JANAS‘s self-titled show is an aerial and acrobatic circus theatre piece. Set by the crashing waves of the Irish Sea, it is built around the fundamental pillars of island life: the sea, the sun, and the land. Through powerful aerial choreography and acrobatic storytelling, the company personifies these three forces as they fight to survive, to maintain connection, culture and autonomy.
JANAS is a circus theatre company composed of Julie O’Connell Kent, Eric Munday and Chloe Commins. These three artists formed the collective in 2024, funded by the EU’s Island Connect project. In Sardinia they found their name, JANAS – which means ‘people of the fay’ or ‘fay folk’. Their time in Sardinia raised questions about the similarities between colonised islands, and how folklore and myth is used to make sense of the struggles of its peoples.
JANAS is a circus theatre company comprising Julie O’Connell Kent, Eric Munday and Chloe Commins. Formed in 2024 through the EU-funded Island Connect project, the collective combines aerial performance, physical storytelling and ground-based circus practices. Julie and Chloe are aerial artists who have produced and performed new work nationally and internationally, while Eric is a ground-based circus artist with a PhD in Mathematics.
Part of dlr’s Public Arts Programme, The Story We Tell Tomorrow. Funded through the Per Cent for Art Scheme.