Victoria circus blends art with ocean science to address climate change

Victoria circus blends art with ocean science to address climate change

Published 5:00 pm Monday, May 4, 2026

Circus and climate change are two words from different spheres. Island Circus Space is bringing the two worlds together, organizing Entanglements, a circus show that talks about how climate change is affecting marine life in the ocean around us.

Island Circus Space performer and climate scientist Ruth Digby told Victoria News that a group of marine scientists from a number of different local research institutes and artists are volunteering their time to create the story for the performance.

Entanglements is based around deoxygenation, where oxygen levels reduce in Barkley Canyon around Vancouver Island as a result of climate change.

The idea for this innovative concert came to life as a joke, Digby explained. She and philosopher Audrey Yap were fooling around in the air during circus practices when someone commented that they looked like seaweed. The duo thought that it was a brilliant idea to organize an entire show about different aspects of the ocean and marine organisms.

“Climate change is having such incredibly profound impacts on environments that are so important to us and so important to other organisms, other non-human entities. And that ecological anxiety and that ecological grief can be crushing. And one of the best ways that I think either of us know of to interface with these things is to express your pain through art,” Digby added.

Then they started working on the project and explored themes like resilience and hope through their artistic practice.

The show will also mark the opening of Island Circus Space’s new studio in Esquimalt at 903 Devonshire Rd. The new space will be primarily used for kids’ programming and their usual programming.

“It wasn’t planned that way, but it’s a very happy coincidence of timing. So Island Circus Space has been a growing community over the last number of years, and we’re really outgrowing our existing studio.”

Proceeds from ticket sales will go to support local Indigenous land stewardship organizations.

The show will be held on June 6 at 2:30 and 6 p.m., and on June 7, at 2:30 p.m., at Island Circus Esquimalt, 903 Devonshire Rd.

Digby said that this family-friendly event is open to audiences of all ages, although it deals with serious but timely themes.

“We do try to end on a little bit of a more hopeful note, so it shouldn’t be too dark.”