Today we will be speaking with Marie-Andrée Robitaille. Marie-Andrée, originally from Québec, Canada is an artist based in Stockholm, Sweden. In the past, she has participated as a circus performer in multiple productions with the pioneer Swedish contemporary circus company Cirkus Cirkör. Marie-Andrée Robitaille also worked as a dancer, acrobat, and stuntwomen in various other International projects and as a talent scout with the casting team at Cirque du Soleil. For the last nine years, Marie-Andrée has been assistant professor of circus and the head of the Bachelor program in Circus at the School of Dance and Circus (DOCH) at Stockholm University of the Arts (Uniarts). She is the initiator of the Stockholm-based international Nordic Women in Circus Network and the founder of Gynoïdes Project, an undertaking which aims to examine the roles and representations of women in circus arts. She is the artistic director of CirkusPerspectiv whose latest work and activities include: Gynoïdes Circus Female intelligentsia, acclaimed in 2016 at Orionteatern, one of the most avant-garde stages in Sweden; Music and Circus in Dialogue, a circus performance inspired by the experimental approaches and ideas of the Bauhaus, a project of Circus Art Gallery Space in Stockholm; and the production and curation of 5 editions of the Women in Circus Consortium. At Uniarts she has conducted the research projects Women in Circus, Sound of Circus and is currently conducting Hidden Circus which focus on alternative modes of composition in circus art. From January 2019, Marie-Andrée Robitaille is a Ph.D. candidate in performative and mediated practices with a specialization in Circus Choreography at Uniarts. https://www.uniarts.se/english/people/co-workers/marie-andree-robitaille Nordic Women in Circus Network The Women In Circus Network aims to: -Unite the creative forces of women in circus -Increase visibility of circus works directed and or performed by women -Provoke dialogues on the topic of gender and norm-creativity in circus arts -Contribute to the development of feminist strategies in the field of circus -Share and transfer knowledge from existing feminist practice and research. -Strengthen and develop collaborations in relation to the agency of women in circus The network currently has 219 members from 23 different countries. The organizational partners are Cirkus Cirkör from Sweden, Sirkus info from Finland, Dynamo Working space for circus and performing arts from Denmark and CirkusPerspektiv from Sweden. The network is funded by the Opstart program of Nordic Culture fund and by short-term network program at Nordic Culture Point. This funding is administrated by CirkusPerspektiv. It's our diversity united that makes us stronger! Click HERE to join the network and get involved. Join the facebook group HERE Any additional information, request for interviews or proposal for partnerships can be submitted to info@cirkusperspektiv.se _____________ Next Women in Circus Consortium August 8th and 9th in cooperation with Dynamo Workspace for Circus and Performing Arts, Odense, Danemark November 1st-2nd 2019, Helsinki, Finland! Check out the facebook group for more info! * * This podcast is an initiative of the Circus Action Network. Like us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/circusactionnetwork/ Check out our website: https://circusactionnetwork.wixsite.com/home Write to us: circus.action.network@gmail.com