Breaking Circus
Rising Together
Who hasn’t dreamt at least once of joining the circus? Usually due to a lack of flexibility, physical or otherwise, most of us pin that dream for another day. But Dawn and Ryan from Breaking Circus demonstrate that it’s never too late to develop new skills.
Before she was a multi-disciplinary aerialist, Dawn grew up in Saint John, New Brunswick, and moved to Halifax at 17 to start university. She was working in public health when she made the decision to pursue her circus dreams, noting it was a huge personal accomplishment. “There’s the physical accomplishment of taking an older body and transforming it into a body that can perform at a high level,” Dawn explains, “I had to do a lot of undoing before doing.”
Ryan grew up with a passion for music in Sambro, a community that, like many in the Maritimes, has a heavy focus on skilled trades. An accomplished drummer, percussionist, and composer, Ryan is now a music director and contemporary circus artist as well.
They both spent six years living in Montreal, a self-described ‘circus hub’, and in 2016 began putting together smaller scale shows.
“We had been looking to do something on our own for a few years,” Ryan says. “We wanted to try and find our own place to be able to work on our art and training. A few things just lined up really well, so we took it as a sign and just ran with it.”
Breaking Circus, a contemporary circus production company, officially started in 2018, and was ‘formed out of the desire to create a supportive ecosystem for BIPOC artists and those from other underrepresented groups.’
During their first year in operation, Dawn and Ryan spent time in Montreal learning acrobatic rigging. Things were just starting to pick up as they returned to Nova Scotia, and then the pandemic hit.
“We spent most of the pandemic creating shows and creating content” Dawn says. “Acts and pieces, kind of honing and developing our circus skills.”
As public health measures began to lift, Breaking Circus was able to start working on projects in earnest and putting on performances, including That Which Lights Your Way, a trilogy of shows that were conceptualized around the physics of light.
The collective is also known for putting together interactive, fully immersive shows. The audience is invited into the studio and can move around the space while the contemporary circus is taking place around them. “We usually transform the space,” Dawn says, describing elaborate set pieces, engagement activities, and even themed murals in their washroom stalls to ensure the audience is fully immersed in the performance.
Dawn adds that most recently, Breaking Circus has been busy with public outreach activities, including different types of skills workshops in francophone communities and indigenous communities across Nova Scotia. That work will be continuing, she says, along with the development of equity training for their collective.
In late 2023 they launched a mentorship program in an effort to find potential new artists. This process started with three open sessions, where anyone interested in exploring circus disciplines was invited to attend. Attendees were not required to have any circus experience, and priority was given to those of minority communities. From that pool, six mentees were selected who, in turn for a time commitment, are now receiving free training for the next year. It is through this mentorship program that Breaking Circus plans to grow and expand their roster of artists, while also providing an avenue to give back to the community.
Ryan adds that even as a performance company, a huge part of what they want to do involves finding a way to create access points that either don’t exist currently or are very difficult to find.
In 2022, Breaking Circus applied for CUA’s Community Investment Grant Program, seeking funding to purchase a ‘mât chinois’, a type of vertical pole to be incorporated into their performances.
“The mât chinois is a traditional Chinese discipline,” Dawn explains. “It’s been in contemporary circus for quite some time, and in traditional circus disciplines as well. And it’s not something that we’ve seen here in Nova Scotia. To our knowledge, we’re the only ones with one in the province.”
Describing the discipline as ‘challenging and acrobatic’, Dawn says that it requires a lot of strength and coordination. “It’s just really beautiful,” she explains. “You can see the amount of energy people are exerting. It’s very dynamic.”
The excitement at having received the grant funding was surreal, Dawn explains, particularly knowing what it would mean for next group of youth that are going to be mentored. “That part is also amazing. The opportunity to do this in Atlantic Canada.”
“It’s a sort of validation that you’re on the right track,” Ryan says. “And that someone believes in you.”
Dawn also discusses the ease of the application process, particularly the straightforward approach of the grant proposal.
“We come back to accessibility. For different people starting out with small companies, especially businesses, they’re busy, and they may not have those kinds of skills to write elaborate applications for funding. The CUA [grant application] was definitely a bit of a breath of fresh air.”
The pole was featured in Breaking Circus’ recent show, Renaissance, which Ryan says had been in development since 2019.
The name, which was chosen prior to the pandemic, was unintentionally prophetic. “We did a workshop show quite a few years ago called Naissant, and we were like if we do a sequel, we’ll just call it Renaissance. And it was a running joke; then the pandemic hit and knowing what the actual renaissance was about, art coming out of a very terrible time, we said ‘there’s a parallel there.’”
The show itself follows a group of characters along their journey, with central themes of death and rebirth.
In addition to the vertical pole, Renaissance features arial silks, juggling, dance, acrobatics, and clowning. “All of our major skills that we’ve been accumulating and building and growing during the pandemic, they’re all coming out during this show,” Ryan says.
When asked about the importance of funding and grants for performing arts, Dawn asks us: “How much time do you have?” She challenges the misconception that in certain economies, funding the arts doesn’t seem feasible. “It’s the funding of the arts that allows you to be able to create this culture that is thriving.”
Looking back on all that Breaking Circus has accomplished since its inception, there’s a sense of gratitude.
“I can’t even imagine what else I would be doing,” Dawn says. “I feel like I’m meant to do this here, and if there are ways that we can make a positive impact for people doing it, then that’s what I want to do. I feel like inspiration is a big part of what I’m here for. And circus is very inspiring.”
Emphasizing the importance of helping one another in the small business community, Ryan points out that ‘a community can’t grow’ when there’s inequity. “Don’t be afraid to do what you can to help up the people around you.”
Dawn explains that collaboration, particularly with other businesses or likeminded organizations that share your values, is crucial. “CUA’s a perfect example for us.”
Collectives like Breaking Circus continue to inspire us too. We can’t wait to see what heights they’ll continue to climb. Learn more about Breaking Circus’ performances.
Our team at CUA is happy to have been able to help Dawn and Ryan on their journey, and we look forward to supporting more organizations like Breaking Circus through our Community Investment Grant Program in 2025.
