3 h. ago The moment I knew: standing on her shoulders, I was impressed she could bear my weight

After training together for years, acrobats Tristan St John and Asha Colless realised their ability to support one another was more than just physicalFind more stories from The moment I knew seriesIn 2021 I was at the National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne. That’s where I first laid eyes on Asha. She was part of a group of new students joining my cohort. She instantly struck me as someone I wanted to be friends with. At ballet class that afternoon we shared a barre and became fast friends. Over the next couple of years things remained platonic and it wasn’t until our final year that chemistry began to build.Towards the end of that dark Melbourne winter, Asha asked if I’d work with her on some acrobatics. Every day after school we’d spend an hour or so training as a pair. There was lots of stretching and chatting, trying and failing various tricks and lots of laughs. It wasn’t long before I realised I was seriously enjoying these sessions, and not just in a professional or fr...

Politics

8 h. ago Nathan Jones explains exactly what he meant after labelling Ryan Reynolds' Wrexham a ‘circus’

Jones’ Charlton side stand in the way of the Red Dragons this weekend as both sides chase automatic promotion to the Championship

Politics

26 h. ago Chris Eubank Jr silences Eddie Hearn and pledges to ‘take out’ Conor Benn

In a circus-like press conference, Eubank Jr goads his rival while Benn threatens to ‘take his head off’The latest saga in the endless hyping of a bout that should not be happening unfolded in a pantomime atmosphere at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday evening when Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn held their final press conference. Eubank Jr would not allow Eddie Hearn, Benn’s promoter, to talk as he constantly interrupted him and pointed out that people wanted to hear from the fighters rather than their salesmen.It presented an easy victory for Eubank as the normally garrulous Hearn soon retreated from the stage and asked his CEO at Matchroom Boxing, Frank Smith, to take over. Smith is in a relationship with Eubank Jr’s sister, Emily, but his attempts to thank various people were not much more successful. Continue reading...

Events

33 h. ago Circa/LPO/Gardner review – Exhilarating, exquisite and extraordinary as Ravel melds with acrobatics

Royal Festival Hall, LondonMultitudes festival opened with a stunningly effective collaboration between the Australian circus company and the London Philharmonic OrchestraThe Southbank Centre’s cross-genre Multitudes festival opened with a double bill of Ravel’s ballets Daphnis et Chloé and La Valse, played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Edward Gardner, and performed by the Australian company Circa with choreography by their artistic director Yaron Lifschitz. Circa’s style amalgamates circus and acrobatics with contemporary dance, and the combination of athletic beauty, agility and strength suits Ravel uncommonly well.Rather than use the music as accompaniment to display, Lifschitz worked with the score rather than against it, though he dispensed with Daphnis et Chloé’s narrative, replacing it with a sequence of contrasting abstract tableaux, now exhilarating,now erotic, always rooted in the pulse and throb of the music, played with exquisite finesse and detail by the LP...

Politics

38 h. ago Luke Littler sends defiant 'boos' message as Premier League rival brands him 'fragile'

Luke Littler is set to be public enemy No.1 when the Premier League Darts circus rolls into Liverpool, with the teenage sensation sure to be booed throughout the night

Politics

42 h. ago The 23 'JJ' line criminals taken down in Piccadilly Gardens undercover sting

"From day one, we said we would do whatever it takes to drive out crime from Piccadilly Gardens, and this operation shows just that"

Events

42 h. ago The 23 criminals taken down in Manchester city centre undercover sting

"From day one, we said we would do whatever it takes to drive out crime from Piccadilly Gardens, and this operation shows just that"

Events

57 h. ago Hunt for man with buggy who punched passenger in face on Piccadilly Line during rush hour

Police are on the lookout for a man who punched a passenger on the Piccadilly Line

Politics

3 d. ago ‘Be playful, try new things!’ The Southbank Centre’s Mark Ball on his new festival, Multitudes

The arts centre’s artistic director is on a mission to bring new audiences to the joys of classical music. He explains why mixing it with circus, grime, poetry, and film might be the way to do itCan you name the UK’s top five most visited attractions? A 2024 survey placed the British Museum and Natural History Museum in the top two spots, then Windsor Great Park and the Tate Modern. No surprises there. But the fifth is perhaps less expected: the Southbank Centre, with 3.7 million annual visitors.“If you come down in the summer, it’s like a 21st-century version of the Victorian pleasure garden,” says its artistic director, Mark Ball. “It’s like the whole world is here. Skateboarders mixed with poets mixed with the classical musicians, mixed with the dancers – it’s what gives this space its vibrancy and why I love it so much.” Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Battle to be the 'greatest showman': Circus ringmaster is embroiled in bitter legal row with Hollywood heavyweights over name

Kenny Darnell Jnr, 37, found himself fighting 20th Century Studios owned by Disney, earlier this year in a dispute over who could say they are the 'greatest showman' on earth.

Events

4 d. ago Neirud review – a mysterious family relationship that unravels Brazil’s complex social fabric

Film-maker Fernanda Faya weaves together a loving homage to her circus performer grandmother and her elusive companionBuried secrets bubble to the surface in Brazilian film-maker Fernanda Faya’s tender and searching documentary, which seeks to disentangle the hidden knots of her fascinating family tree. The film opens with lovingly recorded home videos of various gatherings, including her childhood birthday celebrations, the only time of the year when her paternal grandmother, Nelly, would visit. A formidable woman of Roma ancestry, Nelly came from a long line of skilled circus performers, an illustrious ancestry that ended when Faya’s father did not join the family business.One particular aspect long eluded Faya: Nelly was always seen with woman called Neirud, whom Faya called aunt, but their actual relationship was a mystery; when Neirud died, her house was emptied of all personal photos and keepsakes. Through meticulous research, Faya gradually uncovered Neirud’s story. A Black w...

Politics

8 d. ago Haitians call for reparations from France on 200th anniversary of independence ‘ransom’

France should return harsh damages imposed on Caribbean country in 1825 after Haitian Revolution, say campaignersFrance has a moral duty to reimburse Haiti billions of dollars worth of “ransom” payments that could help the struggling Caribbean country out of its current crisis, say campaigners.The renewed call for reparations comes on the bicentenary of an agreement to pay 150m francs to France in 1825 to compensate slave-owning colonists after the Haitian Revolution. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago First sight of new Piccadilly line trains undergoing testing on London Underground

PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: First of 94 new trains spotted during late-night testing in west London

Politics

8 d. ago Woman rushed to hospital after being hit by car in Northern Quarter

An air ambulance was seen landing in Piccadilly Gardens

Events

8 d. ago London travel news LIVE: Severe delays on the Metropolitan and Piccadilly line

A faulty train has caused disruption on both the Metropolitan and Piccadilly line

Politics

9 d. ago Huge city centre police scene as air ambulance scrambled and woman rushed to hospital

An air ambulance landed in Piccadilly Gardens following the incident

Events

9 d. ago Sky Sports F1 presenter announces he will not be attending Saudi Grand Prix

The F1 circus travels to Saudi Arabia for the fifth round of the season in Jeddah, with Sky Sports making a change to their presenting line-up for the Grand Prix weekend

Sport

9 d. ago LIVE Air ambulance lands in Piccadilly Gardens amid incident in city centre

There is also a large police scene in the Northern Quarter

Society

9 d. ago Piccadilly line disruption: London Underground closures have been extended until October

Piccadilly line disruption: London Underground closures have been extended until October  Time Out

Politics

1 week ago Stricken Sevilla turn once again to Caparrós as owners keep up circus act | Sid Lowe

Fourth spell begins for club’s eighth head coach in less than three seasons, in wake of fourth defeat in a rowJust before two o’clock on Palm Sunday, as Holy Week began and religious brotherhoods started their slow, swaying progress through the streets of Seville, first La Paz, then La Hiniesta, then the rest, a man entered the city at Santa Justa. Aged 69, diagnosed with leukaemia five years ago, wearing a grey cardigan, blue jacket and a slightly manic smile, he’s thinner than before but couldn’t be more familiar. Joaquín Caparrós has coached Sevilla more times than anyone, across three spells, the first a quarter of a century ago; now he was returning for a fourth. “My face is a reflection; it says it all,” he said, leaving the station and stopping on the corner, searching for the car coming for him.Caparrós arrived on a train, alone and as their saviour. As somebody’s saviour, anyway: someone to get behind, someone to hide behind too, for a little while. Two days earlier Sevilla...

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