Based on the request of the Circus Artists Union in 2019, a participatory research team was formed that, in two years of joint work, managed to incorporate the Traditional Circus in Chile into the Registry of Cultural and Intangible Heritage. The circus in Chile is a bicentennial institution that brings together 150 circuses and more than 1,500 performers. His existence exceeds national borders in the same way his acrobatics defy gravity. In this research, the contradictions between the normative system and popular practice were highlighted, demonstrating that the flexibility of the circus was able to overcome the barriers imposed by categories and institutional language. How he achieved it is the subject of this presentation.