Industry Series
Tickets (free)
Defying Gravity: Mechanical Advantage and Lifting Systems
Monday, June 15, 2026 | 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Venue: Firefly Theatre & Circus Studio
*Free to attend – Registration required
What is mechanical advantage or disadvantage and how can we use it in the aerial arts to bend physics and defy gravity. Talking through the creation of simple mechanical advantage systems using rope and pulleys, we can create and use them to expand a rig’s potential to allow for live lifts or lifting heavier props or multiple artists.
Info Session: Meet & Greet Michelle Shultz
Friday, June 19, 2026 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Venue: Campus Saint-Jean Amphithéâtre
*Free to attend – No registration required
Michelle Schultz is one of two Alberta-based Arts Liaison Consultants establishing an on-the-ground presence for the Canada Council in Alberta. The Alberta Focus Initiative is a two-year commitment that aims to strengthen engagement and collaboration with Alberta’s vibrant arts community, as well as deepens the Council’s understanding of the community’s unique realities. In this session, Michelle will discuss the Alberta Focus Initiative and the funding opportunities available to artists and organizations through Canada Council.
Biography: Michelle Deanne Schultz is an art consultant, strategist and curator who has worked in public and private institutions in Canada, the US and the UK for the last 15 years. Since moving back to Edmonton in 2015, her focus has been on Prairie-based artists and institutions. She is often on the road, believing in the importance of building connections for artists nationally and internationally.
Office Hours: Sue-Ellen Gerritsen
Thursday, June 18 & Friday, June 19, 2026
Venue: Online
*Free to book
At last year’s festival, some of you were able to connect with the Canada Council for the Arts through “Office Hours” in the Bicycle Café. This year we are extending the same opportunity; however, to connect with Sue-Ellen Gerritsen you will need to book time to connect here: She/they reserved most of the day Thursday, June 18th and Friday, June 19th, with 30-minute time slots specifically to speak with artists, cultural workers, groups, and organizations attending the 2026 festival.
Français ? Aucun problème, ravi d’échanger avec vous !
There’s no idea or question too big or small. Let’s talk circus and what you need and want to know about applying for grants!
By appointment only with this link
Biography: Sue-Ellen Gerritsen is a program officer at the Canada Council for the Arts in the Explore and Create program. She/they have been at council 20 years focused exclusively on the inter-arts, multidisciplinary and circus arts fields. Ask me anything.
Beyond the Ideal Body: A Moderated Conversation on Fatness, Access, and Aesthetics in Circus
Friday, June 19, 2026 | 3:00 – 4:00 pm
Venue: Campus Saint-Jean Amphithéâtre
*Free to attend – No registration required
This moderated conversation brings together artists, researchers, and movement practitioners to explore how fat bodies are represented, excluded, and reimagined within circus and movement-based performance practices. Through perspectives grounded in artistic practice, accessibility, and embodied experience, the discussion will touch on body norms in circus training and aesthetics, fat activism, and how performance spaces might broaden understandings of who belongs on stage.
Panel: Léda Davies (moderator/panelist), Amanda Bergen, Heunjung Lee, Kristin Rodier, Michelle Kennedy, Queen K (Fierce & Curvy Empire)
Biography: Léda Davies is a Calgary-based circus artist, movement director, and co-founder of The Screaming Goats Collective. She trained in Montreal with coaches from Cirque du Soleil and the National Circus School and holds an MFA in Theatre Practice from the University of Alberta. Her work combines circus and theatre to explore social themes through embodied storytelling. Léda has taught at both the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta.
Performance Contracts, Everyone’s Favourite Part of the Business?
Saturday, June 20, 2026 | 10:00 – 11:45 am
Venue: Campus Saint-Jean Amphithéâtre
*Free to attend – No registration required
Performance contracts can be overwhelming — but understanding them is essential for both artists and presenters. In this workshop, we’ll break down the key sections of a complete performance contract and explore what each clause really means in practice. We’ll also discuss common pitfalls, red flags to watch for, and tips for negotiating agreements with confidence.
Whether you’re new to contracting or looking to strengthen your professional practice, this session will help you better understand the language of performance agreements and protect everyone involved.
Biography: Nicholas Beach is the General Manager of the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre in Camrose, AB. Responsibilities include curating the arts centre’s multi-disciplinary season of 40+ artists across 6 different series each year. In more than 25-year career in the performing arts, he has worked in theatres in 4 provinces. Past related experience includes, member at large for the Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta (ATAA), co-leader of the Canadian working group for contemporary circus with MICC, Treasurer for CAPACOA, and founding member of the Camrose Arts Council. He is also a very active member of the Prairie Regional Presenters Coalition. Nicholas was the 2024 recipient of the Rhoda Taylor Award for significant contribution to the arts touring industry in Alberta from ATAA. Nick also teaches performing arts programming for the University of Alberta on the Augustana Campus.
A Presentation on Social Circus
with Cirkaskina
Saturday, June 20 @ 12:00-1:00 PM
Location: Campus Saint-Jean Classroom 1-11B
*Free! No Registration Required
In creating a spirit of community in which each person can be valued in their own uniqueness, and where difference is celebrated, how can circus help create safe and social spaces that foster expression, self-understanding and openness to experiences? A delegation of 8 young leaders in social circus from 5 different Canadian provinces will present a short collaborative piece exploring their relationship to this question followed by an interactive discussion. This panel aims to highlight the results of research conducted in 2022 at a national social circus gathering hosted by Cirkaskina, the Canadian social circus network.
Cirkaskina Represented by: Daphné Morin, Coordinator, Éliza Lance, Artist Services Officer & Charlotte Couture-Navay
Cirkaskina young leaders: Adam David, St. John’s, Glania Jaelle Buissereth, Montreal, Hope Akello, Vancouver, Kai Retter, Halifax, Lok Holmes-Pringle, Calgary, Lejahi Josie Edwards, Toronto, Océane Richer, Quebec City, Rémi Fortier, Montreal
Panel Discussion: An Act is more than a Routine!
Saturday, June 20, 2026 | 1:30 – 2:30 pm
Campus Saint-Jean Amphithéâtre
*Free to attend – No registration required
A circus act is more than tricks and technique — it’s a creative expression. Join six accomplished circus artists from a variety of disciplines as they discuss how they build their work: where inspiration comes from, how artistic choices are made, and what they hope audiences take away from a performance.
Join us for an opportunity to hear from international artists, ask questions, and explore the creative side of circus.
Panelists:
Leda Davies, Alberta [Moderator]
Emma Curtiss, USA
Eve Gordon, New Zealand
Jason Melnychuk, Alberta
Jenn Bruyer, British Columbia
Luis Meirelles, New Zealand
Sarah-Soleil Nault, Quebec
Sign Up (free)
Social Circus Workshop – Games, Skills and More!
with Cirkaskina
Sunday, June 21 @ 12:00-1:30 PM
Location: Campus Saint-Jean Auditorium
*Free to Attend, Registration Required
Calling all movement-based practitioners! Come experience circus for social and personal transformation with Cirkaskina’s social circus delegation from 8 different communities across the country. Emerging leaders in social circus will co-facilitate a 90-minute workshop fostering playful community-building through circus using social games, basic circus techniques as well as group exercises. As per the social circus approach, we will begin and end the workshop in a circle formation, in which participants will be invited to introduce themselves and share their experiences in a playful way. All are welcome, no previous circus experience necessary!
Cirkaskina Represented by: Daphné Morin, Coordinator, Éliza Lance, Artist Services Officer & Charlotte Couture-Navay
Cirkaskina young leaders: Adam David, St. John’s, Glania Jaelle Buissereth, Montreal, Hope Akello, Vancouver, Kai Retter, Halifax, Lok Holmes-Pringle, Calgary, Lejahi Josie Edwards, Toronto, Océane Richer, Quebec City, Rémi Fortier, Montreal