SATURDAY CIRCUS (ages 8 - 18 years)
From humble beginnings meeting on a patch of grass every Saturday, the Youth Circus now has over one hundred members, still meeting on Saturdays, but now in a state of the art circus building. There are three sessions each week of the school year where members learn how to juggle, walk on stilts, spin diabolos, perform acrobatic manoeuvres, walk the tightwire and perform on the trapeze.
Despite all the learning, there is a large social element to the Youth Circus, reflecting the fact that it provides a unique opportunity for many young people to meet up with others from different communities.
All the teachers used by the School are trained in circus techniques, First Aid and Child Protection issues.
Saturday Circus is currently full, but Belfast Circus School aims to stage a range of other opportunities for young people to get involved.

ITTY BITTY CIRCUS (ages 2 - 7 years)
These are classes to cater for ages 2 - 7 years old. They are broken down into three age groups: The Bumble Bees for 2 -3 years old; the Zebras for 4 - 5 years old; and the Gazelles for 6 -7 years old.
Since Itty Bitty Circus started over 2 years ago, it has become the most popular class offered by the Circus School. Taught by expert professionals with sensitivity and encouragement, your child could be taking part in lessons involving basic acrobatics, balancing, creative expression, juggling and aerial arts.
All classes are 1 hour per week for a 12 week term. These classes are currently full and a waiting list exists. For other Itty Bitty opportunities please see the section below on New Classes 2010.

SHOWS
For more than twenty years, Belfast Circus School has been providing opportunities for young people to take part in performances - both frontstage and backstage. Members of the Youth Circus have been responsible for staging Ireland's first circus theatre shows and introducing a new genre to the public here. Shows have ranged from large scale productions at Belfast's Waterfront Hall starring more than forty young people, through to informal cabarets performed to friends and family.
The coming 12 months will see members take part in a Christmas Circus Cabaret; create a new show for performance in the 2010 Festival of Fools; and finally create a small performance troupe which will take shows to youth and community groups across Northern Ireland.
The emphasis for young people taking part in performances is that they enjoy their experience, but many participants have taken it all very seriously and gone on to become professional performers, teachers and technicians.

EXCHANGES - INTERNATIONAL CIRCUS

With a co-founder from Australia and tutors from across the globe, it is perhaps not surprising that the Youth Circus should have a strong international dimension. Over the years, members have taken part in exchanges with youth circus groups around the world. This has seen young people travel to USA, Australia, Peru, France, Germany, Belgium and the Republic Ireland. They have also worked alongside young people from Finland, Holland, Argentina, Russia and Luxembourg. Our international reputation even extends to Canada, where we have been invited to speak at seminars organised by Cirque du Soleil.
Belfast Circus School is also a founder member of Caravan - a pan European federation of youth circus schools committed to sharing best practice and promoting international exchanges.

Youth Exchange Summer 09 - CARAVAN network
Last summer Belfast Circus School hosted an international Youth Circus exchange project called Caravan of Creativity, which involved talented young people from Paris, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Tampere and Belfast.
28 young people and eight leading European circus professionals combined forces in a programme supported by the European Union’s Youth In Action programme. This highly motivated group came together in Belfast to learn about each other’s cultures at the same time as perfecting their circus technique and creating a brand new circus show, which appeared in the Summer Sundays programme.

Circus School from Northern Visions/NvTv on Vimeo.

MAKING IT HAPPEN
Recently, some members of the Youth Circus have begun to get more involved in the structures of Belfast Circus School. As well as developing a structure to engage all members in the democratic process of the organisation, they have started a number of practical projects which will soon see the light of day. Over the next few months, you can expect to see a message board where members of youth circus groups around the world can meet and talk circus. Also coming up in the next few months is an online circus shop, where you will be able to get everything from unicycles to circus socks!!!

OTHER YOUTH CIRCUS CLASSES

Over the coming year, Belfast Circus School will be staging a number of classes to introduce newcomers into circus activities. We currently stage a 'Once a Fortnight Club' for people on the waiting list to have an introduction to circus skills. We will also be staging some extra classes in trapeze, juggling and acrobatics (for 16 years +) Please see New Classes 2010 in the Adult Training Section.
In addition, members of Saturday Circus will also have the chance to take specialist advanced classes in acrobatics, trapeze, juggling, Chinese pole and clowning.
Over the past year, members have also had access to training in backstage and technical stagecraft.

NEW NON SUBSIDISED CLASSES FOR 2010:

The classes run by the Circus School have been so popular that there are many hundreds of people on the waiting list for subsidised classes. Rather than wait for Government to put more money into the arts, we are staging a series of classes at the full cost so that more people can take part.
We will still maintain our waiting lists for subsidised classes.

ITTY BITTY CIRCUS: Mondays from April 12th - June 14th. Monkeys (4 -5 year olds) 4:30 - 5:30pm; Giraffes (6 - 7 year olds) 6 - 7pm
Cost for 8 week term - £50. Limited places - payment required in advance.

YOUTH CIRCUS: Starting Sunday 9th May...Class 2 - 4pm
These sessions will offer young people the chance to learn the whole range of circus including unicycle, juggling, trapeze, diabolo, acrobatics, rola bola, tightwire and much, much more.
Cost for 8 weeks: £80. Limited places - payment required in advance. 2 places remaining

To register or for more information, email sinead@belfastcircus.org or call 02890 236 007

GETTING INVOLVED:

At present there is a waiting list to join the Youth Circus and the Itty Bitty Circus, but this is moving all the time, so if you are interested, please contact us and we will put your name on the list and let you know when any classes are coming up.

email sinead@belfastcircus.org