IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/recgxx/v91y2015i2p147-164.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Circus in Action: Exploring the Role of a Translation Zone in the Cirque du Soleil’s Creative Practices

Author

Listed:
  • Norma M. Rantisi
  • Deborah Leslie

Abstract

This article explores the process of knowledge production and creativity in the circus. In particular, it examines how the Cirque du Soleil has been able to forge an innovative and novel tradition of circus arts by drawing upon knowledge and competencies from the related fields of sport, circus, dance, and theater. Using the notion of translation developed in actor network theory, we trace how a variety of actors and entities, including both human and nonhuman actants, are enrolled in the creation of a contemporary circus performance. We explore how power and agency are distributed in the networks that foster creativity in the circus, highlighting their inherently unstable and precarious nature, and how the Cirque has created an open and unbounded space that accommodates fluid exchanges between actants (what we call a translation zone).

Suggested Citation

  • Norma M. Rantisi & Deborah Leslie, 2015. "Circus in Action: Exploring the Role of a Translation Zone in the Cirque du Soleil’s Creative Practices," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 91(2), pages 147-164, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:recgxx:v:91:y:2015:i:2:p:147-164
    DOI: 10.1111/ecge.12082
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ecge.12082
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ecge.12082?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:recgxx:v:91:y:2015:i:2:p:147-164. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/recg .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.