Circus Comes to You!

Hualien, Pingtung and Kaohsiung

From valleys and Indigenous communities to a local library, circus leaves the theatre behind and steps into people’s everyday lives. Circus Comes to You! began in Shoufeng, Hualien, where circus entered local communities between the East Rift Valley and the Coastal Mountain Range. The second stop was Sandimen, Pingtung, where performers shared circus up close with children and residents in a township rich in Indigenous culture and surrounded by mountain landscapes. The third stop brought circus to the Meinong Library in Kaohsiung. In collaboration with the Taipei Male Choir, music and circus came together in the heart of Hakka country, transforming the library from a place for reading into a small performance space. Three stops, three distinctive landscapes, and three different ways of meeting people. From the valleys of Hualien and the mountain communities of Pingtung to the Hakka heartland of Kaohsiung, we believe circus should not have to wait for audiences to enter a theatre. Instead, it can knock on the door and become part of towns, communities and everyday life. Because art can happen in more places than we imagine.