The Galway Circus Project (old web site):
Mission Statement
Basic Aims
To create a forum for the children and
adolescents with different social backgrounds to
integrate and learn circus skills together.
(i.e. juggling, floor acrobatics, acro balance,
uni cycling, basic static trapez, ropewalking,
clowning, magic). Those skills provide training
for concentration, endurance, group skills,
skills and help develop self confidence.
To establish a group of tutors.
To provide facilities for them to increase their
abilities in teaching the circus skills to children
and adolescents, with the intention of creating part
time or full time employment during the children's programme.
To offer our services
to local schools and other communities (outreach)
The idea is to bring together children of all social
backgrounds. It is aiming at rich and poor, foreign
and local, resident and travellers between the age
of 8 and 14. The aim is to help them to find a way of
communicating.
Circus skills facilitate development of both physical and
social skills using non-verbal communication. This makes
it a perfect background for the children to form their own
opinions and grow without prejudices.
The sessions should free to them as payment could
discriminate against the ones from poorest families.
Or alternatively, the payments could be sponsored by
local community groups. I have been in contact with the
Refugee support group Galway, the Travellor Support Group
and the Westside Resource Centre all of these groups were
interested in the project and promised their help. I
also contacted several Youth programmes, as they also
showed keen intrest.
The youngsters should be given the possibility to show
their progresses on a regular base, when the time is right.
This could happen by performing during festivals or in
connection with different towns.
I would be interested in forming a group of tutors, who
could also travel to form branches of the project in other
towns in the County. For example: The base could be in Galway for one day a
week, but on the other days we could travel to other towns
and have sessions there. Then the kids from different towns
could present their shows to each other.
There is also a possibility in the long run to exchange with
similar projects in other countries.
_RAINBOW