TENT house for contemporary circus

FAST FORWARD
International collaboration with British Jacksons Lane & Split Second

TENT house for contemporary circus (NL), Jacksons Lane (UK) and Split Second (UK) have joined forces for an international collaboration as part of the Fast Forward Program, an initiative of the Performing Arts Fund NL. This program offers talented mid-career makers from the Netherlands the opportunity to spread their wings internationally and to work with leading foreign producers. 

This collaboration has three main strands: 

  • In 2022, TENT, Jacksons Lane and Split Second will exchange knowledge and expertise through a job-sharing scheme. 
  • In 2022/23, the three partners will plant the seed for an international co-production: a new indoor show directed by TENT maker Zinzi Oegema, performed by an English/Dutch cast, and with a potential to tour in both countries. 
  • In the autumn of 2023, TENT will present a showcase of Dutch circus at Jacksons Lane in London.

Jacksons Lane is a theatre with five creative spaces, hosting over 2000 people weekly with a successful outreach program across London and year-round programming. TENT house for contemporary circus in Amsterdam supports circus makers in the different stages of their artistic development and creation process by offering different trajectories. The focus of both partners is on the development & presentation of contemporary circus. Split Second is a London-based production company which collaborates with artists who are blurring the lines between circus, dance, and theatre in the UK and internationally. 

The three partners will visit each other’s workspaces and through job-sharing, the employees will challenge their own working methods and experience. Following the example of Jacksons Lane, TENT is planning on opening its own venue for circus in Amsterdam. 

In its second year, TENT organizes a Dutch contemporary circus program during a circus festival in London's Jacksons Lane. In addition, an important part of the collaboration is a preliminary investigation into a co-production between Jacksons Lane, Split Second and TENT. The aim is to create a mid-scale theatre performance and to set up a tour in both the UK and the Netherlands. Under the working title MAT, it is directed by founding TENT artist Zinzi Oegema and co-directed by Hanneke Meijers. This performance is based on the idea that 'if you don't have to land, anyone can fly'. MAT will be a visual acrobatic performance about the beauty of failing and the freedom we feel when we allow ourselves to fail.