Go watch a contemporary circus

New or Contemporary Circus, or nouveau cirque (as it is known in French-speaking countries), is a genre of performing arts developed in the later 20th century in which a story or a theme is conveyed through traditional circus skills. Confusion has reigned over the terminology as it the genre could more properly be define as a form of modern Variety Show or in the USA, Vaudevile as New or Contempory Circus practitioners seldon use a central performing circular ring, which to an extent is synonymous with the tradition 'Circus' of the mid 1700s onwards. Animals are rarely used in this type of performance, and traditional circus skills are blended with a more character-driven approach. Compared with the traditional circuses of the past, the contemporary approach tends to focus more attention on the overall aesthetic impact, sometimes on character and story development, and on the use of lighting design, original music, and costume design to convey thematic or narrative content.