/ARTS WEEKLY/CHILE: ‘Social Circus’ Goes to School

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

María Cecilia Espinosa

SANTIAGO, Feb 17 2004 (IPS) - El Circo del Mundo-Chile, part of the international social circus movement, had six minutes of TV fame this week as it was seen by millions of people in many countries during its guest performance at the International Song Festival in Viña del Mar, on the Chilean coast.

But its biggest challenge lies ahead: to establish the first social circus school in Latin America.

Circus director Alejandra Jiménez told IPS that the festival organisers were convinced to include the circus in the show by “the enthusiasm to insert into Chilean culture the concept of the ‘new circus’ as an art form” – and by the professionalism of El Circo del Mundo-Chile.

The “new circus” movement emerged in Europe in the 1960s, melding traditional circus acts with theatre, music and dance. The Canadian-based Cirque du Soleil is probably its most famous incarnation.

In the 1990s, the new circus movement began to reorient part of its activities towards helping “at-risk” children and youth through experience with the circus.

In Rio de Janeiro, ‘Se essa rua fosse minha’ (If this street were mine) was founded in 1992, and two years later came the World Circus programme, of the Canadian foundation Jeunesse du Monde and Le Cirque du Soleil, now operating in several countries.

In Chile, these two organisations, in conjunction with the local El Canelo de Nos Corporation, threw their support behind a group of Chilean artists in their effort to work with the country’s marginalised communities – and in 1995 they established El Circo del Mundo-Chile.

Today, what most motivates the members of this non-governmental organisation (NGO) is to establish a circus school of highest professional standards, and a pioneering endeavour in Latin America.

The headquarters for the project, entrusted to Chilean architect Mathias Klotz, are to be a 6,000-square-metre plot of Los Reyes Park, in central-west Santiago. The structures to be built include a multi-use gymnasium, theatre, dance studio, cafeteria and offices.

The circus school would entail four years of professional training for full-time students, but there would also be open workshops for children and adolescents. The curriculum, teaching methods and theoretical framework have already been defined.

Scholarships will be available for half of the students admitted to the professional circus programme, and financing will be provided through international and local cooperation, as well as contributions from the private sector.

Construction of the circus school buildings is currently at a standstill because the free loan granted by the previous Santiago municipal administration has expired. An extension is being negotiated with the current mayor.

The school will be the core of El Circo del Mundo-Chile and will have the infrastructure for its artistic activities and for receiving international shows, as well as maintaining all of its existing social, cultural and educational programmes.

The aim is to provide continuity and professional opportunities for its students, consolidating the NGO’s efforts to date, and to provide academic training for artists in many disciplines, using the circus environment as a foundation.

Soledad Avalos, 33, is a trapeze artist and an actress. She told IPS she thinks the uniqueness of the project for the region lies in its “professionalism and the strength of its curriculum.”

“Any one of us would have loved to be in a school like this when we were 15 or 18. The school we dreamed about is what we are creating,” she said.

Fernando Reveco, 21, was among the 150 people who benefit annually from the Circo del Mundo-Chile. When he was 13, he participated in a stilt-walking group organised in a Catholic community centre in an impoverished district of Santiago. He went from the open workshops to becoming a permanent member of the circus cast, specialised in acrobatics and juggling.

The aim of the social circus and the school is to serve as a means for minors to overcome social problems has born fruit.

According to director Jiménez, its staging enriches the language of theatre and creates unexpected channels for the students to express themselves. It is a non-traditional means to build self-esteem, a sense of humour, social networks and a feeling of belonging, she said.

Thanks to these factors, the youths “create a sort of armour that prepares them, makes them stronger and more constructive, in the heat of the adverse realities that most of them face,” added the director.

Freedom and magic, as well as dedication, discipline and perseverance give the students concrete achievements – controlled risk in the circus ring that can replace the dangers they confront on the street.

Another important factor, says Jiménez, is that the circus fosters equality: “Here it doesn’t matter where I came from, where I studied, who my parents are. What is important is how I focus myself and what I am capable of doing to achieve my goals.”

Rodrigo Oyarzún, 23, whose expertise is as a clown and aerial artist, used to be a juggler in a Santiago city park. Three years ago he participated in a workshop, and eventually joined the circus’s school group after an audition.

He says he has perfected his skills, which has opened many doors, but above all he enjoys the camaraderie of this social circus, and hopes one day to be an instructor at the school.