Circus Activities Research Articles

“I Feel Seen”: Creating Safe Spaces to Foster Self-Understanding and Agential Expression Among Youth Through Social Circus

Social circus refers to programs that use circus arts to facilitate social intervention with people experiencing marginalization. Although some programs focus specifically on youth, little is known about how they are impacted by their participation. We examined the experiences of youth participating in a four-day social circus event. Four themes were identified that characterized participants’ experiences: (a) creating a safe social space; (b) enriching your self-understanding; (c) bolstering your expressive capacities; and (d) experiencing the world around you. This research highlights how social circus activities can create safe and enriching social spaces that are adapted to the experiences of youth.

Mapping the circus activities teaching in the school context: schools, teachers and pedagogical practices

RESUMO Este estudo investigou o ensino das atividades circenses em escolas brasileiras, com foco no perfil das escolas, docentes e suas práticas pedagógicas. Utilizando um questionário online e combinando o método “bola de neve” e a busca ativa de participantes, a pesquisa envolveu 82 professores de todas as regiões. Os resultados destacam que o ensino de circo prevalece nos anos iniciais do Ensino Fundamental, integrado à disciplina de Educação Física principalmente nas escolas públicas e como atividade extracurricular nas privadas. Desafios como falta de infraestrutura, turmas numerosas e escassa formação nessa temática foram destacados. A pesquisa corrobora o fortalecimento dessa atividade no âmbito escolar e sugere a necessidade de mais formação e suporte aos professores.

European Youth and Social Circus Pedagogy and the Promotion of Social Well-being

This article explores how youth and social circus (ysc) aims to promote social well-being through the examination of educational initiatives funded by the EU to standardise pedagogical approaches in the European sector. Ysc refers to programs offering circus activities with the goal of personal and community development, mental and social well-being, and social change, rather than the training of professional artists. To address concerns around the term well-being and how it has been interpreted to further a neoliberal ideological position, the term social well-being is employed and qualified in relation to the work of Corey Lee M. Keyes (1998). Three aspects of Keyes model of social well-being (social integration, social contribution and social acceptance) are engaged to analyse the guidebook for trainers used as part of Circus Transformation (CTF), one of the best-known ysc trainers programmes in Europe since 2011 and the handbook produced as an output of the Circus as Intercultural Encounter (CIE) project 2022, which sought to develop the intercultural competences of circus trainers and organisations. The concluding section considers how these publications reveal some pitfalls in the developing discourse on ysc but mostly offer a model of social well-being wary of and resistant to neoliberal individualism.

Physics teaching via dialogic discussions about circus activities

Circus art excites amazes and delights. Most of circus genres are based on the principles of classical physics. Dialogic discussions are known as an instrument to identify conceptual barriers (misconceptions) and facilitate their further revision. The present study integrates the three worlds: physics education, dialogic teaching and circus art; and provides a research foundation for experiential physics teaching through dialogic discussions about circus tricks (DDCT) in formal and informal setups. It aims at examining the potential of DDCT as a tool for identifying misconceptions and facilitating conceptual change regarding physics concepts. The study encircles about 40 DDCT provided in the Israeli KESHET circus. In total, about 5,500 people watched the shows. From them, about 400 actively participated in the DDCT. We analyze in details four typical DDCT relating (a) circular motion, (b) moment of inertia, (c) torque, and (d) heat transfer. For each DDCT we demonstrate the way it pinpoints participants’ knowledge and its implementation in circus devices’ analysis. Further we examine whether and how the DDCT could facilitate developing physics knowledge and/or going through a meaningful conceptual change regarding each of these concepts. Due to our results DDCT seems to be an original and promising approach to bring advanced physics ideas to the general public, in ways that are interesting, experiential and relatively easy to understand. We finish with practical recommendations for physics educators (as well as circus artists) who would like to implement DDCT in their classes (shows).

Circus Activities as a Health Intervention for Children, Youth, and Adolescents: A Scoping Review.

Circus activities are emerging as an engaging and unique health intervention. This scoping review summarises the evidence on this topic for children and young people aged up to 24 years to map (a) participant characteristics, (b) intervention characteristics, (c) health and wellbeing outcomes, and (d) to identify evidence gaps. Using scoping review methodology, a systematic search of five databases and Google Scholar was conducted up to August 2022 for peer-reviewed and grey literature. Fifty-seven of 897 sources of evidence were included (42 unique interventions). Most interventions were undertaken with school-aged participants; however, four studies included participants with age ranges over 15 years. Interventions targeted both general populations and those with defined biopsychosocial challenges (e.g., cerebral palsy, mental illness, or homelessness). Most interventions utilised three or more circus disciplines and were undertaken in naturalistic leisure settings. Dosage could be calculated for 15 of the 42 interventions (range one-96 h). Improvements in physical and/or social-emotional outcomes were reported for all studies. There is emerging evidence of positive health outcomes resulting from circus activities used in general populations and those with defined biopsychosocial challenges. Future research should focus on detailed reporting of intervention elements and increasing the evidence base in preschool-aged children and within populations with the greatest need.

Something Beautiful and Powerful: Politics, Art, and Bread and Puppet Theater

Something Beautiful and Powerful: Politics, Art, and Bread and Puppet Theater

“We are a unique breed”: strategies to enhance physical activity participation for preschool-aged children born extremely preterm, a mixed-methods study

Purpose Preschool-aged children (three to five years old) born preterm participate in less physical activity (PA) than term-born children. Circus activities (a type of recreational PA) are a potential avenue to increase PA rates, but further insight into how to tailor these to address the participation gap is needed. This study investigated barriers and facilitators informing participation in recreational PA for preschool-aged children born extremely preterm and explored strategies to enhance participation in circus activities. Materials and methods Sequential mixed-methods study utilizing surveys (n = 217), interviews (n = 43), and a focus group (n = 6) with key stakeholder groups (parents, coaches, and clinicians). Qualitative data (Framework Method) and quantitative data (descriptive statistics) were mixed during preliminary and final analyses. Results Five themes were developed from the mixed data: the crucial role of the coach and the need for specific training, the therapeutic role of PA and promoting outcomes beyond the physical, the impact of communication and class planning, consideration of convenience and cost, and finally, the role of clinicians. Conclusions Barriers, facilitators, and strategies were identified which may be used to modify or co-design circus-based PA interventions to enhance participation and improve rates of PA for preschool-aged children born extremely preterm. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Families consider recreational physical activities to be part of the therapeutic agenda for their preschool-aged children born extremely preterm. Key stakeholders feel that recreational physical activity should target outcomes beyond the physical. Coach attributes and capability impact participation of children born preterm and their families, and may be enhanced with specific training. Clinicians should be engaged in design of recreational physical activities for children born preterm.

“It’s fun but at the same time difficult”: Experiences of and perspectives on children’s participation in decision-making processes in Physical Education and Health

Swedish compulsory school education rests upon the foundation of democracy, and the Curriculum for the compulsory school, preschool class and school-age educare 2011 (Skolverket, 2018) stresses that children should have the opportunity to take initiatives. Research shows that children are not able to have any influence on activities in Physical Education and Health (PEH). Usually, they have to follow the teacher’s instructions and reproduce specific movement patterns. This article discusses a research project that challenged traditional ways of teaching PEH, in order to give 10-year-old children the opportunity to have an influence on PEH. The project involved 10 circus lessons in which the children were encouraged to explore movement and put their own ideas into practice. In terms of theory, the approach is based on Hart’s (1997) Ladder of Children’s Participation. Data were collected through participant observations, video observations, interviews, and a field diary. The results show that the children participated in varying degrees and experienced attempts to increase their influence in different ways: Some found it fun and free, while others found it difficult and boring. One important conclusion is that influence and participation need to be practised – both by children and by teachers. Circus activities, because of the playfulness and creativity involved, may be very suited to practising influence and participation.

Bruno Schulz i cyrk. Obrazy, metafory (auto)identyfikacje

The article is an attempt at analyzing the circus motifs in the work of Bruno Schulz. The first part is about circus activities during the life of Schulz, that he could see or hear about. His biographical experiences and also the influences of other artists made that he alluded to the circus in his work. He recalls in his novels famous characters associated with circus such as Bosco the magician, famous director of the American circus of curiosities, Barnum. He alludes to the events that actually took place – the arrival of the Panopticon in Drohobycz in 1913. In his stories and letters he uses circus metaphors. In prose, graphics and drawings there are figures of circus performers, clowns, freaks. He identified himself with Pierrot in his self-portraits. Not only Schulz perceived himself in this role –apparently Witkacy was supposed to paint a portrait of him in a Pierrot costume.

Experiences of Student Circus Arts Performers Undertaking a Shoulder Rehabilitation Program Via Telehealth Consultation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

To explore the subjective experiences of student circus arts performers with atraumatic shoulder instability undertaking a 12-week shoulder rehabilitation program during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, in Melbourne, Australia. Using a qualitative design, 14 circus arts students from the National Institute of Circus Arts (Australia) were individually interviewed via teleconsultation. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Five overarching themes were identified: (i) impact (physical and mental), (ii) opportunity, (iii) developing routine, (iv) client-therapist relationship, and (v) transformation. All participants reported positive physical changes to their shoulder including increases in strength, stability, range of motion, less pain, "clicking" and "clunking," improved posture, muscle memory, as well as carry-over to functional circus activities. The pandemic's mental impact varied across the cohort, with positive and negative experiences described in relation to cognitive, social, and affective factors. Most performers felt the pandemic provided an opportunity to focus on rehabilitation of their shoulder. The program effects were also underpinned by positive client-therapist relationships and a progressive transformation of learning where students gained knowledge of their condition, developed tools to manage their current shoulder impairment, and learned how to apply this new knowledge to future management of their condition. A shoulder exercise intervention delivered via teleconsultation during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in subjective reports of positive physical changes to the participants' shoulder health complaint. This was facilitated through client-physiotherapist relationships, providing structure during uncertain times, and by providing education to help in understanding their condition and its future management.

Social circus in aerials: Female experience, muscularity, pain and trust

Women are often asked to conform to a rigid set of heteronormative ideas of femininity within a culture that values women based on appearance. Historically, the female aerialist’s muscularity challenged traditional stereotypes of female inferiority, displaying nuanced representations of femininity. Current research in social circus indicates that participation in circus activities can increase participants’ self-confidence and self-belief. This participant-based research explores a group of eighteen to thirty-five-year-old women’s experience of learning and performing aerial circus skills integrated with training in digital media production within a social circus context. As a circus performer and instructor this research emerged from over ten years of practitioner experience. The central aim of the article is to explore participants’ experiences of aerial circus training with a focus on strength, muscularity, pain and bodily markings as having the potential to challenge traditional notions of femininity, and ideas of embodied trust and capacity as a result of developing an informed relationship with one’s body. The article draws on participants’ voices and experiences based on observation and interviews. The findings add to our understanding of female experience of social aerial circus. Participants spoke of increased self-confidence as a result of what their body can achieve as opposed to focussing on self-perceived lacks. Working within participants’ concept of empowerment, aerial circus training offered participants a notional form of liberation, where through physical practice they were able to explore changing gender roles and embody ideas of self-reliance.

Circus activities as a health intervention for children, youths, and adolescents: a scoping review protocol.

This scoping review aims to map the evidence on circus activities described and/or evaluated as a health intervention for children, youths, and adolescents. Increased understanding of how these interventions work, and gaps identified, will allow researchers and practitioners to advance the science behind these approaches. Circus activities are proposed in the literature as a health intervention, due to their variety, non-competitive nature, and potential to develop fundamental physical and social skills. For the purposes of this review, circus activities as a health intervention are defined as aerial, acrobatic, equilibristic, and manipulation skills taught to participants to maintain, improve, or modify health, functioning, or health conditions. English-language evidence will be considered where circus activities as a health intervention are described and/or evaluated for participants up to 24 years of age, or who are defined as children, youths, or adolescents. Literature will be excluded where the focus of the intervention is clowning, magic, or drama games, or where circus activities are not the therapeutic part of the activity. MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL Complete (EBSCO), Scopus (Elsevier), PsycINFO (Ovid), ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, and Google Scholar will be searched for peer-reviewed and gray literature. No restriction on dates, type, methodology, or setting will be imposed, but limits will include "human" and "English language." Screening and data extraction will be performed by two independent reviewers. Reference lists of included sources will be screened. Results will be presented in diagrammatic or tabular format, alongside a narrative description, under headings aligning with the research sub-questions.

Experimentando as atividades circenses e ressignificando as relações sociais na escola

O objetivo desse estudo é analisar as potencialidades das atividades circenses na ressignificação das relações interpessoais no cotidiano escolar, encorajadas pela ampliação artística e afetiva ao longo do processo de ensino e aprendizagem dessa prática corporal. O processo foi desenvolvido durante um semestre letivo, em uma escola pública (municipal) da cidade de Bauru-SP, com participação de 28 crianças de uma turma de 5º ano do Ensino Fundamental. A análise dos dados, fundamentada na análise de conteúdo, evidenciou três categorias correspondentes às práticas corporais, às experiências estéticas e o protagonismo e coletivo infantis como potencializadoras para a transformação das relações sociais. Na primeira categoria a cooperação e o respeito foram fortalecidos. Já a segunda promoveu trocas de experiências e a criação artística coletiva, e a terceira o fortalecimento da autonomia e do diálogo. Com isso, as atividades circenses revelam-se potente caminho para a (re)construção qualitativa das relações sociais na escola.

Social Circus for People with Disabilities: A Video Analysis through the Lens of the MOHO.

Background Social circus is a branch of circus that primarily focuses on personal and community development, rather than an elite level of professional artistry required of traditional circus. Social circus engages participants in circus activities such as juggling and acrobatics with therapeutic aims such as building confidence or developing life skills. While there is a growing body of literature around social circus, there is currently limited literature exploring the interface between social circus and occupational therapy theory. Objective This study is aimed at examining existing examples of social circus for people with disability (via YouTube videos) through the lens of the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) to consider the link between social circus and contemporary occupational therapy practice. Methods The study utilised video analysis as the guiding methodology. A two-part qualitative thematic analysis was conducted on transcripts of YouTube video audio and on-screen text, as well as visual analysis of the corresponding imagery. Results Social circus provides people with disabilities opportunities to actively participate and experience dignity of risk, independence, and autonomy, in a safe and inclusive environment amongst others. As a highly flexible activity (in structure, timing, tasks, outcomes, and environments), social circus accommodated differences in capacities and provided opportunity for the development of skills, both circus-specific and generalisable to everyday life. Social circus allowed people with disability to shape new identities as performers, friends, and members of a community. Conclusion Social circus offers a unique means for successfully attaining and achieving a wide range of occupational outcomes for people with and without disability across a diverse range of settings. Utilising an occupational therapy lens led to insights around the social circus environments, development of identity and transference of circus skills to everyday tasks and occupations, that were not previously acknowledged in the social circus literature. Our findings support social circus implementation and collaboration within contemporary occupational therapy practice.

Interrupting ‘the Other’ Childhood: On Social Circus in Asylum Accommodations

ABSTRACT Social circus has emerged as a complement to regular health and welfare interventions for identified target groups, often striving for social change. Previous studies point out the challenge of identifying target groups without simultaneously positioning said groups as ‘others’. Although children and childhood are intimately intertwined with circus, not least as target groups for circus arts interventions, there are no previous studies that examine constitutions of childhood through social circus. This article is based on a 1.5-year long ethnographic fieldwork on a project using circus in asylum accommodations in Sweden. The aim is to explore the childhood(s) constituted through social circus practice in asylum accommodations in Sweden, with focus on the work of the social circus team. The analysis draws upon childhood sociology informed by critical theory, asking what discursive positions are offered the target group through the social circus project. The analysis shows that when identifying the target group, the team navigated through contradictory discourses. Establishing and upholding a discourse on childhood as playful, the circus activities interrupted the positioning of children in dislocation as ‘others’. The design of the project, as well as the ever-shifting roles in the interaction between all participants, enabled new positions for all.

Gender Participation and Preference: A Multiple-Case Study on Teaching Circus at PE in Brazilians Schools

Introduction: After more than a decade monitoring physical education instruction in Brazilian elementary schools we noticed an exponential increase in circus activities in both curricular physical education (PE) and in after-school programs. The purpose of this study was to analyze the children's participation and gender preferences in circus activities, with regard to recent studies reporting substantial gender inequalities in Brazilian PE.Method: A qualitative study, based on multiple-cases design, was conducted in two public and six private Brazilian elementary schools. Data collection consisted of 17 semi-structured interviews with PE teachers and school administrators and in situ observations totalizing more than 130 h. The data were analyzed using Content Analysis (thematic categories).Results: Boys and girls showed high participation levels in both curricular and extracurricular PE circus activities. In grades 1–5, participant activity preference was not linked to gender in either curricular or extracurricular situations and overall physical engagement was high. Gender preferences between activities were identified in grades 6–12: girls for aerial activities (trapeze, silks) and boys for juggling activities. Teacher preferences played an important role in the process of linking activities to specific genders both through modeled behavior and gendered encouragement of participants.Conclusion: Circus instruction engages children of all genders and is thereby an effective activity to counter low participation in PE for boys and, especially, girls. Although circus activities are not inherently gendered, gender preferences are cultivated by teachers through gendered behavior modeling (their activity preferences) and encouragement strategies (guiding students to activities based on gender), which is often observed in traditional PE school activities and sports.

Quando o nariz vermelho se encontra com a Educação Física: potencialidades do palhaço como conteúdo na escola

O presente artigo apresenta uma pesquisa teórica realizada a partir de uma revisão de literatura sobre o palhaço/clown nas aulas de Educação Física escolar, em artigos publicados em periódicos avaliados pelo sistema Qualis Capes. O objetivo foi verificar, em produções científicas que abordam as atividades circenses na Educação Física escolar brasileira, publicadas entre os anos de 2010 e 2019, se há a presença do palhaço/clown, e como o palhaço é apresentado nesses artigos. Foram encontradas 50 publicações, das quais 10 abordam o palhaço/clown, em 5 delas o palhaço foi desenvolvido como um dos conteúdos das aulas, nos outros textos ele é apenas citado. Diante disso, foi proposto neste trabalho um desenvolvimento linear dos contextos históricos e possíveis jogos cênicos de palhaço a serem trabalhados nas aulas de Educação Física escolar.

Uma análise das atividades circenses como conteúdo da Educação Física: aportes teóricos e práticos

A partir da análise da produção científica sobre os temários inter-relacionais do universo circense e da Educação Física escolar, este estudo objetiva analisar as potencialidades das atividades circenses no processo de formação de alunos e professores. Trata-se de uma pesquisa bibliográfica, perscrutando trabalhos relevantes na área publicados nos últimos dez anos. A literatura consultada indica que o trato pedagógico destas atividades podem auxiliar no desenvolvimento dos aspectos biodinâmico, artístico, afetivo e sociais dos sujeitos, o que caracteriza o circo como um completo e complexo objeto de ensino e aprendizagem. Do mesmo modo, amplia o conhecimento docente para o ensino. No entanto, foi verificado que a ausência de formação sistematizada e, por vez, interesse docente, somada a ausência de estrutura física e escassez de materiais, torna o ensino dificultoso. Relevamos o potencial das atividades circenses no âmbito da Educação Física mediante a oportunidade de formação continuada e formação docente para proposição de conteúdo e estratégias pedagógicas diversificados.

Produção científica sobre atividades circenses no centro-oeste do Brasil no período 2015-2020

Em meados dos anos 2000, as atividades circenses passaram a figurar como tema de pesquisa na Educação Física brasileira, no entanto, grande parte desses estudos está centrada na região sudeste do país. Nesse contexto, o presente artigo objetiva apresentar um levantamento das produções científicas que abordam a atividade circense na região centro-oeste do Brasil. Para isso foi realizada uma revisão sistemática em duas bases de dados, utilizando descritores em português. Como critério de inclusão, instituiu-se artigos publicados no período de 2015 a 2020, em periódicos publicados em língua portuguesa. Foram encontrados 12 artigos de relevância para essa pesquisa, separados em 5 categorias; 1) circo como ferramenta pedagógica; 2) contribuições para o desenvolvimento da criatividade e expressão corporal; 3) formação continuada de professores; 4) formação do artista circense; 5) circo como manifestação capitalista. Mesmo sendo encontradas poucas produções em relação à região delimitada, pode-se notar que já começa a haver um aumento gradativo nas produções com essa temática. Com isso, existe um avanço no que diz respeito à pesquisa na área circense na região centro-oeste, visto que se trata de uma área do conhecimento pouco investigada em relação a outras.

Kokemuksen keholliset esitykset

The term social circus refers to pedagogical circus activities that are used to foster collaboration and interaction between the participants. This paper is based on a research project that aimed to analyze how the embodied nature of social circus activities is related to second language use and learning. The participants are adult second language speakers of Finnish with emerging literacy, and the data has been gathered with the methods of video-ethnography and analyzed using multimodal conversation analysis (Mondada 2014). The focus of analysis on the participants’ turns that combine the grammatical resources of Finnish with embodied means. These turns occur as part of a reflective activity during which the participants share their thoughts on the circus activities. The analysis shows how the collaborative nature of the circus activities is reflected in language use and highlights the embodied nature of language use and learning.