitative madness” at the international symposium seoul international symposium for arts and creativity.

Caravancirkus cirkör is a member of the european cir-cus organisation caravan. caravan’s aims are to promote circus training and education for young people all over europe, and to support their development through tangible measures, such as youth exchanges and teacher training.

the project ”circus trans Formation” has been running from 2012 to 2014 and is funded by the eu:s ”lifelong learning Programme”. the pro-ject is run in collaboration between non-profit circus schools from eight different countries and université catholique de louvain in belgium.

in July 2014, the project was concluded with a european seminar in brussels. Here, the art of circus was presented as a tool for social inte-gration for all people, in and outside of europe. Caravan also published the first European guide to training people who want to work with circus as an educational tool in socially vulnerable environments. During two days, profession-als and amateurs from circuses met with local, national and european political representatives and researchers from universities. amongst topics discussed was how the circus industry can be further developed to better meet the needs of young people with limited possibili-ties. Operators from more than fifteen countries were represented, among them France, Fin-land, Romania, the czech Republic, cambodia, afghanistan, madagascar, ethiopia, canada and sweden.

Cirkus +”Research on Youth and social circus Peda-gogy” is Caravan’s next, big educational effort. From 2014 to 2016, six of caravan’s members will, in association with two universities and one college, analyse the need for a course in circus pedagogy in socially vulnerable environ-ments. the goal of the project is to give circus organisations with great social commitment and strong ties to operations for children and young people tools for the long term development of educators.

During the project period, we will:

- analyse the existing courses on offer for young people and educators who are socially commit-ted and want to utilise circus as a method

- lay the foundations for a long term european educational programme that meets the needs and the possibilities available on the european employment market.

the results will be presented during a european seminar in the summer of 2016 in brussels. ciRkus + is funded by the eu:s educational support programme erasmus +.

Circus Secondary Schoolthe pupils of the contemporary circus second-ary school quickly come into contact with their international future employment market. second year pupils made a study and inspiration tour of Paris in January. they trained at the Rosny sous bois circus school and academie de cirque Fratellini. they also saw two performances at Festival mondial du cirque du Demain, as well as Tetrakai at Parc de la Villette, which is the final production from the students at the bachelor of arts programme at centre national du cirque (cnac).

the leader of the secondary school, Walter Ferrero, is on the board of FeDec as a repre-sentative for the contemporary circus programme. Walter has also been invited to hold lectures about swedish contemporary circus training at cinars in montreal.

iNTERNATiONAL OPERATiONs iNTERNATiONAL OPERATiONs

pedAGoGy And tRAininG through its educational operations, cirkus cirkör encountered over 20 000 children, young people and older people, with or without disabilities, in 30 different Swedish municipalities, as well as inter-nationally in four separate countries during 2014.

activities have included circus workshops, lec-tures, shows, performances and courses.

in 2014, our department for Pedagogy and train-ing has put their efforts into three major projects. the largest of these was directed towards care for the elderly and care homes for people with senile dementia. called cirkus äldre de luxe, it has been realized with funding from Postkodlotteriet. in conjunction with botkyrka municipality’s children’s culture residency, we revised the school show Jag bara måste (“i Just Have to”). the third project has been to establish courses in circus pedagogy for educators and other occupational groups. our focus when it comes to courses has been to edu-cate internal and external educators to use circus as an educational method in socially vulnerable environments.JAg bARA måsTE – A ChiLdREN’s CULTURE REsidENCy iN bOTKyRKAthe show Jag bara måste (“i Just Have to”) is the result of collaboration with botkyrka municipal-ity within the framework of its children’s culture residency, where the aim was to let children be involved in a creative process. together with children from ages seven to twelve at Hammer-staskolan in norsborg, cirkus cirkör has spoken, explored and played with the theme “What is the

most important thing in the world?” the children’s ideas have inspired the story, and their recorded voices are heard in the circus performance entitled Jag bara måste. ensemble: Fredrik Deijfen, anna lagerkvist and Douglas magnusson. Director/project manager: Jesper Nikolajeff educational leader: louise turner

Jag bara måste was performed for over 9 000 children at 44 different schools within the county of stockholm.CiRKUs ÄLdRE dE LUxEcirkus äldre de luxe is an educational experience programme created for and modified to suit circus within the care for the elderly.

The goal of Cirkus Äldre de Luxe is to offer care homes, assisted living spaces and hospital set-tings a fun, physical and mentally challenging circus activity as part of their daily operations.

the project is built on cirkör’s educational steps: inspire, educate, activate. the visit begins with an inspiring and specifically adapted circus show, and then the performer-educators from cirkus cirkör perform a sit-down circus show together with the old people and the staff at the care home. in order to leave a lasting impression, as well as continued training at care homes, a course, also called a workshop, was developed, with guidance for the staff at the home.

the show, the sit-down circus and the workshop for the care homes have been constructed from a well-thought-out idea where costumes, props, movements, music and objects have a specific meaning and different purposes. It was important to meet the participants with respect and that the focus lay on the time shared with them, not what they could or could not do. We had been given the honour of coming to their home! one example is the colour pink, which is present in both the show and the sit-down circus, as an uplifting and cheer-ful colour. another example is the choice of music and rhythms from different genres, such as bossa nova and disco, which mainly evoke joy. the vari-ous objects used in the sit-down circus promote different physical and mental abilities such as fine motor skills, balance and coordination.

During 2014, the project has reached 2 800 people at 89 care homes for the elderly from lomma in the south to storuman in the north. approximately 600 members of staff and cultural representatives from care homes have taken a course in sit-down circus. this is nineteen more care homes and 300 more members of staff than the project aimed for. in total, eight artist-pedagogues have been involved in the development of the project.

cirkus cirkör also held a week long course in sit-down circus as competence development for people who work within care for the elderly, for circus instructors (not from cirkör), as well as for cirkör’s own educators and one wheelchair-bound dancer. the people responsible for the project and the performer-educators have also participated in six separate conferences and performed on two venues outside care homes. in total, approxi-mately 3 000 people who work with care for the

elderly have seen the show, the sit-down circus or received information about the project in conjunc-tion with conferences in various places in sweden.

cirkus äldre de luxe’s show, sit-down circus and workshop has scored very highly in evaluations from care homes, and cirkus cirkör are now work-ing on continuing the journey to more care homes, even though the period with funding from Post-kodlotteriet has come to an end.

in collaboration with the swedish Dementia centre and the alzheimer Fund, cirkör is organising a seminar on the 18th march 2015 for people who work within care for the elderly and the circus industry: culture as a force for change in care for the elderly.

cirkus cirkör will also document and summarise the entire project in a book which will be published during the spring of 2015.

EdUCATiONAL OPERATiONsEdUCATiONAL OPERATiONs

CiRCUs shOws ANd wORKshOPsWith the help of some 70 freelance circus peda-gogues and artists, cirkus cirkör’s educational operations have reached more than 20 000 chil-dren. this has been achieved by visits to schools, associations and organisations, where we have held shows, performances, circus workshops, term long courses, circus maths and/or courses.

an example of an activity that can be taken to a school is a visit by three cirkör performers, who perform a 30-minute cirkus de luxe-show for all the pupils in the gymnasium. the following week, all classes get to meet the same performers in a circus workshop. Pupils can then try tightrope walking, pair acrobatics, juggling and swinging from a trapeze. to ensure that the visit from us will live on, staff from the school take a course in how to use the tools of circus pedagogy in edu-cation. several of our workshops have themes that are also a part of circus training. an example of this which we have utilised a lot during 2014 is circus maths. 300 pupils in year 5 in botkyrka have, through botkyrka’s cultural everyman’s right, were given the opportunity to have two lessons in circus maths, where the pupils learn mathematics through circus training.

CiRCUs COURsEs iN ALby, sTOCKhOLm ANd gOThENbURgcirkus cirkör hold term-long courses in alby, norsborg and at vasa Real in stockholm and since autumn 2014, we also hold scheduled courses in gothenburg. the courses are directed at everyone from children from the age of five to adults, with or without disabilities, who want to train circus. they learn everything from basic circus techniques to specialisation within specific circus disciplines. During the year, a total of 1 265 people have par-ticipated in one of the 37 circus courses (fourteen in stockholm, seventeen in alby and six in goth-enburg) that cirkus cirkör have held.

In addition to this, Cirkör has offered drop-in classes in contemporary circus and parkour at cirkör House for amateurs on 60 separate occa-sions, where 1 250 children and young people have participated, 820 of those were unique visitors.

chilla med cirkör (“chill out with cirkör”) at cirkör House is an example of when we open up our premises and the art of circus to everyone, on

eight occasions every year. it is a free taster-ses-sion of circus training for the whole family, and 779 people have participated in it this year.

During the summer and autumn school holidays, a total of 89 children and young people up to the age of seventeen had the opportunity to train circus and conclude a week-long circus camp with a show. the autumn holiday camp held in collabo-ration with subtopia was extra fun. there, partici-pants could explore the theme of fears via circus, dance, theatre and theatrical make up.

During the summer holidays, cirkör’s pedagogues visited twelve towns, in collaboration with the national Federation of People’s Parks and com-munity centres. 500 children and young people from malmö to luleå have participated in summer holiday courses in circus and parkour, where every week concluded with a show for friends and fam-ily. We also had the pleasure of, via the national Federation of People’s Parks and community centres, giving 800 children and young people the opportunity to try circus at malmö Festival and gothenburg kulturkalas.

CiRKöR iN ThE hOOdscirkör in the Hoods consists of a group of young people from the neighbourhood botkyrka who train circus twice a week at cirkör House. the group came about through extensive collabora-tion with youth centres in norra botkyrka in 2011. During 2014, the group has deepened their knowl-edge of circus disciplines and also been educators at circus taster-session held during albydagen, Hjärta botkyrka, assyriska footballcamp and the festival “this is alby”. the group has travelled to malmö to watch the show Drallion by cirque du soleil and have also been given the opportunity to attend circus shows at Hangaren.

UNg CiRKöRDuring 2014, cirkör’s youth ensemble, ung cirkör, focussed on developing their technical and artistic skills. they concentrated on creating two separate shows during the year. in the spring, a street show was devised and performed on four occasions in may and June for a combined audience of around 3 000 people in botkyrka and gustavsberg. in the autumn, ung cirkör devised Hide and seek, which was performed on four occasions in December at the cirkör House.

EdUCATiONAL OPERATiONs

whAT hAs hAPPENEd dURiNg 2014?spring term 2014: Pupils from year 1 began the year with two project weeks where they worked on their own circus acts for the first time. They received support, coaching and feedback from the teachers and then present-ed their act to the rest of the school.

For year 2 pupils, the spring term marked the time to choose a primary discipline and a secondary one.

they also completed their performance project with an external director. this year, the pupils were directed by former pupil and DocH-student andré Farstad, who has also worked as a performer with cirkus cirkör, 7 Fingers and cirque du soleil. the show was performed at Riksteatern in Hallunda.

Year 3 presented their graduation projects, which is a major exercise in creating, performing and administrating a project:

Project examples:

• two pupils went to vulnerable areas in south africa with their own social circus projects. upon their return, the projects were presented as a photo and video installation piece.

• Four pupils conducted a similar project in south korea.

• two groups consisting of four and two pupils respectively created a circus show with perfor-mances held at Riksteatern in Hallunda.

• one pupil’s graduation project consisted of being the assistant director of marie andrée Robitailles research project at DocH and par-ticipating in the coordination of the Woman in circus consortium.

The pupils’ individual final circus acts were pre-sented at Riksteatern in Hallunda at the end of term.

autumn term 2014: the autumn began with a creative project where all pupils in all years worked in their classes with a collective theme, in this case borders. every class was given a week to explore the theme, and then create and present a fifteen minute show for all of cirkör.

iNTERNAL COLLAbORATiONsthe pupils have participated in several events held by cirkör and have been invited to watch all pres-entations held by residency companies in cirkör lab.

three pupils were selected to participate in a christmas show with cirque isis outside of Paris, under the direction of Quentin bancel.

the pupils have also had the opportunity to see many of the contemporary circus performances put on in the stockholm area in 2014: cirkus cirkör’s knitting Peace and underart, Race Horse company’s super sunday, Ruby Rose Produc-tions eat it! and Henrik & louise’s extreme sym-biosis.

fOLLOw UP Of fORmER PUPiLsmany of the pupils who graduated from the con-temporary circus programme during the spring of 2014 continued directly on to higher education courses in circus or other subjects in sweden and abroad.

We have also received reports that former second-ary school pupils have graduated from university and college programmes in subjects as diverse as law and naprapathy, as well as circus. seven former pupils from the contemporary circus pro-gramme graduated from DocH during 2014 and one from montreal circus university (enc). all of them are employed, and some have started their own businesses.

the CiRCus seCondARy sChoolYet again, the circus programme has shown that it is a course of excellence, both for those who would like to spend their time at secondary school on developing as contemporary circus artists and for those who are considering different future pro-fessions but who want to make sure their second-ary school days are creative and fruitful as well as soundly theoretical.

the theoretical education takes place at s:t botvids secondary school in Hallunda, and the circus training is held at cirkör House in botkyrka. Here, the pupils train side by side with profession-al circus artists from cirkus cirkör, manegen and artists in residence at cirkör lab.

the teachers come from all over the world. the majority of them have been educated at the

world’s best contemporary circus schools and are, or have been, professional performers.

the curriculum for the secondary school is split into two pedagogical phases:

Phase 1 is comprised of the three first terms. Here, the focus is on developing circus basics: Floor acrobatics, trampolining, strength and stretch-ing. Pupils are given a thorough introduction to all circus disciplines, such as dance, improvisation, theatre, clowning and artistic creation. the pupils also take part in a project, where all the basics are integrated into some form of presentation.

Phase 2 is comprised of the three final terms. It is then time for the pupils to specialise and choose a primary discipline and a secondary one. this is in addition to the curriculum from Phase 1, so train-ing in all basic disciplines is continued. Phase 2 is concluded with an exam project, and the pupils also create their own circus acts.

EdUCATiONAL OPERATiONsEdUCATiONAL OPERATiONs

AUdiENCE NUmbERs 2014

Also

Educational operations 444 15 793 (performances not included)

in total 333 96 802

In total 959 160 095

underartknitting PeaceJag bara måstePå flygande fot (Äldre de Luxe)varieté vad ni vill (äldre de luxe)cirkus de luxecirkör lab presentations

Reflektioner nicole nadine (individual project)Yr 3 Delux (individual project)Yr 3 Final presentations

cirkör event, in totalcorporate eventmini-shows at tom titChristmas buffet entertainmentstockholm olympic stadium

571164357112114

5243

350150250180

182639029

25 554 53 7339 0962 059

2824 248

900

47 500

Secondary School

Productions Number of performances Audience numbersPerformance operations

ECONOmy ANd ORgANisATiON

SUSTAInABILITY WOrK At CiRkus CiRköRDuring 2007, a couple of co-workers with an inter-est in sustainability founded Cirkör’s first environ-mental group. the work began with the decision to start purchasing organic coffee, eco-labelled copier paper, hiring an environmentally certified delivery company, installing remote controlled switches to conserve energy, recycling garbage and buying used office furniture. In the years since, we have gradually increased our compe-tence about sustainability and in 2011, cirkör’s first environmental policy and environmental guide was completed. since 2014, the environmental group has consisted of five people who have six annual meetings, in addition to a number of smaller meetings with the goal of writing reports.

in the past few years, we have become increas-ingly aware of our impact on the environment. the way we see it, environmental work is an

important part of being a good work place and a good organisation for the world at large. as cirkus cirkör’s operations are built on touring shows all over the world, we took the decision to prioritise climate compensation in 2013. We chose to follow the swedish society for nature conservation’s (ssnc) recommendations to lock emission rights to contribute to the decrease in eu-permitted carbon emissions. to make it practically manage-able within the organisation, we created templates based on the average distance between different destinations around the world and the co2 emmis-sions they cause.the data was calculated the aid of www.atmosfair.de. the templates is used for all of the organisations air travels regardless of reason.

During 2014, we paid 43 400 sek in climate compensation to ssnc, and switched to more energy efficient appliances and 100 % eco-labelled electricity. We increased our purchases of organic food, improved our handling of recycled waste and worked to a greater extent with recycling and re-use of office materials and set designs.

ECONOmy ANd ORgANisATiON

ECONOmyDuring 2014, cirkus cirkör had a total turnover of 45 520 842 sek, where 28 285 747 sek was made up of sales and 17 235 095 sek was made up of external investments:

ams: 60 104 sek botkyrka municipality: 3 278 800 sek Dutch postcode lottery: 65 000 sek kulturbryggan: 100 000 sek Postkodlotteriets kulturstiftelse: 2 498 152 sek swedish sports confederation: 89 504 sek stockholm county council: 2 315 000 sek swedish arts council: 7 588 500 sek Stockholm City Office for Cultural Affairs: 1 180 035 sek the swedish institute: 60 000 seksTAff ANd ORgANisATiONcirkus cirkör is a business group and the parent company is cirkus cirkör ideell förening (“cirkus Cirkör non-profit organisation”). The parent compa-ny conducts courses, training and education. cirkör non-profit organisation owns Cirkus Cirkör AB (“cirkus cirkör inc.”), which produces performances and events. as well as working closely together, the companies have joint administrative and support

functions such as the board of managers, economy, research, development, communication, PR and it.bOARd Of diRECTORs 2014:bengt Westerberg (chairman) tilde björfors, mats björkman, malin Dahlberg, charlotte olofsson, an-nika levin, olle strandberg, gunilla thorgren and birgitta Winnberg Rydh. the board of directors is unremunerated.mANAgEmENT gROUP 2014:artistic director: tilde björforsceo: anders FrennbergHead of Finance: anna olssonDeputy ceo, Head of Production: anna ljungqvistDirector of international relations: lars WassrinHead of communications: susanne Reusznermanager cirkör event: cajsa lindegrenmanager education and training: mia crusoeartistic Programme Director - secondary school: Walter Ferrero

During 2014, cirkus cirkör has had 28 long-term employees and 219 short-term employees, distributed among 56 full-time positions. in total, 247 people have received a salary from cirkus cirkör during the year.

eConoMy And oRGAnisAtion

iN swEdEN dalarnas County Falun mora orsa

Gävleborgs County gävle ockelbo Hudiksvall

Hallands County Halmstad

Jönköpings County nässjöHuskvarna

Kronobergs County växjö

norrbottens Countyluleå

Skåne CountyHelsingborg klippan landskrona lomma malmö Staffanstorp Stockholms County botkyrka Danderyd Haninge Huddinge lidingö märsta nacka norrtälje nynäshamn salem sollentuna stockholm södertälje tyresö värmdö

uppsala County Heby uppsalaenköping

Västerbottens County storumanumeå skellefteå Västernorrlands Countysundsvall

Västmanlands County västerås

Västra Götalands County boråsFärgelandagothenburglerumlidköpingskara skövde

örebro County Örebro

östergötlands County linköpingnorrköping Ydre

iNTERNATiONALdenmark copenhagen

France chateau-arnoux sainte-maxime velaux

The netherlandsthe Hagues’-Hertogenbosch

norwayaure askim Fredrikstad lilleströmsandeÅlesund

spaingirona

south Koreaseoul

GermanyDüsseldorf

Austriagraz

WHErE HAVE WE BEEn In 2014?

MAdE In BOTKYrKA

Cirkör’s map of 2014

south korea