ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the roles and performances of circus women as good examples of aesthetic, axiological and social transformations that are occurring in the present multifaceted 'world' of the circus. In France, it started in the late 1970s, when cultural institutions recognized the contemporary circus as a distinct art form. In the 1980s, a debate started as to what a circus should be, with clashing arguments on how to define the circus as an art form. From the 1970s onward, the French circus has undergone a profound transformation with many upheavals, articulated around a struggle for the circus to be considered as art form. However, although the people have seen that the contemporary circus arts transgress the rules and break with conventions, it is important to note that the arts labelled contemporary are in fact extremely varied. Traditional circus has a relatively well identified ‘classic style’ and appears as a kind of conservatory for forms and techniques.
