Social Circus Educational ToolsGlobal Citizenship

September 2012

Objectives

Support and stimulate social circus development;Enable the numerous organizations interested in

social circus to benefit from the expertise developed by Cirque du Soleil and its partners since 1995; share our knowledge;

Provide tools to different social circus practitioners: community workers, social circus instructors, social circus trainers, organization and social circus project coordinators;

What is Social Circus? An innovative social intervention approach based on the circus

arts. It targets various at-risk groups living in precarious personal and

social situations, in the case of Cirque du Soleil, mainly at-risk youth.

Primary goal is not to learn the circus arts, but rather to assist with participants’ personal and social development by nurturing their self-esteem and trust in others, as well as by helping them to acquire social skills, become active citizens, express their creativity and realize their potential.

A powerful catalyst for creating social change because it helps marginalized individuals take their place as citizens within a community and enrich that community with their talents. Enable community to change the perception they have of the youth.

Cirque du Monde is the social circus program of Cirque du Soleil.

Production Process

In 2005, we identified the need for two documents: one for our community workers, one for our circus instructors:

1. Community Worker’s GuideA summary of the social circus approach, as well as a practical guide, it will help community workers with the fundamentals and guiding principles of this mode of intervention, as well as support them in organizing, planning and evaluating social circus workshops.

2. Basic Techniques in Circus Arts (BTCA)This document aims to introduce the public to circus arts. As both a technical guide and an educational tool, this document illustrates 177 technical elements drawn from 17 basic circus arts disciplines. Accompanied by video documents, this work offers in-depth expertise and technical content that will enable the delivery of progressive and specialized instruction in a safe environment.

Community Worker’s Guide A summary of the social circus approach, as well

as a practical guide for the community worker

Community Worker’s GuideCWG

Four main sections: 1. The circus and social intervention2. Local organization, challenges and

responsibilities3. The community worker-instructor tandem, the

mainstay of social circus4. Practical guide for community workers

Basic Techniques in Circus Arts A multimedia kit with a DVD illustrating 177 technical elements drawn from 17 basic circus arts disciplines and

a CD that includes 17 training handbooks

Production ProcessCapsule

First draft written in French in 2007-2008 by the teachers of the National Circus School

Standardization of the terminology, linguistic revision and layout of the 17 documents

Translation into 4 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian

Online sharing (BOX) and distribution of the tool (video and written documents)

Basic Techniques in Circus Arts Video - Pyramids - Written document - Pyramids

General information:

Introduction Terminology Specific Information Safety

Detailed information: Technical Element

Description; Prerequisite(s); Explanation of the

Movement; Educational(s); Manual Aid; Common Mistakes; Correction(s) and Corrective

Exercise(s); Variant(s)

Basic Social Circus Training ProgramThe basic social circus training program of Cirque du Soleil purpose is to prepare circus instructors and community workers for conducting social circus workshops with at-risk people. The training also seeks to help them better understand the overall context of social circus intervention. It also aims to develop the skills needed to intervene appropriately with partners in a varied and multicultural context.

General training objectives Develop strong personal and professional ethics; Introduce the fundamentals of an innovative and participative teaching method; Develop a community-based learning environment; Turn art into a personal development tool.

Develop less new projects; support the existing projects with training and educational tools.

EDUCATIONAL TOOLS IN PROGRESS…

• Social Circus Trainer’s Guide (for our Trainer’s)• Handbook for Participant (for the participants of a training)

Objectives (Why?)

Content and Collaborators (what? And to whom?)

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