Cirque du Soleil

(French for "Circus of the Sun", in English pronounced /sɜrk duː soʊˈleɪ/) is an entertainment empire based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada located in Saint-Michel, and founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy Laliberté and Daniel Gauthier.

Initially named Les Échassiers they toured Quebec in 1980 as a performing troupe and encountered financial hardship that was relieved by a government grant in 1983 as part of 450th celebrations of Jacques Cartier's discovery of Canada. Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil was a success in 1984 and after securing a second year of funding Laliberté hired Guy Caron from the National Circus School to recreate it as a "proper circus". No ring and no animals helped make Cirque du Soleil the modern circus ("Cirque Nouveau" / New Circus) that it is today. Each show is a synthesis of circus styles from around the world and has its own central theme and storyline which brings the audience into the performance by having no curtains, continuous live music and performers change the props. After critical and financial successes (Los Angeles Arts Festival) and failures in the late 1980s, Nouvelle Expérience was created with the direction of Franco Dragone that not only made Cirque profitable by 1990 but allowed it to create new shows.

Big Apple Circus

The Big Apple Circus is a circus that is located in New York City. Opened in 1977, it has become a tourist attraction as well.

Ringling Brothers Circus

The Ringling Brothers Circus was a circus founded in the United States in 1884. Ringling Brothers Circus eventually joined with the Barnum & Bailey Circus to become "Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, the Greatest Show on Earth".

Circus Smirkus

Circus Smirkus is a non-profit, award-winning, international youth circus founded in 1987 by artistic director Rob Mermin. Based in Greensboro, Vermont, the mission of Circus Smirkus is to promote the circus skills, culture and traditions of the traveling circus and to inspire youth to engage in life-changing adventures in the circus arts.

Circus of Pepin and Breschard

The equestrian theatre company of Pépin and Breschard arrived in the United States of America from Madrid, Spain (where they had performed during the 1805 and 1806 seasons), in November of 1807. They toured that new country until 1815. From their arrival until the present day, what is now known as the traditional circus has had a presence in North America.

Circus Joseph Ashton
 

Ashton's Circus is the longest surviving circus in Australia, pre-dating most others in the English-speaking world. The circus was founded in Launceston, Tasmania, in February 1851 by James Henry Ashton, a man schooled in the tradition of English circus and and who had experience the hard times of the C19.

When founder James Henry Ashton died in 1889, his son Fred, then aged 22, inherited the circus. The circus continued to be handed down throughout the family and today it is run by the 6th generation of Ashtons, Michelle and Joseph and their sons Jordan and Merrik.

Circus Joseph Ashton travels mainly in South Australia and Western Australia.

Circus Oz.

Circus Oz is Australia's premier contemporary circus, an Australian circus group that was founded in 1978 through the amalgamation of two groups: Soapbox Circus and New Circus.

Pickle Family Circus

The Pickle Family Circus was a small circus founded in 1975 in San Francisco, California, USA. The circus formed an important part of the renewal of the American circus. They also influenced the creation of Cirque du Soleil in Montreal. Neither circus feature animals or use the three-ring layout like the traditional circus.