Steve comments ‘I found the course a really great way of learning not only from two great Cirque du Soleil teachers, but from my peers who work in circus and social circus within the UK. The course was at times demanding, with exploration of many moral, ethical and social issues, as well as contemplation of my own practices. But the skills gained were really rewarding and will allow me to better prepare and deliver circus activities where the focus is not only upon developing physical or creative skills.”

Steve is now sharing his new skills with his Let’s Circus and Five Ring Circus teaching on a daily basis.

A huge thank you to Cirque du Soleil for making this opportunity possible, and investing in communities through this work.

The Circus Safari project also worked with Sarakasi’s social circus outreach projects and saw Let’s Circus performing in schools, a prison, orphanages and regional tribal communities. As a legacy of the project (and of 12 months of fundraising), Let’s Circus donated €1000 to the Sarakasi Trust towards it’s ongoing social circus outreach programme.

We anticipate a return to Kenya in early 2014.

This year’s November 5th season has seen us almost as busy as the fire service themselves. We’ve put on fire shows across the region in North Tyneside, Northumberland, Newcastle and Hartlepool and further afield in both North and East Yorkshire.

An exciting element to this year’s programming was the focus on up and coming fire acts involved with almost every show as a result of a long training programme in skills development and fire safety as part of the Five Ring Circus project. In North Tyneside the North Tyneside Youth Circus premiered their new show ‘Drop it Like It’s Hot‘ to great public response. Featuring almost 20 young performers and crew, the production was a showcase of new circus skills presented through the medium of fire. Commissioned by North Tyneside Borough Council, Drop It Like It’s Hot took place alongside professional light-based arts productions of the Shimmer Festival. Check out the What’s On for upcoming show dates in November and December.

In Bridlington the Whitby Fire Project celebrated 1 year of being a crew, putting on another great show as a group of six teenagers, whilst in Newcastle and Hartlepool, three shows took place with different members of Five Ring Circus clubs (Newcastle, North Tyneside and Stockton). The programme gave all of the performers, young and young at heart, great new experiences that shall be carried forwards in their lives.

A massive thank you to all of the bookers who continue to support the vision of a home-grown scene of circus and street arts in the North East of England. Without this support, the experience of circus and street arts across the region would purely be that of the audience member. We’re proud to be working together to bring a wider range of experiences to the cultural scene.

Special Thanks

North Tyneside Borough Council – Arts Team

CYC North Yorkshire

Hartlepool Borough Council – Arts Team

Our team of professional facilitators, adult volunteers and supportive, understanding parents.

Along with 10 people from 10 countries I was fortunate to be selected to tour the country with the sole purpose of gaining insight into the national Circus Industry. As part of the tour we met artists, producers, circus schools, youth circuses, programmes managers, sector developers, venues, festival organizers and Santa Claus himself. The tour was tight and well managed by the Finnish Circus Information Centre, it would have been hard to pack more into the tour.

The infrastructure here is quite impressive – both the physical facilities and the organization of the sector itself. For a country of five million people, Finland must have one of the highest rates of access to circus anywhere in the world. Bigger towns and cities all have places where circus can be trained, with most cities having dedicated circus facilities. Every town has a youth circus programme, where the standard of circus is quite high. The facilities at Tampere’s Sorin Circus would be comparable to any circus company or venue within the UK and has parallels with the Flying Fruit Flies base in Albury, Australia. The Sorin training centre and base is immense, and is fantastic to see as we continue with our Circus Central Building project in newcastle.

Likewise, the new Cirko Centre in Helsinki is another jewel, currently a centerpiece of the major redevelopment of Suvilahti, the city’s old gas and electricity works site. This cultural centre will have circus at the heart of it, and will soon include a dedicated facility for Circus Helsinki, the largest youth circus in the country, currently with 800 students. Circus is on the agenda in Finland, from the levels of Government down to that of the people. It’ so refreshing to see this support of circus all the way from the top levels of policy making. I covet a day where the same can be said in the UK.

This kind of major infrastructure only comes about through support and investment – clearly Finland has seen a lot of both. Two other interesting elements to the industry here are the speed at which many things have developed, and the national approach that the Finns have taken. The sector is strong across the country, development is not limited to a few major cities and projects seem to be able to move fast.

Amongst the tour members there has been considerable interest in the works and art that is being produced here. I’ve certainly come across some very exciting companies and shows such as Race Horse Company and Play Time. Hopefully there will be some opportunities to invite them to the UK, and the North East in future years.

Every tour or showcase has a darling, a certain company or individual that is endeared by the gathering. To me, the darling of this tour was Joonas Martikainen and his company Agit Circ from Roveniemi on the Arctic Circle. Not just for their home-cooked hospitality and laid back wine-then-sauna approach to our gathering, but for their unique take on producing meaningful works. The company’s annual ‘Silence Festival’ takes place in a small village in Lapland puts circus, poetry, music and art in perhaps one of the most remote locations in Europe. An experimental contrast of celebration and rumination – total festival audience of 300. Likewise Agit Circ’s 2-4 person shows touring the 6 person villages of Lapland in the middle of winter caught everyone’s imagination. Circus outreach at a really different level. As a frequent traveller to Northern Countries, I’ve often been struck by the long nights of winter darkness. Coming from Australia, this relationship is a negative one for me, but here, the connection between long hours of winter darkness and the production of strong, focused, meaningful arts makes sense. Maybe I should be avoiding the winter sun of Australia and heading to Greenland instead.

So what does it mean to me to have been part of the tour?

I came looking for knowledge, project comparisons and future project partners and feel that I’ve walked away with all of these and more. I also feel further motivated to develop more in the way of future European Parnterships, and to spread the knowledge of these. I find the whole concept of funded European ‘Go and See’ missions and networking projects as a remarkable and privileged facet of living in Europe, and one that should be embraced by the Circus and Street Arts sector.

Thanks to Kadja and the ladies at FCIC, CDA, Yohann and everyone else involved in putting this project together. A truly inspirational week in a fantastic country.

Steve Cousins
Finland
September 2011

Let’s Circus played host to an international training program for teachers and trainers of youth circus. The Circonnection project brought together trainers from across the UK, Italy, France, Spain, Hungary and Australia. The event provided valuable techniques to develop the professionalism of practitioners in areas such as physical and psychological understandings, legal responsibilities, curriculum development and theatre games.

The project has developed a manual for teaching youth circus skills which will be an invaluable reference tool for the Youth Circus sector.

We thank all involved for making the event such a success.

At last we have officially launched the Circus Central project in Christchurch, Shieldfield, Newcastle. The launch event which brought together a wide cross-section of the regional arts sector, the NE circus community, representatives of the Diocese of Newcastle, young people from the local youth circus clubs and political dignitaries. Leader of Newcastle City Council, David Faulkner expressed strong support for the project, its vision and the plans of the North East Circus Development Trust.

The building conversion is anticipated for 2012/13, whilst at present we are running sessions in two of the spaces – the school hall and church hall. When completed, Circus Central will be one of the largest circus facilities in the UK.

For full plans of the project check out www.circuscentral.co.uk

Since 2008, Let’s Circus has been working hard at supporting Circus Outreach in Kenya. As part of this, very year we visit Australia, we gather a collection of International artists and host ‘The Backyard Cabaret’. It is a celebration of all of the things we enjoy – quality circus and variety performances and a community of individuals coming together to celebrate, share, connect and empower. This year we raised $4000 (£2500) which will fund a 12 month programme of circus outreach into schools and programs across Nairobi through the Sarakasi Trust. This follows on from 12 months of outreach work that reached 1500 young people and employed a team of professional acrobatic trainers and youth workers funded by last years Cabaret.

It is of great importance to keep these funds flowing, as without them, this project will not continue. We are thoroughly thankful to the artists who’ve supported the scheme by donating time and energy to the cause – Orkestra del Sol, Aladair Taylor, Anonymi, Mungbean, Dreamstate Circus, The Hectic Brothers, Joe Baxter and Flame Oz.

You can donate to the project year-round and we’re really happy to hear of initiatives that can help support the project’s continuity. Maybe you, your club, your crew or your family can be part of this in your own way. Here are some suggestions:

Buy a weekly drink for an acrobat,

Save all of your small coins for a year,

Put on a show in your garden,

Donate the fee from a particular gig or job,

Or pass the hat around the office for a good cause.

It all helps make a real difference to the lives of many young people in Kenya. All money donated goes to pay the Sarakasi teachers who deliver the workshops.

Please get in touch if you want supporting information to help your event.

Harlepool’s Tall Ships event in August 2010, saw the debut of all local Street Theatre crews made up of young people. Let’s Circus was commissioned by Hartlepool Borough Council to train the young people over a three month period and lead them in their performances as the only Street Theatre for the event. The young people came from Hartlepool Sixth Form College and East Durham and Houghall Community College and received great support from their staff. The Young people had a very professional attitude in their performances and were enjoyed by thousands of visitors each days. Some said it was the best experience of their lives!

Since the Tall Ships event some participants have continued to perform regularly with Let’s Circus at regional events. Including Durham Street’s of Play and other Hartlepool Events. Two were invited to go with Albert and Friends Instant Circus to perform in a series of parades in Rome, Frascatti and London – an amazing opportunity which they both grabbed and enjoyed!

North East Circus Development Trust (NECDT)

Let’s Circus have been integral in establishing and launching the North East Circus Development Trust – a registered charity with a strong board of individuals dedicated to bringing positive opportunities of circus to the North East of England including a permanent circus building project, called Circus Central. More information can be found about their projects on the Five Ring Circus website.

Five Ring Circus

Five youth circuses across five local authority areas in the North East. The project has now gone live and Summer 2010 will see events taking place in North Tyneside, Stockton, Newcastle, South Tyneside and Durham local authority areas. If you’re a young person in one of these areas then get in touch.

Check out all of the details on www.fiveringcircus.net.

Summer Events

Unlike ever before, we’ve got the busiest summer we could hope for. We’ll be taking more circus to more people in a greater number of places. We’ve got some fantastic international acts involved with our projects this year, with artists from Kenya, China, Australia, Japan, Tanzania, Italy and more.

What’s On