An educationalist and teacher Steve Ward began his work in educational circus with a schools project in 1978. He was the founder of the National Association of Youth Circus in the UK and is currently the director of the group Circus Zanni. He has also directed many festivals both in the UK and across Europe. He has travelled widely researching into circus and is a Winston Churchill Fellow, having spent a period of time researching circus training at the Hungarian State Circus School in Budapest. He has lectured widely on educational circus and has written many papers and articles on the subject. Contact: steve@zanni.freeserve.co.uk

THE NOT SO NAUGHTY NINETIES
A DECADE OF CIRCUS DEVELOPMENTS 1991 - 2001

by Steve Ward

Now that we are well and truly into the 21st Century and all the hype of a new millennium is fading I thought it might be the time to look back at the growth of Circus over the last decade, particularly, although not exclusively, from the UK perspective.

I have been involved with circus and young people for somewhere approaching 25 years, my first project being way back in 1978, and it seems to me that circus has gained a much more accepted image in the last ten years. In the 1980s the ‘New Circus’ movement had a raw edge to it. It was innovative, challenging, subversive, wild and untamed and because of all of this....it was fresh and exciting. This New Circus transcended all barriers of race, gender, ability and age and it attracted to it people of all ages, of all backgrounds and of all races. The movement had humble beginnings and grew from community projects, notably led by Reg Bolton the ‘guru’ of UK New Circus. Reg later fled UK shores for a life in Australia where he continued his work. However, ‘New Circus’ had no history or tradition of its own and, understandably, the professional circus had many reservations about this new wave of activity and there was much mutual suspicion.

But times change. In the UK Circus Training Schools are now well established across the regions. After the closure of the Bristol based Fool Time in 1993, Circomedia was born, now offering certificated courses. In London the Circus Space has grown from a community circus project to an internationally recognised Training Centre offering a Degree course in the Circus Arts. In Hampshire Zippo’s Academy of Circus Arts was established as a development of the professional Zippo’s Circus, a good example of how the professional circus now supports and encourages new talent. In the north of England in Rochdale there is Skylight Circus Arts, an established group providing a range of training opportunities and in Northern Ireland there is the Belfast Community Circus School. It has not been an easy ride for any of these Centres and it has taken time, effort and patience to develop. The important fact is that they are now established and recognised for their high quality of work. We have also recently seen more general circus training projects, such as ‘CircElation’ in Sheffield, providing open opportunities for people to develop skills and to set up further projects. In 1991 I was completing a Masters Degree (M.A.) researching into the place of circus within education. During my researches I discovered many youth and community circus groups who were working in isolation, blissfully unaware that there were other such groups around. It was clear that there was, at this time, no infrastructure to support the growth and development of circus at grass roots level, particularly for young people. Out of this need was born the National Association of Youth Circus (NAYC), beginning with the first ever UK National Conference on Youth Circus held in Leeds. Over the last six years the NAYC has grown in strength and has become the accepted voice of youth circus in the UK. Like the Circus Training Centres, the NAYC has not had life easy. It has taken a great deal of voluntary effort and time to create a platform for development. A significant part of the work of the NAYC has been to produce a Code of Practice for circus work with young people. This has been accepted and endorsed by the Training Centres, local Authorities, Regional Arts Boards, Insurers and the professional circus sector.

With the growth of the NAYC in the mid 1990s there appeared to be a growing awareness of the wealth of untapped talent and potential within the UK and in 1996 the Circus Space hosted an inaugural meeting of a Circus Forum where representatives from all sectors of the circus industry sat down together and talked about the future of circus. This was a major step forwards because instead of suspicion there was now open and honest discussion and what became clear at this meeting was that we were, in fact, all talking the same language. We are all travelling in the same direction but entering and exiting the Circus Highway at different points. From this time some in the professional sector have made significant contributions to the development of youth circus in particular and Gerry Cottle must be mentioned for his constant support.

Shortly after this initial meeting an Arts Council funded Circus Symposium was held in London in 1997. Unfortunately this was not as representative in its membership as it could have been, focussing mainly upon the need of performers, but it did provide another useful platform to examine the place of circus within our national Arts the wing of the Total Theatre Network. It now has its own website and growing database and hopefully will become the focus for all in the circus community. Already the Circus Arts Forum is organising a one day conference; ‘Circus - Blueprints for the Future’ to be held in April 2001.

There are parallels in continental Europe to what has happened in the UK. I am not sure if one has influenced the other or whether this indeed reflects the changing attitudes to circus across our communities. In 1993 the European Federation of Circus Schools (FEDEC) was established as a result of work undertaken by EFECOT (the European Federation for the Education of the Occupational Travellers) into structural collaboration between European Circus Schools. Several UK groups are now affiliated to FEDEC and there are now well established high quality Training Centres in many European countries.

This European dimension has been very important within the UK, especially in the growth area of Youth Circus. In 1992 Circus Zanni of Leeds hosted the first major International Youth Circus Festival to be held in the UK. This went under the title of ‘ACTU8!’. Subsequently there have been several other International Youth Circus Festivals held in Leeds over the years that have brought together hundreds of young people from across Europe (France, Belgium, Germany, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, Portugal, Netherlands, the USA and the UK) to celebrate all that is good about circus. It is true to say that whenever young people get together to work in circus there is a great transference of knowledge and ideas that aids further developments within their own groups. This has been seen over and over again throughout these festivals.

Several UK Youth Circus groups, notably Circus Zanni of Leeds, Circus Maniacs of Bristol, Skylight Youth Circus and Playbox Theatre of Warwick are well known in the international arena. They regularly organise exchanges and visits in Europe, the USA and Japan. Individual members of these groups also have worked in such faraway places as China and Russia, all to high acclaim. Playbox Theatre must be mentioned as a particular case. Although they are predominantly theatre based they have provided a continuing circus skills training element. The administrator, Stewart Mcgill, has close connections with the Cirque du Soleil and this has had a great impact upon the work of the group. Their new purpose built home in Warwick, the Dream Factory, was especially designed by Sceno Plus of Montreal and now provides a permanent performance and training space.

These international connections have also helped develop the growth of circus infrastructures in other countries. In 1997 an international meeting was held in Hannover Germany under the auspices of the organisation LKJ. At this it was agreed to move towards closer European co-operation through the formation of the ECU (European Circus Union). This was to be aided and funded by EFECOT.

Unfortunately funding was withdrawn at a later date but this laid the seeds of a future idea. At an International Youth Circus Congress in Berlin in July 2000, hosted by the group Cabuwazi, it was agreed to create a German National Youth Circus Network. This is now underway and moves are also being made to create an International Youth Circus Network. There is also a current proposal to set up a tri-partite two year Circus Teacher Training Project between Berlin, Finland and the UK. On a wider international scale we have seen the development of the American Youth Circus Organisation (AYCO) with its first major festival to take place in September 2001. There have also been discussions in creating a State Youth Circus Network in Queensland Australia and only recently I have heard that there is now formed a Spanish Association of Circus Teachers.

In 1991 I completed my MA Degree. Ten years later I have now completed my PhD Degree researching into how circus effects child development. What is significant is that I have noticed that people now are listening to what circus is all about and what it has to offer, not just in academic circles but in artistic circles, education, social development, youth work, leisure services......the list seems to go on.

So into the new millennium and what does all this mean? To me circus has become far more structured in its organisation. Infrastructures are now in place for future development of the Circus Arts, both in the UK and internationally. There is now a closer collaboration across communities that can only be positive and good for the future of the industry. Some people I am sure would argue that such structures work against the very spontaneous and creative nature of circus as an art form. Without this bedrock the art form has no platform to develop, it will remain a ‘fringe’ activity and therefore will not gain the recognition that it deserves. I look forward to another hard working decade of exciting developments in circus.

Steve Ward MA, PhD (pending)

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