In a community centre in the suburbs of Galway city, children of every age from toddlers to teens are training in circus skills including acrobatics, trapeze, juggling, aerial skills, stilt-walking, juggling and unicycling.
As well as providing an alternative, noncompetitive form of physical education, Ulla Hokkanen, the director of Galway Community Circus, points out that youth circus also teaches young people patience, discipline and teamwork.
“Circus is known to be helpful with balance, hand-eye coordination and body awareness, among other necessary developmental tools. Circus training can increase concentration as well as promoting a lifelong commitment to fitness and self-discipline.
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“It is a wonderful instrument for improving a child’s self-confidence and improving their social interactions,” she says.
Galway Community Circus was founded in 2002 by Karin Wimmer (better known as Pipa the Clown), Lisa O’Farrell and Mariosa Hume as the first youth circus in the Republic of Ireland.
The closest model to the Galway Circus is Belfast Community Circus, which has been connecting children to the circus arts for 30 years.
In 2008, the organisation was granted charity status for its work with at-risk youth and vulnerable communities. It receives money from the Arts Council, Galway City Council, the HSE and some European funding.
Hokkanen says: “The circus has really taken off in the past number of years. We have gone from 20 members six years ago to 350 people attending classes every week. Our main focus is young people aged five to 20, but we also run parent and toddler classes and adult classes.
“We recently trained in baby circus which is very popular in my home country, Finland, and we are hoping to start classes in this soon.”
No boundaries
The circus skills that are most popular with the children are aerial, acrobatic and trapeze which are combined with dance, theatre skills, storytelling, music and visual arts. As Hokkanen notes, “There are no boundaries to where you can take circus.
“Circus is a fantastic way to get kids involved in physical exercise and to combine creative and physical activities. Many circus skills are physically demanding and you need a certain level of fitness. However, you can do all the skills at your own level. It needs to be fun, playful and creative.
“All the skills the children learn are put into use during the performances we put on in theatres, on the street and in community centres around the city.”
Based in Shantalla Community Centre on the west side of the city, the core activity of Galway Community Circus are the regular circus arts training programmes they provide through the academic year. They also run short intensive courses, outreach workshops and summer camps.
“Some of the kids who come here are shy or feel they do not fit into team sports; and that’s okay in circus. We are not about making people into stars. We look at where you are coming from and what your interests are.
“It’s a great way to make new friends and it has become a really important social outlet for many of our members who moved to Galway from other places. They can come and hang out here at the weekend and use the space. The circus has become a huge part of their lives, boosted their confidence and brought them a lot of happiness.”
For information about summer camps and upcoming events, see galwaycommunitycircus.com
