Artcirq is an

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

performance collective based in

Igloolik Igloolik ( Inuktitut syllabics: , ''Iglulik'', ) is an Inuit hamlet in Foxe Basin, Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut, northern Canada. Because its location on Igloolik Island is close to Melville Peninsula, it is often mistakenly thought to be o ...

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

, Canada. It was co-founded in 1998 by Guillaume Saladin and several circus artists from Montreal and youth from Igloolik, with the financial support of Igloolik Isuma Productions, Canada's first Inuit independent production company and

Cirque Éloize Cirque Éloize ( iʁk elwaz is a contemporary circus company founded in Montreal in 1993 by Jeannot Painchaud, Daniel Cyr, Claudette Morin, and Julie Hamelin. Its productions combine circus arts with music, dance, technology, and theatre. "Éloiz ...

. Its activities provide Inuit youth with a vehicle for creative expression that maintains strong links to Inuit traditions and performance styles. Artcirq members blend techniques of modern circus arts such as

acrobatics Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance (ability), balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sports, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most ...

juggling Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object o ...

, and

clowning A clown is a person who performs physical comedy and arts in an Improvisational theatre#Comedy, open-ended fashion, typically while wearing distinct cosmetics, makeup or costume, costuming and reversing social norm, folkway-norms. The art of ...

with traditional Inuit cultural practices including Inuit traditional games,

throat singing Throat singing refers to several vocal practices found in different cultures worldwide. These vocal practices are generally associated with a certain type of guttural voice that contrasts with the most common types of voices employed in singing, wh ...

, and drum dancing to create meaningful and original work through performing arts, music, and video. Notable performers with the troupe have included singer-songwriter Terry Uyarak.Jean Siag
"Les 7 doigts coproduisent un spectacle au Nunavut"
'' La Presse'', July 1, 2019. Artcirq has been invited to perform across the globe from Mexico to Greece to Timbuktu, including the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games Opening Ceremony and Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee pageant in

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

. The collective has produced numerous short films as well as three albums: ''Artcirq Jam'', ''Made In Igloolik'', and ''Kikkukia''. The documentary film ''Circus Without Borders'', produced by Northern Light Productions, features Artcirq's story. More recently, Artcirq members have been coordinating an extra-curricular community arts program for youth at its Black Box studio in Igloolik. It is through these projects that Artcirq enables Inuit artists to express and redefine themselves together in their changing world.

References

External links

Artcirq's website

Link to Artcirq videos

Link to the documentary about Artcirq
Canadian circus performers Arts organizations established in 1998 Culture of Nunavut Organizations based in Nunavut Inuit culture {{Nunavut-stub