Meet Our New Authors Micro-Commission Recipients 2025-26

Introducing our New Authors Micro-Commission Recipients for 2025-26. Each artist will receive £2,000, studio time and producer support over the next month to progress their idea for a new performance project. They will also have the opportunity to present their research findings and pitch for further development to a panel of peers, industry and potential partners on 10th October at Circus City 2025.

The selection panel, which was made up of artists and representatives from Circus City, Cirkus Syd, Crying Out Loud, Lakeside Arts, Jacksons Lane, Take Art, The Lowry and Worthing Theatres, are excited by the potential of each project to create innovative new work.

Jade is on a stage wearing a grey cropped shirt and brown trousers. An axe is suspended in mid air above them and their arms are raised above their head. They have just thrown the wooden axe and are preparing to catch it as it falls towards them.

Photo credit: Paul Blakemore

Jade England–Johns

Jade England-Johns (they/she/he) is an award winning physical theatre, dance and circus artist who has been making thoughtful, playful and provocative work for nearly 20 years.

The Swing of the Axe will be an autobiographical journey of gender non-conformity, grief and parenthood told through dance-acrobatics, macabre stand up comedy and axe manipulation! Think lovingly held dead parent jokes and woodcutting in a ballgown…

“These stories are spilling out of me and I’m compelled to tell them. It brings me a very personal joy to begin this work and I’m stoked to have the chance to take this swing at it!”

The image is two pictures side by side. The one on the left is of Leela, she is wearing all black with red boots and lipstick. She is twirling a red microphone cord. The picture on the right is of Natalie. It is a black an white photo of her balancing on one hand, the other holding on to her leg which is open in a split position.

Photo credits: Leela Tinelli by Ali Jaffar / Natalie Reckert by Tim Booth

Natalie Reckert

Theatre and circus artists Natalie Reckert and Leela Tinelli have come together to create a site-specific performance blending singing, handbalancing, and natural elements—light, wind, and water. Designed to revive disused urban spaces, this performance aims to invite audiences to reconnect and see their environment anew. We want to create spaces to slow down, listen and inspire questions about how we want to live in our future cities and communities.

“I am delighted about this opportunity to push circus practice beyond traditional spaces, establishing contemporary circus as an important facilitator of communal experiences, where audiences can experience belonging and reflection.”

JD is in a dark room, mouth open reaching towards a light source, with his trousers down. There is a projection of a renaissance style painting, holding up a single finger, positioned to line up with JDs bottom.

Jean-Daniel Broussé

Jean-Daniel Broussé is a queer multidisciplinary artist whose work fuses circus, physical theatre, and storytelling. His new solo piece, [Insert Here], is a lecture-performance delving into the history, biology, and sociology of sodomy. Blending academic inquiry with clowning, physical risk, and sonic experimentation, the show is a bold, embodied exploration of what society represses—and what the body remembers.

“I’m thrilled to be selected for the New Authors commission. It’s an opportunity to deepen my research, work on a new circus discipline, and centre the expressive potential of the circus body.”

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New Authors is a UK network commission supporting innovation and research in contemporary circus, led by Circus City, in partnership with Cirkus Syd, Crying Out Loud, Jacksons Lane, Lakeside Arts, Take Art, The Lowry and Worthing Theatres and Museum, and supported by Arts Council England, West of England Combined Authority and The Garrick Charitable Trust.

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