Launch of New Circus Magazine for Contemporary Theatre and Circus

Sideshow Circus Magazine is a new publication with a wide-ranging interest in the many contemporary manifestations of circus. Circus professionals as well as enthusiasts can find reviews of the latest shows, interviews with prominent and emerging companies and artists, and full-length reports on such events as the famous Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain.

One of Sideshow's goals is to raise the profile of contemporary circus and to introduce new audiences to the artform. Sideshow's editor John Ellingsworth: "Those things that people think of as being circus – elephants, clowns, bigtops – that's one side of it. But most people don't know about the other side: a contemporary style that takes the circus skills and sets them within a broader theatrical context."

Sideshow has been started as a response both to the explosive growth of the circus arts in recent years, and to the poor quality of the critical coverage circus otherwise receives. The mainstream press often misunderstand circus, or engage with it superficially, or else don't know what constitutes original technical material.

Sideshow's editor, John Ellingsworth, trains circus himself, specialising in the discipline of corde lisse (aerial rope). He says: "I want Sideshow to be in-between. To have the insight and knowledge that comes from that experience of training and practice, but also to really exist outside of the circus world – to reach people who wouldn't ordinarily hear about this stuff, and to draw them in."

The launch comes at an exciting time. A newly created and Arts Council supported festival, City Circ, has begun to increase opportunities for artists and companies in the UK by educating theatre venues on how to programme and market circus; National Theatre Wales has announced the commission of a new indoor show from major touring company NoFit State Circus; and nine UK practitioners have been shortlisted for the Europe-wide Jeunes Talents Cirque award. Circus is marching forward and Sideshow will be following it every step of the way.