Circus genres

How the disciplines add up to an evening

A Circus Asia programme runs 120 minutes in two acts with an interval, and the disciplines are not simply lined up one after another: the evening is built on contrast. An aerial act under the big top is followed by floor acrobatics, and a long technical episode by a short clown routine, so that the audience can catch its breath and gather its attention again.

Who keeps the performance moving

While the crew resets the ring between acts, it is clowning that holds the audience: a routine covers the pause and ties different disciplines into a single story. Both of the company's programmes have a recurring character — the evening's storyline rests on them, and the other disciplines are arranged around it.

How the disciplines differ

• Aerial gymnastics — this is height: silks, the aerial hoop, the trapeze and the flying act.
• Acrobatics works close to the ground: pair and group acts, teeterboards and pyramids.
• Juggling and equilibristics — pure technique and precision at the edge of what is possible.
• Clowning — routines between the acts and working the audience.
• Illusion — working with light, pace and the audience's attention.
• Animal acts — the episode children come to the circus for.

Where to see these disciplines live

The disciplines in this section appear in both of the company's programmes, but they are put together differently: the grand show is about scale and the turnover of disciplines on the ring, the family show about a character and a story. The cities and dates for each programme are listed in the schedule on its own page:

• “This Amazing Circus”
• “Charlie and the Sea Lions”