Come and Join the Circus
Archived from The Chronicle Herald, August 17 2007, by Elissa Barnard, Arts Reporter.
Duncan Philpot, left, and Sean Anderson work their diabolos during a demonstration Tuesday at St. Matthew’s Church in Halifax. (Christian Laforce /Staff)
AS THOUSANDS of Nova Scotians flock to Halifax to see Cirque du Soleil this week, a circus school for street youth is opening in the city.
Circus Circle, inspired by Cirque du Monde, which is Cirque du Soleil’s social outreach program, uses circus arts like juggling, unicycling, diabolo and balance work to teach youth life skills and start their journey back into society.
“When you end up on the street, it’s extremely difficult to find your way back into a larger community,” says Circus Circle’s director Michael Hirschbach. “This offers an entrance through the discipline you need to achieve to do circus arts.”
Circus Circle is a free program run out of St. Matthews Church gym every Tuesday and Thursday, 1 to 4 p.m., for street-involved and homeless youth, aged 16 to 30.
“Circus arts are very attractive and enticing and interesting to youth in the same way skateboarding is,” says Hirschbach, who lives in Wolfville and is a former performer with Cirque du Soleil. “It takes energy, it appears to be a risky activity, it involves you with other people.”
While participants are taught circus skills by local professionals, the aim isn’t to produce professional performers, but to help develop autonomy, solidarity, self-esteem, communication, expression, adaptability to change and physical fitness.
“It can be a huge difference in somebody’s life to have clear goals and a sense of expression and accomplishment that comes with circus work,” says Hirschbach.
Also on hand at the Barrington Street church gym for youth is an instructor with a background in social work, “a person who is very familiar with the resources in town for youth at risk, for street youth, familiar with housing issues and substance abuse,” he said. “Youth have the opportunity if they want to deal with whatever their current situation is.”
The Spring Garden Area Business Association is sponsoring Circus Circle as part of its effort “to meet the challenges of the street community,” says the association’s manager Bernie Smith.
“It was felt there is a certain component, mainly street youth, that aren’t being reached out to,” he said, adding that circus and other arts-based programs may be more successful in inspiring street youth than conventional education systems.
“We’re hoping to include music and visual arts next year. This is the first step we’re taking,” Smith said at Circus Circle’s open house Tuesday. “We’ve been looking for funding. The more funding we get the more we’ll expand it very rapidly.”
So far there are three teachers and five to eight youth involved in Circus Circle. “We don’t know what the maximum number is,” says Hirschbach. “The other programs I’ve taught I’ve seen programs run up to 40 to 50 students. In general it takes three years to have a truly mature program with youth attending regularly and building up strong skills.”
Since 2003 Hirschbach has been a master trainer with the Cirque du Monde and has taught in Montreal, Orlando, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, France, Burkina Faso and South Africa.
There are over 100 Cirque du Monde programs in over 30 countries and the Nova Scotia program, also starting up in Kentville next month, will become an official affiliate in 2008. “That means more contact with teachers, more possibility for students from here to go to Montreal to do more extensive studies there and some annual funding from Cirque du Monde.”
Circus Circle is funded by the United Way, the Campaign for Kids, Michelin Canada, the Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage and Nova Scotia Health Promotion and Protection. “St. Matthew’s has just been really helpful in terms of getting us started and providing a space for a reasonable fee,” says Hirschbach. “This is a great church.”
Circus Circle is specifically for the street population. “It’s an open door,” says Hirschbach. “If somebody shows up at the door I assume they want and need to be here.”
The program’s website address is www.circuscircle.ca.