Contemporary circus is one of the sectors with the greatest European mobility: distribution circuits, international co-productions, residencies, street festivals. But all this activity depends on something that often doesn’t get enough attention: professional documentation.

A circus company with a powerful piece and no technical rider, a three-year-old phone video and an inactive Facebook page won’t reach the circuits it deserves. Talent takes you so far. Professional infrastructure takes you further.

Who is looking for you

Opportunities for a circus company don’t all arrive through the same channel. Each profile needs to find specific things:

Circus festival programmers

FIRA de Tàrrega, Chalon dans la Rue, CIRCA Auch, Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain: specialist circuits work with submission lists they receive months in advance. They need a complete technical rider, a video of the piece and an artistic dossier that demonstrates the company has performed in comparable professional contexts.

Co-producers and European theatres

For a co-production, a European theatre needs to understand the artistic project, the team, the estimated budget and the commitments the company already holds (premiere, confirmed residencies). A co-production dossier is a different document from a programming dossier, and you need both ready.

Residencies and creation spaces

Residencies specialising in circus (many in France, Belgium and the Netherlands) select projects in development. They value the stage of the process, the clarity of the residency objectives and the company's track record. The application dossier must explain where the project is now, not where it wants to go.

Street arts festival promoters

For street festivals, the technical questions change: they need to know whether the piece works outdoors, what street space it requires, whether the company provides its own sound system and how set-up works in a festival context with multiple performances on the same day.

What a circus artist needs

Complete technical EPK. For circus, the technical rider is the most critical document. It must specify minimum stage dimensions, required rigging height, rigging points and maximum loads, set-up and strike times, the number of technicians required and electrical requirements. Without a clear rider, negotiation with any festival or venue is impossible. Read the guide: EPK for dance and circus companies.

Video of the piece (not a compilation). The video a programmer needs is not a highlights reel from the company’s last few years. They need to see the specific piece being proposed: its structure, rhythm, real duration and technical quality. The ideal format is a recording of a complete professional performance, or the best ten minutes in a real performance context. A clean, well-recorded video always beats a polished production of a different piece.

Professional action photos. Circus is visually powerful — the photos must capture movement and risk without trickery. A static studio shot conveys nothing about the piece. Images need to show the work in live performance, with stage lighting and spatial context. Ressona works with Pocallum for performing arts photography. Read: press photos for artists.

Website with downloadable PDF technical rider. The technical rider must be available as a downloadable PDF from the company website, without the programmer having to request it by email. The website is the centre of digital identity: it must include the technical rider, photo gallery, videos, touring history and direct contact. Ressona works with LinuxBCN to build performing arts company websites optimised for search engines and easy to maintain.

Presence in specialist directories. Circostrada is the reference directory for contemporary European circus; FEDEC is the European federation of circus schools. Appearing in them is not automatic and guarantees no contracts, but it is the map that programmers and co-producers in the sector navigate. Presence is a necessary condition for international distribution.

The rider is not a bureaucratic detail

The technical rider is not a formality. For circus companies it is the document that determines whether a festival or venue can physically accommodate your piece. Without a clear, complete rider, there is no negotiation — because the programmer cannot check feasibility with their technical team.

Ressona supports circus artists and companies in building the EPK, website and professional materials that national and international distribution circuits require. Tell us about your project.