Wolfgang Hoffmann – Artist, Networker, Crosser of Frontiers

Wolfgang Hoffmann and his agency Aurora Nova are today leaders in the international marketing of new forms of circus.(c) Jim Croft

Wolfgang Hoffmann, founder of the agency Aurora Nova, is one of the central figures in the international marketing of innovative circus and performance forms. His path to this point has been marked by disruptions, new beginnings, and a tireless curiosity for new artistic forms of expression – a path that has led the trained toolmaker from the East German independent dance scene to the world's major festivals.

Born and raised in the GDR, Wolfgang Hoffmann initially aspired to an acting career in vain. After his time in the army, he immersed himself in Potsdam's alternative cultural scene. Without formal dance training, but with a strong desire for expression, he discovered his language in dance – particularly in contact improvisation. This acrobatic-like form of dance is about giving weight to one another in interaction, accepting each other, and allowing oneself to be guided in a direction that is never 100% predictable. "I found this kind of communication, which is simultaneous giving and receiving, speaking and listening, fantastic," he recalls. This fascination would shape his future career.

With the fall of the Berlin Wall, new freedom arose. Wolfgang Hoffmann and his colleagues occupied an old factory in Potsdam, founded a dance center, organized concerts, and ultimately created the "Potsdamer Tanztage" festival, which still exists today. This do-it-yourself culture, the openness to new forms, and the collaboration with international artists laid the foundation for Wolfgang Hoffmann's subsequent work.

Wolfgang Hoffmann during is time as performer

This was followed by his first own dance pieces, with which he and his collective initially toured Eastern Europe. In St. Petersburg, they met a group of highly talented expressive dancers with whom they created a piece together. This would lead to their breakthrough in Edinburgh in 1998. The production received considerable attention at the famous Fringe Festival. But Hoffmann quickly recognized the downsides of this platform: the immense financial risk for artists, the uncertainty of success. His answer: Aurora Nova – an alternative festival model within the Fringe, in which groups supported each other, shared revenue, and jointly built an audience. The name, an ironic reference to the battleship "Aurora," from which the first shot was fired during the October Revolution, was a programmatic one: the idea was not just to revolutionize the way shows were presented in Edinburgh. Over the next seven years, the content also repeatedly brought innovative works from all over the world to Finge.

Aurora Nova quickly became a talent factory for groups that oscillated between dance, theater, acrobatics, and performance. Wolfgang Hoffmann brought acts to the stage that were previously unimaginable to British audiences. "I have no idea what I just saw or how to classify it, but somehow it was brilliant," he says, summing up the mood he created with the audience. His search for ever new, cross-genre performances coincided with the emergence of new forms of circus. Yet Wolfgang Hoffmann avoided labelling the art he presented. Perhaps a recipe for success: both circus and physical theatre had a rather poor reputation in Great Britain at the time.

Early recognition in Edinburgh - receiving "The Scotsman Fringe First Awards"

His career took him to Dublin, where he quickly realized the challenges he faced. His predecessor had given the festival a strong international focus, and he himself was chosen for the job because of his reputation for finding interesting international productions, but without any knowledge of Irish theater. However, he discovered that audiences only went to shows by local artists. "The average ticket sales in the small venues there were seven tickets per show," he recalls. "If I were to bring the groups I had presented in Edinburgh to Dublin, I wouldn't have any friends after the first season." The solution to the dilemma came from "Le Clique," an Australian group that offered a wild cabaret program that reminded him of the "Midnight Variety" at Berlin's Chamäleon in the early 1990s. Their show, which played with role models, included plenty of comedy, and was presented in the Spiegelzelt (mirror tent), was a hit. "It opened up the festival enormously to the outside world," Wolfgang Hoffmann reflects.

After four years in Dublin, Wolfgang Hoffmann returned to Berlin and was hired by Circle of Eleven, the Chameleon Theater's production company at the time, originally for international expertise. He quickly realized that director Volker Brummer, above all, needed someone for sales to market productions like Leo internationally. So, Wolfgang Hoffmann slipped from his artistic work as a curator into the role of salesperson for the first time.

The next turning point came with the birth of his twin sons: During his parental leave, Circle of Eleven ceased operations, and he suddenly found himself without a job. He decided to take a risk: He kept his office in the Hackesche Höfe in Berlin Mitte – from then on, he became his own boss of the newly founded agency under the familiar name "Aurora Nova."

His qualities as a self-taught and generalist turned out to be helpful when he embarked on his own venture: "I've always seen myself as an artist, but also as a jack of all trades," he explains. "I always taught myself everything by learning by doing." Even during his time as an artist, he described himself as someone with "a little bit of knowledge about everything," which certainly fueled self-doubt. But if one were looking for the recipe for success in the life of what is now arguably the most renowned agent for contemporary circus, then perhaps it is the ability to transform self-doubt into success. It begins with the risky step of going to Edinburgh as a young, still unknown artist. "It also has to do with the fact that I felt I needed the audience's validation (...) Instead of constantly receiving money from the state to be allowed to create a new piece, I preferred people to pay to see the show," he explains of the decision.

Self-doubt also accompanied his first steps into the agency business. While as a festival director he had been welcomed with open arms everywhere, he now had to buy every show ticket himself, and his encounters became more distant. Added to this was the economic challenge: "As an agent, you get paid two years after you've done the work."

A Simple Space, the first show of the company Gravity & Other Myths (c) Steve Ullathorn

But success soon followed, and Wolfgang Hoffmann landed his agency's first major coup: He discovered the then-completely unknown Australian company "Gravity & Other Myths" at the Edinburgh Fringe with their show "A Simple Space." It's still running successfully today – currently just a few meters away from where we spoke at the Chamäleon Berlin. "I was completely thrilled," he recalls of the early days when he first saw the young artists. That same evening, he offered to represent them – an offer they immediately accepted. Within a few days, Hoffmann organized a 100-day tour – a remarkable achievement, especially for such a young company. "It wasn't particularly well-paid, but it was a really solid tour," he says, looking back with some pride. His extensive network from his time as an artist and festival director helped him in this.

Hoffmann's selection criteria for new productions are primarily based on a simple but effective principle: "If I watch with my heart and am enthusiastic, then I know I can represent it well." There are also many pragmatic elements that influence whether a show is suitable for touring. However, Wolfgang Hoffmann has become more self-confident in his selection over the years: "Funnily enough, especially at the beginning, I often made decisions where I thought, 'I may not love it 100 percent, but it will sell well,' and those things usually didn't work out." Productions that initially seemed unrealistic, on the other hand, developed surprisingly well. The most recent example of his success in spotting new trends and talent is the Canadian company "People Watching," which we previously reported on here in the blog. The young collective was recommended to him by colleague David Dimitri, who saw the premiere of "Play Dead." Aurora Nova signed the show after viewing the video, which is a great exception, and presented it at the Festival Montréal Complètement Cirque in 2024.

Unlike traditional agencies, Aurora Nova sees itself as a kind of "boutique agency." The focus is on individual shows – not on establishing exclusive artist contracts. "We represent artists for as long as it feels right for both sides," he explains. "We empower our artists to build their own networks so that – if their next work doesn't convince us – they can continue their distribution themselves." This structure allows for maximum flexibility – for both sides. "We work completely transparently and don't demand participation in follow-up projects just because we've made a deal once," says Wolfgang Hoffmann. This open and fair approach has made him very popular in the scene – not least among artists.

When asked whether he'd be interested in establishing his own events, Wolfgang Hoffmann waves it off. "I sit in on events too often that don't excite me – and they're sold out," he says. Trusting his own taste so much that he would sell tickets and bear the full risk isn't his thing. What always drives him, however, is the search for art that offers broad access without sacrificing quality and sophistication – a range of requirements that fits well with several productions of modern circus forms.

Together with his colleagues, Wolfgang Hoffmann shapes the theater, dance, and circus landscape today. He builds bridges between artists and promoters and has retained the enthusiasm that once brought him into the cultural sphere. And his success demonstrates that this genuine enthusiasm is the best compass.