Words & Pictures

Yaron Lifschitz

Yaron admits that after four years in circus he’s gone from juggling three balls badly to juggling four balls badly. Additionally, he is still afraid of heights and unable to tie knots. The artistic director of Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus since 1999, he says it’s interesting being an outsider in the circus industry. Hailing from Sydney, a graduate of the NIDA director’s course, he has directed theatre shows aplenty, and a few operas. Yaron comes to the circus with the question: “could circus be about something other than showing off?” He wishes to “talk theatrically with circus”, and he believes that’s beginning to happen, and that “serious circus heads will still hate his work”. He reckons there’s a place for circus as entertainment, but there’s a place for circus as something more serious than that too. He’s interested in the expressive possibilities of circus as an art form. For the record, Yaron doesn’t mind being called a wanker.

From Pictures