A contemporary history of circus arts in Buenos Aires, Argentina: the post-dictatorial resurgence and revaluation of circus as a popular art

Focusing on the case of circus arts, this article examines the resurgence and redefinition of popular practices that occurred in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, during the post-dictatorial years of the 1980s-1990s. The author first presents historical data that enables an understanding of the transitional legitimacy given to circus in the late nineteenth century and synthetically introduces the social processes that subsequently caused circus to enter a period of contraction. Attention then shifts to the social actors who recovered these artistic languages in the post-dictatorship decades of the 1980s-1990s, contextualising their practices with the socio-political changes of the time. The author's analysis centres on the ways that these young artists recovered certain elements of Argentina's popular entertainment heritage and blended these with new performance initiatives as they sought to legitimate their politically and socially engaged arts practices. Julieta Infantino is a Professor at the University of Buenos Aires where she serves as a researcher for the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET). She belongs to several research teams linked to the study of popular culture, folklore, heritage and youth practices and has published books, compilations and articles in national and international journals.