While the pandemic swept through the world and disrupted all our lives, we were presented with a unique opportunity for our team to come together and build something beautiful. As life slowed down around us, we were able to consolidate our priorities and goals and think about what is important to us – a thriving community with the infrastructure to create sustainable art. The core team then spent the next 3months crafting and solidifying our organisational structure and objectives of our little project.

“There was an idea, to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if we could become something more.”

And just like that, on 5th May 2020, our Circus troupe is born under the name, The Not-So-Great Circus. The name in itself embodies the playfulness and the spirit of experimentation and exploration that closely guide our artistic approach. It also takes a creative spin to existing big Circus troupe like The Great Moscow Circus and The Great Circus of Europe.

Starting the troupe in the middle of the pandemic came with numerous issues as well. One particular issue was that our artists were unable to leave their homes due to circuit breaker. To cope with the measures and make the most out of the situation, the troupe began their online training to make sure that they are constantly pushing themselves and growing together. Of course, things were moving slowly and our artists couldn’t wait to finally have our first physical training together.

During the incorporation of the company, the founders collectively decided that rebranding is essential. As we restructure, the company would need a name that represented the team better. Both founders were known for their versatility and incidentally, “jack of all trades” was a phrase that they strongly identified with. Hence, inspired by that quote, Circus of Altrades, became the new name for the boutique Circus production company on 7 July 2020.

“Jack of all trades, Master of some.”

As Singapore transits out of the circuit breaker, the team was fortunate to find themselves a home. From a bare warehouse space, Altrades was able to progressively upgrade its facility with more equipment coming in. Our troupe pulled together our existing equipment and we turned the empty warehouse into our circus home.