Flying Circus Academy – Capacity Building Programme for Circus Trainers Erasmus Project

Project Title

Flying Circus Academy – Capacity Building Programme for Circus Trainers

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Capacity Building for youth in ACP countries, Latin America and Asia

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The FLYING CIRCUS ACADEMY project is a comprehensive vocational training-of-trainers (ToT) programme for circus trainers and creative youth workers. It aims to professionalize circus’ work and learning by bundling existing »good practice« which stems from the experiences of the multi-continental consortium. The partners draw on solid circus performance expertise and international cooperation.

The joint objective is to harness circus performance practices in order to foster capacity for meaningful social participation of disadvantaged young people. To this end, artistic circus practices intends to promote and stimulate both further individual development and better inclusion through physical and mental training methods. In doing so, the project responds to the emerging threats of social disintegration and aggravated living conditions under which migrants and refugees in the EU are vulnerable and who make up a part of the final beneficiary groups. A key target is the professionalisation of trainers’ training in order to ensure sustainable development of expertise and practices in EU and beyond.

Approach and Activities
16 acrobat trainers and circus youth workers from Cambodia, Tanzania, Germany and France implemented an exchange and training programme for 32 involved local acrobat trainers and youth workers in order to deliver local training for 60 young people per country. This international FLYING CIRCUS TEAM performed the ToT, ensuring cross-cultural expertise, diversity and exchange. Three overarching activities comprise the approach: 1- production of a video-tutorial based on a curricular framework, 2 – network and management competence training, 3 – joint assessments of the training concept and didactic approach by the ToT.
The assessments’ outcomes is optimising the quality of the intercultural training and the countries’ ToT concepts is substantiated, the repertoire of methods enriched and harmonized.

Methodological Aspects
The diverse means of circus expression and the vast range of powerful bodily performance, often combined with high physical risks, demand that acrobats act with the highest concentration vis-a-vis their partners. This non-verbal dimension of communication, didactic and teaching is also reflected in the ToT materials. The video tutorial as a core product of the project, is based to a great extent on »body language communication«, which by definition has an intercultural as well as social integrative character.

Results
A set of curricular cornerstones about circus’ work and learning is provided. An ongoing international forum (on- and offline) is established and presents 50 video tutorials and their integration into an internet platform (www.flying-circus-academy.net), both tailored to trainers as well as trainees. Furthermore circus vocational training and working with marginalised people is strengthened by intercultural and international exchange and further joint development.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 150000 Eur

Project Coordinator

FORDERVEREIN PHARE PONLEU SELPAK DEUTSCHLAND EV & Country: DE

Project Partners