‘Got My Goat’- Unit 1 Part D ‘Form and Communicate a View’

On Tuesday I did my ‘Got My Goat’ presentation (using powerpoint) to the other Future Producers and thankfully it went more successfully than I was initially expecting.I chose to discuss the reputation of Circus in Britain as this is a topic I feel strongly about and knew I would enjoy researching. I am an avid Circus fan and believe it to be a fantastically diverse and exciting art form. It has such a rich and interesting history that I believe should be celebrated, especially here in Britain where modern Circus originated. Unfortunately it seems Circus on the whole is not a respected art form in Britain and doesn’t have the interest and reputation I believe it deserves. However, through doing research I did discover how things seem to be improving slightly and learnt more about particularly successful British Circuses. I also discovered more about how the City of Bristol is really supporting the development of Circus and how hopefully this shall start spreading to other areas of Britain.

It was really interesting gaining other peoples feedback after my presentation and seeing what questions they asked. One of the questions for instance, was about the rate of pay for circus performers, which is something I hadn’t thought of looking into before.

I thoroughly enjoyed researching for this presentation and feel the information I have learnt shall be very beneficial in the future, as I am hoping to possibly pursue a career that relates to my chosen topic.

http://vimeo.com/78728207 -Video of presentation

Sources-

I visited the V&A to further research my presentation, which I found to be very useful. It was fascinating seeing their range of circus and performance memorabilia. Their website was hugely beneficial with extensive information about all areas of Circus, including its early history and development.

•http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/c/circus/

(An extensive account of the history of circus, information on famous performers and the development of circus acts- also includes a recommended reading list)

•http://www.nofitstate.org/

(Information all about no fit state circus who I used as an example of a

successful contemporary circus)

•http://thespace.org/items/s0000vu2

(A range of circus videos and useful interviews)

•http://www.cryingoutloud.org/home/timeline/

(An extensive timeline about the history of contemporary circus which was useful to discover areas I could do further research into- helped me have a general overview of what to look at)

•http://www.circusarts.org.uk/

(Some information on the development of circus and links to further reading)

•http://sideshow-circusmagazine.com/

(‘Sideshow is a magazine and website that promotes, records and thinks about contemporary circus’)

•http://www.giffordscircus.com/

(Information on Giffords Circus who I used an example of a successful traditional circus)