Global hit Circus Extreme brings ‘Rock It Out!’ to Cork and Dublin
Laura Miller, aqua aerialist, featuring in Circus Extreme's ROCK IT OUT! — Curraheen Showgrounds, Cork, and Swords Pavilions Shopping Centre, Dublin.
Circus Extreme is coming to Ireland with its spectacular production ROCK IT OUT! — and for creative director Elaine Courtney and the many Irish people behind the show, the visits to Cork and Dublin represent a very special homecoming.
Don’t miss this spectacular show, running in Curraheen Showgrounds, Cork, from Friday, August 28, to Sunday, September 13; and in Swords Pavilions Shopping Centre, Dublin, from Wednesday, September 23, to Wednesday, October 14.
At the creative heart of Circus Extreme is Elaine Courtney, the show’s creative director and one of the key figures responsible for creating and developing the spectacular production audiences see today.
Born into the Irish circus tradition, Elaine grew up travelling with her family’s circus throughout Ireland. At just seven years old, she took her first flight on the flying trapeze while performing with a travelling circus show in Cork — an early milestone in a remarkable career that would eventually take her around the world.
Elaine’s connection with Dublin also stretches back to the early days of her career. In 1997, she made her stage debut playing the title role in Sleeping Beauty (Sort Of!) at Dublin’s famous Point Theatre. The large-scale pantomime featured some of the biggest names in Irish entertainment at the time, including Twink and Gerry Ryan, and gave Elaine an early opportunity to take her talents from the circus ring onto one of Ireland’s major stages.
It marked another important chapter in a career that had begun in the Irish travelling circus tradition and would later take her around the world. Almost three decades later, Elaine now returns to Dublin not as a young performer making her stage debut, but as the Creative Director behind Circus Extreme’s spectacular international production, ROCK IT OUT! — bringing her story full circle.
From those beginnings high above the circus ring in Ireland, Elaine’s career took her across Europe, North and South America, working with some of the biggest names in international circus, including Circus Tihany in South America and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey – The Greatest Show on Earth in the United States.
Over the years, Elaine’s work has evolved far beyond traditional circus. She has helped create large-scale productions incorporating motorcycles, monster trucks, fire, pyrotechnics, water tanks, spectacular special effects, live music, singers and rock bands.
That lifetime of experience — from taking her first flight on the trapeze as a seven-year-old in Ireland to creating spectacular productions around the world — has now come together in Circus Extreme’s ROCK IT OUT!
And now, after years of travelling, performing and creating shows internationally, Elaine is bringing Circus Extreme home to Ireland.
ROCK IT OUT! brings together three worlds in one huge production — a live rock concert, world-class circus and an extreme stunt show.
Audiences can expect flying and backflipping motorcycles, breathtaking aerial performances, extreme stunts, fire, water, pyrotechnics and spectacular special effects, while a live rock band, singers and musicians perform throughout the show.
It is fast, spectacular and unpredictable — a 21st-century circus experience designed to keep audiences on the edge of their seats, wondering what could possibly happen next.
The production represents the evolution of circus entertainment that Elaine has witnessed throughout her life — taking the traditions she grew up with in Ireland and combining them with contemporary performance, technology, music and some of the most spectacular stunt disciplines in the world.
Elaine is far from the only Irish connection to Circus Extreme.
There are many Irish people involved throughout the company, both in front of the audience and behind the scenes, travelling together as Circus Extreme moves from city to city and country to country across Europe.
For Elaine, it means that even when the company is thousands of miles from Ireland, there has always been a little piece of home travelling with her.
Now that travelling family is preparing to bring the production back to Ireland, with performances in Cork and Dublin.
For Elaine, the Cork dates hold an additional personal connection. It was in Cork, at just seven years old, that she first experienced the thrill of taking flight on the trapeze — one of the earliest moments in a circus career that would ultimately take her around the world.
Elaine Courtney said: “There are so many Irish people involved with Circus Extreme that when we’re travelling across Europe, sometimes it feels like we’re working from home anyway.
“Circus has always evolved, and that’s something I’ve seen throughout my life. ROCK IT OUT! takes that evolution even further. We’ve brought together the excitement of world-class circus, the adrenaline of an extreme stunt show and the atmosphere of a live rock concert.
“I’ve spent so much of my life travelling, performing and creating productions around the world, but Ireland is home and it’s where everything started for me.
“I still remember taking my first flight on the trapeze when I was just seven years old, performing with a travelling circus in Cork. That was one of the very first steps in a journey that has taken me all over the world.
“To now return to Ireland with ROCK IT OUT! is incredibly special. It really does feel like a homecoming, not only for me but for all of the Irish people who are part of Circus Extreme.
“To bring the show to Cork and Dublin is something I’m incredibly proud of. We’re bringing the show home, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the reaction from Irish audiences to what is a truly world-class production.”
For Elaine and the many Irish members of the Circus Extreme company, Cork and Dublin will therefore be much more than simply the next stops on an international tour.
For Elaine personally, it is a journey that has come full circle — from growing up in the Irish circus tradition and taking her first flight on the trapeze in Cork at the age of seven, to travelling the world and ultimately helping create the spectacular international production she is now bringing back home to Ireland.
After years of travelling the world, Circus Extreme is coming home.
Circus Extreme – Rock It Out! – Ireland 2026:
- Curraheen Showgrounds – Home of the Cork Summer Show
- Friday, August 28, to Sunday, September 13, 2026
- Swords Pavilions Shopping Centre
- Wednesday, September 23, to Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Tickets, show times and full performance information:
