![]() |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Young People and Circus
Second Edition of the Youth Circus Newsletter Now Online! This issue is packed with news and stories. To read about ICAN - Indigenous Circus Arts Network, read Paul Woodhead's report on the inaugural National Youth Circus Day, and much more, see lots of great photos.Click here
Young people can participate in circus skills training in a variety of ways. Youth Circus organisations exist in every state and some regional centres to offer skills training and performance activities. Some schools also teach circus skills as part of their physical education program. Circus skills include tumbling, acrobalance, juggling, aerials, juggling, stilts and clowning. Circus skill training is a non-competitive, creative, physical activity that fosters team work, develops strength and balance and builds confidence. If you would like to meet new friends and stand on them, start here by checking out ACAPTA’s state by state listing of organisations that offer activities for young people aged 25 years and under. Also read our profiles on three of Australia’s Youth Circus organisations: Tasmania’s Slipstream Circus, Mullumbimby's Spaghetti Circus and Kuranda’s Blackrobats. If you would like to include your group in this listing, please email us with your details. Australian youth circus groups by State/Territory:
Tasmania Slipstream Circus INC Slipstream provides circus skills training and performance opportunities for young people as well as advanced tumbling, acrobatics and aerial training for those seeking a higher level of skill. The circus classes for beginners are lots of fun with the emphasis on
safety as participants are introduced to acrobatics, juggling, hula
hoops, tightwire and human pyramids. Teen Circus classes continue these
skills and also add in clowning, rola bola and tightwire, so they are
a great way to stay fit and have fun with friends. Adults who always wanted
to run away to the circus haven't been left out, with adult classes for
beginners, intermediate and advanced skill levels. All classes are conducted
by qualified and experienced circus, gymnastics and performance trainers. Northern Territory InCite Youth Art, Desert Perspectives and Limitless Horizons InCite provides circus activities for 10 to 12 year olds, on a short
term basis. South East Queensland Circa Circus Minimus conduct circus training in West End and also through the BCC Healthy and Active Parks Program on the weekends. They have an ongoing community development programs in Beaudesert and Deception Bay. Circus Minimus are also available for workshops or events, and offer short vaudeville style entertainment and roving street theatre.
Flipside Circus is a youth circus that teaches kids between the ages of 4 to 18 years tumbling, handstands, juggling, stilts, human pyramids, trapeze, tissue, lyra, acrobatics. Flipside also provide entertainment in shows, festivals and events. Flipside employs professional circus performers to train and work with the kids. They also have an Indigenous program to encourage and increase Indigenous participation in circus. Flipside hold classes at St Andrews Church Hall in South Brisbane and at Brisbane Powerhouse in New Farm. Rock’n’Roll Circus Training Centre Rock’n’Roll Circus conducts school holiday workshops for young people during most school holiday periods. Basic circus skills workshops for kids and teenagers – skills include static trapeze, tightwire, juggling, object manipulation, tissue, hula hoops, acrobalance, human pyramids and more! All skill levels welcome. Far North Queensland Alfresco Circus Jerry Holmes teaches basic circus skills at the Cairns PCYC on a regular basis. He is also available to conduct in-school programs. Alfresco Circus provides advanced training for adults from 18 years old and a number of smaller circus groups in FNQ participate in this training. Alfresco Circus is part of the Northern Circus Alliance. Blackrobats Indigenous Youth Troupe The Blackrobats are Kuranda's Indigenous Youth Circus Arts troupe. The project developed from free workshops facilitated by Kelli Craig (long term Blackrobats co-ordinator and trainer), in response to a need for activities directed towards indigenous youth of outlying areas of Kuranda. Circus skills and performance-based projects have long proven to be a successful focus and outlet for young people in regional North Queensland. A collaborative community project, the Blackrobats fuses rich local cultural influences with circus and physical theatre, combining traditional Aboriginal dance with elements of youth culture such as hiphop and breakdancing, in a performance oriented framework. The broader focus of the project is to involve training opportunities for the whole community in all areas of performance arts, tech, design, production, choreography, workshop facilitation. Further funding is needed for their ongoing development, however the group is confident that support from the broader community and arts and cultural sector will mean the participation of as many young indigenous people as possible! Circo-Loco Kassowary Circus Kassowary Circus teach classes for ages 4 years and up, and work with children, youth, young adults, adults and the more mature members of their community. They have adult and youth Kassowary Circus performing troupes who perform at events in the Kuranda region. Kassowary are also part of the Northern Circus Alliance. Western Australia Harlequin Spirals Harlequin Spirals is a German Wheel Team sponsored by Gymnastic WA. We train Wednesday 5.30pm - 7.30pm and Saturday 10.30am - 12.30pm, at Len Fletcher Pavilion - 22 Emmerson Street, North Perth. Harlequin Spirals is the largest wheel team in Australia. We welcome all newcomers or travellers who may wish to work on wheels skills. The team has recently returned from a tour of Germany and Spain. The team trained in Germany with the current World Champions and performed in Spain as part of the DGI Festival. The team will be travelling this year to the International Wheel Camp in Turku, Finland for training and coach education. We are happy to train teens to open age adults. We have seven wheels ranging from 1.85m - 2.10m and train in the Gymnastics WA competition venue. New South Wales Aerialize Aerialize offers classes for children in both term and holiday time. Children's Classes are for children aged between 5 and 12 years. Classes are a safe and fun way for children to develop body awareness, strength, self-confidence, as well as improve left and right side brain co-ordination. School holiday trapeze and circus workshops for children focus on static trapeze, rope skills, acrobatics, mini- tramp and juggling. Performance skills are also a big part of the workshop and every effort is put into encouraging live performance. A showing for family and friends of the skills learnt is held on the last day of the workshop. Key artists involved in teaching include Aimee Thomas, Shelalagh McGovern and Bernard Bru. Australian Theatre For Young People (ATYP) The Australian Theatre for Young People is the nation's flagship youth theatre company. It has more of a theatre than a circus focus, but term workshops do often include physical theatre, circus skills and clown. The whole range of term and holiday workshops are a great way to find out more about other areas of the arts or to gain new skills and experiences. ATYP also runs regional residencies across Australia and mounts groundbreaking national and international projects. Each year, over 6000 young people aged between 3 and 26 participate in programs designed and led by over 200 professional artists. Formed in 1963, the company creates opportunities for young people from many kinds of backgrounds, from urban centres and sometimes isolated areas of Australia, to discover and explore their creativity and to develop a fuller awareness and appreciation of themselves, the performing arts and their society. Circus Solarus Circus Solarus specialise in performances and activities for outdoor events and community festivals. They have conducted workshops with young people from 3 years upwards to create performances for festivals and parades which involve devising the performance, creating the costumes, learning stilts and /or percussion and making giant puppets. Circus Solarus don’t have a production/ rehearsal space, but are available to conduct workshops in communities. Previous workshops they have conducted include wild, whacky, sculptural costumes; comedy performance ; leather masks ; parade images- floats, flags, giant puppets, lanterns; stilts; percussion; street theatre and children's craft workshops themed to events, especially culturally appropriate crafts, eg Chinese, Italian, Korean, Indonesian, Latin, Arabic, Indian etc as required. Also workshop activities themed to exhibitions in museums and galleries. Circus Unique Circus Extreme Lieder Youth Theatre Company The Lieder Youth Theatre Company is a Goulburn-based training and performance group established in 1993 to provide a public platform for local youth between the ages of 13 and 19 with a passion to express themselves through the arts and explore career options in the performing arts. As well as the Lieder Youth Theatre Company, classes are held weekly for 8 to 10 yr olds and 11 to 12 yr olds. Lieder Youth Theatre Company achievements include Body Slam (2001) performance and workshop touring project with Theatre Physical, Powerhouse, Shopfront, Pact Youth Theatre companies and ATYP; Lost on the Lake (2002)– 3 days and nights living and performing on Lake George as part of the Weereewa Festival; 2 Friendly 4 Words (2003) a company-devised performance project about teenage pregnancy and its impact on rural youth and the Acrobatic/Fire Show (2003, 2004) a spectacular outside performance incorporating fire with physical theatre, acrobatics and stilts. Spaghetti Circus Powerhouse Youth Theatre (PYT) PYT is the leading contemporary arts organisation for young people (under 25) in South West and Western Sydney, providing innovative and development opportunities that respond to and reflect the diversity of the region. PYT ensures that its programs are accessible to all young people regardless of cultural, social or economic background. Situated at the School of the Arts in the heart of Fairfield, PYT promises to excite, surprise and challenge. Their program of workshops and productions is not circus specific, but they do have circus related activities from time to time, so check in with them about what they have going on currently. The Flying Fruit Fly Circus VictoriaThe Flying Fruit Fly Circus School Term Classes For Kids and Teenagers: Every Saturday of the school term Circus Oz run classes for both kids and teenagers at its Port Melbourne HQ. All classes begin with a warm-up and end with a cool-down, both of which are essential. Safety is given the highest priority. The Introduction to Circus class is for 7-12 year olds. It takes the kids through a range of circus skills, with a focus on developing good form and having fun. They learn Tumbling, Trapeze, Hula Hoops, Mini-Tramp, Pyramids, Acro-Balance, Tightwire, Juggling, Clowning and more. The Circus Skills class is for 8-12 year olds, and is offered to kids who have already done a few terms of Introduction to Circus. It is a more focused class and steps up the skill level a notch. The skills covered in this class are similar to that of Introduction to Circus. The Teenage Special class is for 13-18 year olds. This class caters for both beginner teenagers and those who are continuing on from the Circus Skills class. Skills covered are Tumbling, Trapeze, Web-spinning, Hula Hoops, Mini-Tramp, Pyramids, Acro-Balance, Tightwire, Juggling, Clowning and more. Finally, the Circus Club. This class focuses on devising and performing a group routine using the circus skills learnt in other previous classes. It is offered to those who have already done the Circus Skills or Teenage Special classes. On the last Saturday of term, there is traditionally a display of skills learnt by the students. Friends and family are encouraged to come along and enjoy watching the achievements of the term. Holiday Programs are run during some of the school holiday breaks (probably 2 or 3 per year). There is usually a 7-12 year old class along with a teenage class. It is oriented to both beginners and to those who have been practicing their skills for a while. Like the other classes, the skills offered would generally include: Tumbling, Trapeze, Web-spinning, Hula Hoops, Mini-Tramp, Pyramids, Acro-Balance, Tightwire, Juggling, Clowning and more. Footscray Flyers - Youth Circus Footscray Flyers Youth Circus conduct workshops to develop fitness, strength, and a variety of circus skills including tumbling, balancing, rope and trapeze. Workshop groups are split into ages; two groups for 6-8 yr olds, two for 8-10yr and one for 10 - 16 yr olds. Each group develops performances for parents and friends at the end of the year. These performances will involve the creation of short narratives that utilises physical theatre influenced by the innovative circus performance style developed by the Women's Circus. The older members of Footscray Flyers will develop short performances for festivals and special events, as well as assisting trainers in the workshops with the younger groups. Some of the key artists involved in teaching the Footscray Fliers are Andrea Ousley, Steven Williams, Peter Sloman and Francesca Sculli. Full On Theatre Full On Theatre take a variety of workshops into schools. These include ‘Clown, comedy, improvisation & commedia dell’arte’ and ‘World Percussion Workshops’ exploring world rhythms, inner rhythms, body percussion, music, performance, voice & coordination skills (Full-On Theatre will provide drums and percussive instruments for a number of people. Larger bookings may require hiring more drums, or borrowing off a local school’s instrument collection.) Trick Circus Westside Circus Australian Capital Territory Warehouse Circus Warehouse Circus has been teaching life skills through the art of circus, for the past 13 years. It is open to all young people aged 8 - 18 years and it's underlying aim is to empower young people to make responsible decisions that affect their lives. As part of this, the circus provides young people with a variety of different circus skills as well as giving them practical experience in performing. The circus creates a sense of family in which young people are free to grow and develop into who they want to be. South Australia Cirkidz Inc Cirkidz is a youth circus school that teaches circus and performance skills and produces quality circus theatre by young people. Cirkidz operates three ongoing activities; Circus Classes, the Performing Troupe and Outreach Workshops.Cirkidz is an exciting, innovative company with an impressive track record of past projects. The circus was established in 1985 to provide artistic activities for disadvantaged youth in the western suburbs ofAdelaide. Since then Cirkidz has grown considerably and has firmly cemented its place as the principal circus resource in South Australia. The circus services all ofAdelaide and regularly provides performances and workshops for youth in rural and remote areas. Cirkidz attracts people for whom more conventional activities would hold limited attraction. Due to its unique nature, young people with little to no arts experience find the circus easily approachable. Cirkidz aims, through the learning and performing of circus skills, to provide an alternative means for young people to develop self confidence, physical awareness and the art of co-operation. Central to the company’s activities is its social justice policy. This is seen clearly through the circus’ programs, such as its commitment to touring performances and workshops to isolated areas. The circus school also uses a fee structure that is adjusted according to family income.The Cirkidz Circus School runs after school classes throughout the week as well as on Saturday mornings. Classes are available to people four years of age and above. Classes are organised into five age groups: Little Tackers who are children aged 4 to 6, Tackers who are 6 to 9, Tweens are 9 to 12, Teens are 12 to 18 and of course Adults who are 18 years and older.
Following the success of the 2007
National Training Project, The Flying Fruit Fly Circus is delighted to
invite Australia’s youth circus companies, trainers and individual
circus performers to our 2008 National Youth Training Project.
|
Click here to read the first edition of the ACAPTA Youth Circus Newsletter The Deadly Serious Training
Project: Advance - Enhance Flying Fruit Fly Circus - National Youth Training Project
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
:: TOP ::
This project has been assisted by the Federal Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||