share – Open Forum at National Circus Festival of Ireland 2023

Aisling ní Cheallaigh is an Irish aerialist who is homegrown and hand-reared by a conglomerate of companies and coaches. She has produced and created three of her works, two with fellow performer Ronan Brady (How to Square A Circle and Sub Rosa) and one with Jenny Tufts (NASC). She delights in flight and movement, and while she specialises in Aerial Hoop, she is also an expert dabbler in Straps, Fabric, Doubles Trapeze, Hand-to-Hand acrobatics and the serious discipline of being hit in the face with a Cyr Wheel. She has flown far and wide performing with companies and at events all over the world like Edinburgh’s Hogmanay (UK), The Islamic SolidarityGames (Azerbaijan), Montreal Complement Cirque Festival and Monastere (Canada), FIRCO (Spain) Bliss Circus Nights (India) and Zero Gravity Festival (Estonia). She is free range, organic, and corn fed.8. ANDREW LORETTOOriginally from Belfast, Andrew Loretto is an

Aoife Raleigh is a circus artist, producer and facilitator. She has toured nationally and internationally and performs regularly with Symmetry Circus, Circus 250 and SíoltaCircus, as well as performing solo work. An engineer in her former life, Aoife has turned her logic brain to organising the occasional project. Most notably, she was the Youth and Social Circus Coordinator for Dublin Circus Project from 2016-2022. Aoife is currently managing BOOST, a 3-month course for emerging artists by Dublin CircusProject.

We are Galway Community Circus – a circus family where everyone can belong, rooted in the city of the tribes, balanced on the edge of Europe. We are creators of magic, made together. We provide access to high-quality subsidised circus arts education through our circus school, offering youth and adult programmes and professional training. We also create community programmes in partnership with those who have specific social or developmental needs. We provide artist support, training and mentoring and lead the development of youth circus in Ireland through our academic, national and international partnerships.

Growing up in North Belfast, Northern Ireland, Christopher stumbled upon circus arts at age 12 at Circusful, formerly Belfast Community Circus School. Having spent his life developing an array of techniques, he has chosen to specialise his recent years in dance trapeze and partner acrobatics. Since graduating in June 2020 from Codarts University Rotterdam with a Bachelor in Circus Arts, Christopher has spent the past few years refining his approach to performance. His contemporary work touches upon human emotion, vulnerability and identity, seeking authenticity with all created. His graduation act OMI±POLONE (one of the few selected as laureate of the BNG Circusprijs 2020), touched upon his identity as a queer male and his acceptance of his natural femininity. This has sparked his research into who and what he is onstage and how this can be shown. Currently based between Netherlands and Ireland and has spent the last 2 years touring EXIT by Circumstances, a multi-award winning acrobatic performance. When not on stage, he is behind the computer or in the studio preparing for the creation of his new solo show – SKIN

Cikada Circus is an Irish acrobatic- theatre company who make enjoyable, light-hearted work for all ages which is rooted in what it is to be human.

Originally from Belfast, Andrew Loretto is an internationally experienced director, writer, dramaturg and producer for outdoor, indoor and site-responsive performance and theatre. Currently Director of Hat Fair and Playmakers for Play to the Crowd, Winchester.Previously director of Right Up Our Street, Doncaster Creative People and Places programme, including establishing the DNweekeND festival. Recent directing projects include 878AD, MOONTOPIA, NoHorizon, Ikebana, The Great Big Donco, The Wakefield Mysteries, Dramaturg for Company Chameleon, and Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Theatre – A Handful of Dreams. Most recent projects include supporting the development of participatory work with Fidget Feet and the Irish Aerial Creation Centre, plus a short film writing commission for the Welsh National Opera.

Promenade provides artists and organisations with strategic and creative project support to help reach their goals and aspirations in the fields of circus, participatory arts, public arts, spectacle and street arts. Our ambition is to support artists and organisations working in these creative fields to create work that is unexpected, relevant and contemporary, impacting positively on people’s lives. We build Irish and International partnerships to create high-quality and ambitious arts experiences and work with the next generation of producers and artists, providing training and mentoring to support career development.

A juggling aficionado and lover of all things Circus, Cormac Mohally trained at Belfast Circus School in 1999. He toured the world performing comedy dance acrobatics and taught hundreds of people the joys of throwing and catching. He is currently Artistic Director and CEO of Circus Factory

Lisa Wong, Brenda Long and Ciara O Neill make up an enticing trio. They combine gender-flipping, acrobatic aerial rope, chair dance and even some audience participation in a new circus piece- guaranteed to get the heart racing.

Mitchell (Artistic Director) and Elli (Creative Producer) from Curious Legends travel throughout Europe, researching procession-style theatre and large-scale puppet builds. We have a range of work in Australia this will feed into. In addition, they want to set up an exchange with Irish Artists, where arts professionals from Ireland can work on our projects in Australia.