10 must-see shows at CircusFest 2014

Roll up, roll up for the GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH. CircusFest 2014 at Roundhouse kicks off today, and features a smörgåsbord of global big-top talent!

To help you decide what to see, here are some of the superb circus shows that caught our eye in the CircusFest programme this year…

CLØWNS & QUEENS is dirty circus. Expect clown eroticism, Pre-Raphaelite hula hooping, horizontal juggling & nudity in this genre bending spectacular at Shoreditch Town Hall.

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27-29 March 2014 | Shoreditch Town Hall |  7.30pm | Adults only

PUFFBALL is a unique collaboration between a new young circus company who consider themselves LGBTQ with renowned artist Mark Storor. Expect personal revelations beautifully translated to the big top!

22-27 April 2014 | Roundhouse |  7.30pm | 14+ recommended

LUMINESCENCE is a new site-specific art installation by world-renowned circus photographer Bertil Nilsson.  It features collaborations with circus artists using artificial light sources to explore new ways of seeing circus.

26 March-27 April 2014 | Roundhouse | 10am-9pm Mo-Su/10pm-4pm Su | Free Entry

The team behind London Wonderground smash Cantina present a captivating and stylish new production. SHE WOULD WALK THE SKY  is an epic poem told in grand circus, raw sound and sparse, beautiful words.

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9-17 April 2014 | Roundhouse | 7.30pm (2.30pm matinees) | 12+ recommended

Neo-Cabaret legend Scottee delivers PALAVA, a CircusFest revue of the ‘very worst dyke-y, faggy, tranny, queer variety show-offs this great Isle has to offer!’. Line-up includes Ursula Martinez (hanky trick), Jess Love (hoops) & Jonny Woo (dragster).

24-26 April 2014 | Roundhouse | 9.45pm | Over 18 only

Hair-hanging is resurrected by Sanja & Elice to experience the wonder of flight. ‘Never nostalgic, CAPILOTRACTÉES is offbeat, yet feminine and sensual, taking hair – the sacred emblem of femininity – and playing with the powerful emotions it arouses in us all.’

1-6 April 2014 | Roundhouse | Various Times | 8+ recommended

The Circus Geeks’ show is pitched somewhere between a ‘TEDx-style talk and a Heath Robinson demonstration’. If so, we’re gagging to get a ticket for BETA TESTING, which features Guinness World Record breaking performers, virtuoso juggling and a pathological fear of haddock…

22-26 April 2014 | Roundhouse | 7.45pm 

Discover the most exciting emerging talent on the British circus scene at SILVER LINING. The collective is a collective who balance, hang, sing, fly, catch, spin and throw their way through a fast-paced, feel-good and explosive new show.

9-12 April 2014 | Roundhouse | Various times | 8+ recommended

Co-directed by Jenny Sealey and Vinicius Daumas, BELONGING is an artistic collaboration for CircusFest between the UK’s Graeae and Brazil’s Circo Crescer e Viver, featuring performers from the London 2012 Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony and a collection of Brazilian actors, musicians and dancers.

15-19 April 2014 | Roundhouse | 7.45pm | 11+ recommended

Performed by aerialist Maddie McGowan and writer Talia Randall, EXPECTATION is a 20 minute immersive performance in which the audience is called upon to look, judge, laugh and celebrate the different faces of femininity.

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26 March-16 April 2014 | Roundhouse | Various Times | 14+ recommended