Contemporary circus takes over Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard hosted something rather different on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 July 2026: Circus in Motion, a free, open-air contemporary circus event spread across the site. Running from 4:30pm to 9:30pm on both evenings, it formed part of The Point Is Portsmouth, the city-wide programme marking Portsmouth100. Rather than gathering everyone around one stage, the event invited visitors to move through the Dockyard, finding performances among its historic buildings and maritime spaces.

The format suited the setting. Audiences could come across aerial work, tightwire, vertical dance, physical theatre and interactive performances while walking between different parts of the venue. The programme brought together artists from Portsmouth, elsewhere in the UK and overseas. Catalan company OSADÍA presented Whose Hair Dares, an interactive piece built around live hairstyling and audience participation. British circus artist Poppy Plowman performed contemporary tightwire, while If Circus brought Melic, an aerial work shaped by ideas of memory, making and connection. Community weaving workshops had taken place ahead of the event, linking the performance with local participation.

There was also a parkour and circus work from Company Zid, inspired by Moroccan culture and referred to in some programme information as Taroo and elsewhere as Zarbia. The evenings ended with Delrevés Vertical Dance from Barcelona, whose work uses buildings and walls as part of the performance space. That final change of scale was one of the clearest reasons for placing the event in the Dockyard: the venue was not simply a backdrop, but part of the route and the experience.

Circus in Motion was produced by Portsmouth-based creative producer Crying Out Loud with Portsmouth Historic Quarter. The organisation has worked in contemporary visual theatre and circus since 2002, presenting work for audiences of different ages and supporting artists in the Solent, across the UK and internationally. The event was free, with donations welcome, and was supported by Arts Council England, Portsmouth City Council, Portsmouth Creates and a range of cultural partners. Optional food was available during the evening, although the main focus was the performance trail itself.

The Saturday also included the Circus in Motion micro-conference, a pay-what-you-can professional event exploring touring, inclusion and the use of heritage spaces. Sessions covered lower-carbon touring models, circus made with and for D/deaf and disabled artists and audiences, and the role of circus in shaping a sense of place. Contributors included Head Over Wheels, Extraordinary Bodies, Upswing, Cirque Bijou, Poppy Plowman and choreographer Fouad Boussouf. The conference finished with the evening performances, connecting the daytime discussions with the public programme.

For regular Dockyard visitors, the event offered a new way to experience a familiar Portsmouth location. HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, the Mary Rose Museum and the other attractions remained part of the wider historic setting, but Circus in Motion asked audiences to look at the site through movement, height and live encounters rather than a conventional museum visit. As the performances took place on 17 and 18 July, they have now passed, but the event remains a notable part of Portsmouth100’s 2026 cultural programme and an example of how the city’s heritage spaces can host something well beyond their usual format.