Go back OPEN CALL: Creative Rigging Workshop with Saar Rombout (28.09.–02.10.)
04.09.2025.
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:
In this 5-day intensive workshop, circus artist and rigger Saar Rombout will share her extensive experience in technical and artistic rigging practices to support participants in building a solid foundation for safe and creative exploration.
The first two days will focus on theoretical and practical rigging knowledge from different industries, including equipment, knots, rope types, pulley systems, force calculations, and risk assessments. From there, the workshop will move into creative rigging—teaching safe and thoughtful methods to develop and prototype the participant’s own rigging-based concepts using model-making, tension-based systems (like tensegrity), and force testing.
Participants will gain tools to evaluate and design rigging systems, understand the relationship between artists and riggers, and explore how rigging can be a vital part of the creative process.
DATES: September 28–October 2, 2025 (Sunday–Thursday)
TIME: Daily from 10:00 to 18:00, including a lunch break
LOCATION: Rīgas cirks (Merķeļa iela 4, Rīga, LV-1050)
LANGUAGE: English
PARTICIPATION CO-PAYMENT: 150 EUR*
APPLICATION DEADLINE: September 11, 2025, at 23:59
Selected participants will be notified by September 12, 2025.
* With the financial support of the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, the workshop fee is fully covered by Rīgas cirks. However, participants are asked to contribute a co-payment to cover lunches, coffee, equipment, and other materials.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS:
Participants should have prior experience in circus, aerial arts, or related fields such as stage production. While the workshop does not require advanced rigging skills, basic familiarity with rigging contexts and physical ability to handle equipment (e.g., lifting gear, climbing ladders) is expected. An interest in both the technical and creative aspects of rigging is essential, as the workshop includes conceptual development, model-making, and collaborative experimentation. Participants should be open to exploring rigging as part of an artistic process, not just as technical support. A basic understanding of knots, pulley systems, or mechanical principles is helpful but not mandatory.
ABOUT SAAR ROMBOUT:
Saar Rombout is a circus artist specializing in Rope Design, creating installations that shape her movement and explore the dialogue between body and material. Trained at ACaPA in the Netherlands and got a Masters degree in Contemporary Circus Practices at SKH in Stockholm (formerly know as DOCH). Saar also developed a deep interest in rigging during her studies and continued to expand her knowledge through internships and courses in rescue, stunt, and entertainment rigging. Since 2012, she has worked as both a performer and rigger, currently designing for Circus Days and Nights by Cirkus Cirkör and Malmö Opera. She teaches rigging extensively—leading the 6-month “Introduction to Rigging within Circus” course at SKH Circus in Stockholm, as well as teaching at Codarts in Rotterdam and to Dutch youth circus trainers. Saar has also taught creative rigging at BA and MA levels, summer intensives, and served as an external evaluator for a FEDEC exchange project with riggers from European and Canadian circus schools. Her Rope Design practice centers on cotton rope installations that invite reflection on movement, memory, and perception through play, improvisation, and an ongoing dialogue with materials.
https://www.saarrombout.com
