The New Circus Ensemble in Denmark

Nova Exit is made up of a variable group of Danish artistes with aerial acrobatics as the predominant element. Their style and forms of staging make them the only Danish ‘new circus’ ensemble.

Artistic Profile
Nova Exit was formed around 1999, taking its impetus from training at Akademiet for Utæmmet Kreativitet [the Academy for Untamed Creativity]. The group was made up of approximately 30 artistes. Their first projects consisted in developing concepts and providing entertainment at conferences, firm events, etc., in collaboration with the Comwell hotel chain.
Inspired by French new circus ensembles, such as Archaos, which visited Denmark in the 1990s, and later the Swedish Cirkus Cirkör, Nova Exit developed its own special form of theatrical circus.

The first result was Apropos in 2001 – the first Danish new circus performance, staged by Anne Sophie Bergmann Steen, who also is head of circus performance at AFUK. Elements of theatre, traditional and new circus, artiste numbers, and visual effects were mixed together in a kaleidoscopic performance. At the centre, as always in circus, was the exploration of the human body.
In December 2005, Roundabout had its premiere and a more structured concept was introduced: the roundabout as a metaphor for how difficult the encounter between human beings can be. The artistic level has become impressively high, and a number of the ensemble’s members also have international careers alongside their work with Nova Exit.

Current Productions

Roundabout
(2005)
Twosomes are out.  Personal relationships are in.  People meet each other in a roundabout, where anything can happen. The performers are circus artistes, a Butoh dancer, a street artist from Germany and a musician.

Review Extract

“The most fascinating and beautiful is Anders Astrup Jensen’s final number tissue (vertical sail), where he plummets head first from up in the air, creating beautiful images in a white cloth band and associations with Leonardo da Vinci’s famous drawing “Homo ad cirkulum”
Berlingske Tidende (DK), Roundabout

Recent Collaborators
K.I.T. (Copenhagen International Theatre)