Improvisation: Neither jazz nor theater, but itinerant metamorphosis

Abstract

This article aims to understand how the improvisations performed by circus artists fit into the daily routine of circus and show management. Applying the qualitative research approach to multiple case analysis, data were collected through asymmetric observations of the routine of 31 traveling circuses in southeastern Brazil and semi-structured interviews with 116 circus artists. The data were analyzed using the narrative analysis method. The improvisations occur in both the management and performance of the circus show and are linked to its power to affect (or to not affect) audiences and fill a void in the conduction of the circus performance, which creates the conditions for potential plots. Therefore, the circus spectacle morphs into various possibilities, whether shortened, expanded, rushed, or split into parts, and these assemblages ingeniously allow the occurrence of improvisations and different show designs.

Keywords

• improvisation
• circus
• management
• assemblage
• deleuze