Circus and Difference: Queer Circus and its Others with Charles Batson

What happens when circus embraces difference – not as an exception, but as a creative force? In this keynote, Circus and Difference: Queer Circus and Circus and its Others, Charles Batson explores the transformative possibilities of queer circus alongside the growing global Circus and its Others inquiry. Drawing on more than a decade of international collaboration, Charles will reflect on how artists and researchers are reimagining circus through diverse perspectives, practices, and lived experiences. Together, these explorations reveal the vitality of a circus that continually expands its boundaries by centering difference, experimentation, and new ways of belonging.

Professor, Union College (NY, USA). Co-director of Circus and its Others. Co-editor of Cirque Global: Quebec’s Expanding Circus Boundaries (McGill-Queens, 2016), with teaching, research, and personal interests related to intersections of circus studies, queer studies, performance practices, and French and Québec studies which have led to multiple other publications, talks, and appearances. Curator…