Circus Amok is a New York City-based circus and theater troupe that produces free outdoor performances every year in the NYC parks. Founded in 1989 by performance artist
Jennifer Miller,[1][2] who directs the company, the troupe began touring the city parks annually in 1994. The company performs in small neighborhood parks and well-traveled public squares in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens.[3] Circus Amok's performances address various political themes and social justice issues, which in recent years have included housing, health care,
gentrification,
gay marriage, immigration, the Department of Homeland Security,
police brutality, police
stop-and-frisk policies, and public education.[4][5]
History
Circus Amok started doing one-off performances at P.S. 122 in 1989,[6] and began developing and performing free outdoor shows in 1994. They have regularly toured public parks in
Manhattan,
Brooklyn,
Queens, and
the Bronx since then.[5]
^Sussman, Mark. "A Queer Circus Amok in New York." In Cohen-Cruz, Jan. Radical Street Performance: An International Anthology. London: Routledge, 2003.
ISBN9780415152303. Print. p. 262-270.
^Overbeek, Tessa (2015). "Embodying the Possibilities of Public Space--Circus Amok: An Interview with Jennifer Miller". In Bax, Sander (ed.). Interrupting the City: Artistic Constitutions of the Public Space. Amsterdam: Valiz. p. 197.
ISBN9789492095022.