Circa, Duck Pond, Southbank Centre

Here's an audacious take on the best loved of all classical ballets, Swan Lake: hand it over to a circus company and to let rip on. The company in question comes from Brisbane, is called Circa and places itself at the forefront of the new wave of contemporary Australian circus. Its aim is to extend the possibilities of circus as performance.

Circa has been going since 2004 and during the past twenty years has toured extensively across the world, including the UK.

This festive season it comes to the Royal Festival Hall in the Southbank with Duck Pond, its decidedly quirky and definitely highly entertaining take on Swan Lake. Here's a taster:


Circa's repertoire includes its own idiosyncratic versions of The Rite of Spring, Beethoven's '9th Symphony' and Shaun the Sheep's Circus Show, among many others. Duck Pond features a hapless prince, a sequinned flipper-wearing duck army and a burlesque black swan, all performing stunning aerial stunts with skill and humour.

Age Guidance: 8+