Circus in Action: Exploring the Role of a Translation Zone in the Cirque du Soleil’s Creative Practices

Norma M. Rantisi and Deborah Leslie

Economic Geography, 2015, vol. 91, issue 2, 147-164

Abstract: This article explores the process of knowledge production and creativity in the circus. In particular, it examines how the Cirque du Soleil has been able to forge an innovative and novel tradition of circus arts by drawing upon knowledge and competencies from the related fields of sport, circus, dance, and theater. Using the notion of translation developed in actor network theory, we trace how a variety of actors and entities, including both human and nonhuman actants, are enrolled in the creation of a contemporary circus performance. We explore how power and agency are distributed in the networks that foster creativity in the circus, highlighting their inherently unstable and precarious nature, and how the Cirque has created an open and unbounded space that accommodates fluid exchanges between actants (what we call a translation zone).

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1111/ecge.12082

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