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In the year 2000, Alex Frith and Lucy Francis met as performers in the groundbreaking spectacle of the Millennium Dome Show. At the same time, Nik Litton was a student on the first ever circus degree course at the National Centre of Circus Arts (formerly The Circus Space) in Hoxton, and Moira Campbell was running evening static trapeze classes at Jackson’s Lane theatre.
In April 2002, Alex & Nik set up a live/work space called The Hangar, which quickly and organically developed into a vibrant circus hub. It became a place where shows could be rehearsed and like-minded circus practitioners could meet and live!
Not only was the Hangar home to the newly created AirCraft Circus (because Aircraft live in a Hangar!), but it was used regularly by many luminary circus and production companies: ENO, Royal Opera, BBC, SKY, Lord of the Rings, Heir of Insanity, Cardboard Citizens, Physicality, Blue Eyed Soul, etc. All the founder members of the award-winning Ockham’s Razor also lived there between 2005 and 2007, using the space and Alex & Nik’s rigging expertise to develop new show concepts.
Meanwhile, Aircraft Circus—initially a performing and children’s entertainment company—morphed into adult circus classes and special effect theatre and TV rigging. Over the next 5 years, the Hangar continued to grow and became a well-known circus school in London. However, in 2007 they were evicted from their space in order to make way for London 2012 Olympic development.
In 2007, AirCraft Circus moved into a new building named ‘Hangar Arts Trust’ which was set up as a charity with the help and expertise of local legal structures expert Katharine Ford. Lucy Francis and Moira Campbell joined AirCraft Circus to help run the business.
The new school in Harrington Way was very quickly established as one of the most comprehensive circus school offerings in London and the UK, despite a desperate lack of the funding required to transform the tatty warehouse which was now their home! Nevertheless, over the next 10 years, Hangar Arts Trust hosted 120,000 visitors, as AirCraft Circus delivered over 7,000 classes in over 15 circus disciplines for Adults, Children (4-17yrs), and Professionals. Between 2012 and 2015, they partnered with Greenwich Mencap to deliver outreach workshops for people with learning difficulties and visual impairments.
Aircraft/Hangar Arts Trust maintained its commitment to the performing arts by hosting the rehearsal or R&D phase of over 300 productions over the 10 years of its lease. The first space hire was a “Zorro” R&D session in September 2007, and the last was Peter Pan Goes Wrong up to December 31, 2017. HAT housed the corpses of over 35 previously-funded productions and large sculptural pieces like Upswing’s birdcage and globe. HAT was also home to Gorilla Circus’ winter flying trapeze school.
Alongside the school, AirCraft Circus gained expertise in special effects rigging for theatre and TV. With an in-depth understanding of both circus physicality and technical rigging, AirCraft Circus consulted on 7 different productions of Peter Pan, created special effects for many West End Shows (Matilda, Ghost, Lord of the Rings, The Play That Goes Wrong), music videos, Operas, and festivals.
AirCraft Circus also set up a professional circus company to provide shows, acts, and circus entertainment. Productions included Madame Pain’s Boudoir Circus, Shipwreck Circus, Midnight Circus, and Sizzling Hot Circus. We also performed at Secret Cinema Moulin Rouge 2017, flew off the ArcelorMittal Orbit for the Grand Opening in 2014, performed at the MTV EMA Awards 2012, and were flying dementors and Mary Poppins’ Aerialists at the London 2012 Olympics.
At the end of the 10-year lease of the Hangar Arts Trust (Dec 2017), it was time for Alex Frith and Moira Campbell to move on to pastures new in Australia, and Katharine Ford moved over to the cinema museum. Due to a significant lack of funding, The Hangar Arts Trust was closed down.
With 3 of the core team now gone, there was just Lucy Francis and Nik Litton, a husband and wife team left. They decided to move into a smaller space in order to continue running the school and keep the magic of circus alive in the community with their shows and productions.
In June 2018, the new school was created and AirCraft Circus Academy was launched. They believe that anybody can learn circus skills no matter what age or fitness level. It’s an exciting way to work on your strength, flexibility, and fitness whilst feeding your creativity.