Brisbane-based contemporary circus outfit Circa took on the world – and won – and now the company’s artistic director and CEO has a global gong to prove it.
Yaron Lifschitz has been announced as the recipient of the International Society for the Performing Arts 2025 Distinguished Artist Award.
One of the world’s most prestigious performing arts prizes, the Distinguished Artist Award is presented to artists who have made an outstanding contribution of talent, artistry, dedication and service to the world of the performing arts.
Previous international recipients include Angelique Kidjo, Taylor Mac, Peter Brook, Robert Lepage, Mark Morris, Laurie Anderson, Pina Bausch and the Emerson String Quartet.
Australian artists who have won the award are Jack Charles (2022), Peter Sculthorpe (2001), Archie Roach (2016), Dame Joan Sutherland (1994) and Mandawuy Yunupingu (1994).
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The first Queenslander to win the award, Lifschitz was described by an IPSA spokesperson as “a visionary and arguably one of the leading artistic entrepreneurs of the day”.
“His commitment to circus arts and the development of future generations of circus artists is manifested through his work with Circa and the many regions within which he works.”
Lifschitz has taken this Brisbane company to the world with amazing results. Circa is popular in Europe and elsewhere. The only downside is that people overseas sometimes see more of them than we do.
But that is changing with a number of Brisbane seasons for Circa next year, beginning in February with a groundbreaking collaboration with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. That will involve acrobats appearing on stage with the musicians as Umberto Clerici conducts Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.
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Lifschitz says that “to hail from Brisbane, to work in the medium of circus and to receive an award whose previous recipients have included Peter Brook, Pina Bausch, Angelique Kidjo, Leonard Bernstein and Dame Joan Sutherland is as overwhelming as it is improbable”.
“It is testament to the superlative Circa team,” he says. “I am honoured to receive this award as a recognition of our work together – creating circus that moves the world.”
The award will be presented at the ISPA 2025 New York Congress on January 16 at The Times Center in New York City.
Lifschitz is a graduate of the University of NSW, University of Queensland and National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), where he was the youngest director ever accepted into its prestigious graduate director’s course. Since graduating, he has directed more than 80 productions including large-scale events, opera, theatre, physical theatre and circus.
His work has won numerous awards including six Helpmanns and the Australia Council Theatre Award. His productions continue to be presented at major festivals and venues, including Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Barbican, Les Nuits de Fourvière, Chamäleon and all major Australian festivals.
His film work was selected for the Berlin and Melbourne Film festivals. He was founding artistic director of the Australian Museum’s theatre unit, head tutor in directing at Australian Theatre for Young People and has been a regular guest tutor in directing at NIDA.
He was also creative director of Festival 2018 – the arts and cultural program of the 21st Commonwealth Games.
Lifschitz has turned Circa into one of the world’s leading performance companies. Since 2004, from its base in Brisbane, the company has toured the globe performing in more than 45 countries to almost two million people. Circa is a regular fixture at leading festivals and venues in New York, London, Berlin and Montreal.
Lifschitz’s capacity for creating unique shows is unrivalled. Some shows may be better than others, although that’s largely a matter of opinion. I have been following the company for more than a decade and I have never seen a bad Circa show. Just saying.
circa.org.au