The Danish Circus Award was established in 1957. In
1958 the award was given to Albert Schumann and in 1959 to Eli Benneweis.
There was no prize-giving from 1959 to 2015.
In 2016 The Danish Circus Friends Association took
jointly with the Circus House Museum Association (support group for Circus
Museum in Rold), a group of former artists and persons with special interest in
circus initiative to reestablish the Danish Circus Award.
"A great initiative that we are very happy
about," says Martin Arli, who is president of the association of Danish
circus directors.
The Danish Circus Award is headed by a board of three
or four members who also selects the award winners. For the time being the
board consists of Ole Simonsen (Chairman), Niels Chr. Hansen, Jan Hertz and
Anne Liisberg.
Ole Simonsen is born in
1945. Master of Laws from the University of Copenhagen 1970. Until retirement
in 2010 employed as senior vice president in legal department of Privatbanken /
Unibank / Nordea. 2011- 2015 artistic advisor to Circus Benneweis. Former
Deputy chairman of the Association of Danish Circus Friends.
Niels Christian Hansen was born in 1950
and educated as teacher. From 1975 to 2012 he was employed as a school teacher
in Arden municipality/Mariagerfjord municipality. Right from childhood, he has
been fascinated by the circus. Chairman of the board of the Circus Museum Association
in Rold.
Jan Hertz is born in 1949.
He is an actor, director, stage artist and former theater manager and
entertainment manager in Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens. In the circus context, he
put for several years the performances on stage for Circus Benneweis. He was
for 15 years a member of the jury behind the Danish theater award the Reumert.
Anne Liisberg is journalistic
editor-in-chief at ISCENE. Subject manager lex.dk. Jury member of Revyernes
revy and the comedy festival UP. Board member of the Association of Danish
Theatre Journalists. Master of Art in Danish & Dramaturgy. Previously,
among other things, a regular reviewer at Teater 1 from 2011-2016 and at
Berlingske from 2016-2019.
Since 2016 prize-giving have taken place every year in
August with participation of the Danish Minister of Culture. However, due to
the corona, not in 2020 and 2021
There are 3 awards:
From 2017 there has been an additional award, an
effort award, to the politician or public person who has done the most for
Danish circuses in the past year.
Click here to read the history of the award and
the names of the award recipients. The Wikipedia text is written by the Danish
Circus Award.