History

Founded in 2019, The Big Top Group (formerly the Contemporary Circus and Immersive Arts Center) was established to advance contemporary circus, physical theater, and multidisciplinary performance throughout New York's Capital Region. From the beginning, the organization has connected exceptional artists with local communities through performances, education, creative residencies, and public programs that celebrate movement, experimentation, and artistic innovation.

What began as a small presenting organization has grown into a regional arts organization working in partnership with cultural institutions, schools, municipalities, and community organizations across the Capital District. Rather than being defined by a single venue, The Big Top Group creates experiences in parks, galleries, theaters, historic sites, community centers, and public spaces, making adventurous performance accessible to broad and diverse audiences.

The organization presents work by artists whose practices span contemporary circus, physical theater, movement-based performance, immersive experiences, visual art, music, and interdisciplinary collaboration. By supporting artists who blur disciplinary boundaries, The Big Top Group encourages audiences to experience performance in new ways while expanding understanding of the expressive possibilities of the body in motion.

Our signature event, Circus in the Park, now entering its seventh season, has become one of the region's most anticipated annual celebrations. The festival brings internationally recognized artists to Troy for performances, workshops, and free family programming, welcoming thousands of residents and visitors while introducing new audiences to the creativity and accessibility of circus and physical performance.

In 2025, The Big Top Group adopted a renewed strategic vision focused on building a sustainable ecosystem for contemporary circus, physical theater, and multidisciplinary performance in the Capital Region. This vision extends beyond presenting performances to cultivating artists, strengthening partnerships, expanding educational opportunities, supporting research and creative development, and building lasting cultural infrastructure for the field.

A cornerstone of this vision is Circus Lab, a collaborative, multi-organization initiative that transforms the Capital Region into a living laboratory for contemporary performance. Developed in partnership with leading arts organizations throughout the region, Circus Lab brings together artist residencies, youth education, exhibitions, scholarly conversations, workshops, and the creation of new interdisciplinary work across multiple venues. Each year, the initiative culminates in a regional celebration of World Circus Day at The Egg, highlighting the growing role of the Capital Region as a center for innovation in circus and movement-based performance.

Today, The Big Top Group's work encompasses festivals, artist residencies, youth camps and educational programs, the Circus Salon series, the Archive of Living Circus & Physical Theater, and collaborations that connect performance with literature, visual art, music, architecture, history, and civic life. By fostering dialogue across disciplines, the organization creates new opportunities for artists to experiment and for audiences to engage with performance as a dynamic and evolving art form.

As we continue to grow, The Big Top Group remains committed to artistic excellence, accessibility, and collaboration. We envision the Capital Region as a nationally recognized destination for contemporary circus, physical theater, and multidisciplinary performance—a place where artists create ambitious new work, communities gather around shared cultural experiences, and the performing arts inspire imagination, curiosity, and meaningful human connection.

Mission & Vision

The Big Top Group cultivates a vibrant ecosystem for circus arts, physical theater, and multi disciplinary performance art by presenting exceptional performances, supporting artists, educating the next generation, preserving the field's legacy, and creating opportunities for people of all ages to experience the transformative power of movement, risk, and imagination.

We envision circus, physical theater and multi disciplinary performance work as catalysts for artistic innovation, lifelong learning, and civic connection. We aspire to build one of the nation's leading networks for contemporary performance—where artists create ambitious new work, historical knowledge is preserved, communities gather across differences, and extraordinary physical performance becomes an accessible and celebrated part of everyday cultural life.