Sudden screams are followed by roars of laughter, racing trainers skip on the wooden floor and singing games mix together with chatter. I feel I'm back at my school playground until Lydia, a tiny eight year-old, stumbles towards me high on her stilts and insists I try the spinning plates. Around us, kids ride the unicycle, swing the hula-hoop and juggle. We are at the Sheffield Greentop Youth Circus, a place where learning has never been as fun.
The Greentop Youth Circus opened in 1995 to keep children off the streets in the area of Grimesthorpe, one of the most deprived neighbourhoods of Sheffield. Almost 18 years later, over 6,000 children from all backgrounds participate in the numerous activities the youth circus organises each year in Sheffield.
As Youth circus tutor Trudi Patient explains to me, in the youth circus diversity is a given and integration one of its defining features: “A lot of parents have said that their children wouldn't necessarily be with other children from different backgrounds... It is quite interesting, everybody gets on”, she assures me.
We have agreed to meet each other at a café before I attend two of the youth sessions she runs in Grimesthorpe circus centre and Meersbrook church.
As I listen to her, my curiosity grows. First I ask how are the sessions organised and to my surprise she says that, although there is a basic structure, it is entirely up to the children which skill they want to practice each day.
All right, I think to myself- there is more improvisation than planning in these classes but surely they must have something ready for the Christmas show...
“The show? They are still discussing it”, answers Trudi. “It is completely run by the children. They choose the theme, the music, whether they want to get up in stage, be in charge of the lights or just welcome people at the door.”
“And how many children are there in each group?”, I ask next, hoping to get a straightforward answer.
“Roughly 18 in each session, but we never know. The circus is open access, anybody can walk in off the street and join”, she smiles.
To me, this is completely new. All I did as a child was going to ballet, judo and swimming lessons and, although they were fun, I had to follow a strict set of rules to progress.
I am mesmerized by this new approach to teaching but also a bit sceptical. How can the kids actually learn something under a “we-set-the-rules” philosophy?
The 'invisible benefits' of the circus
Many parents watch their kids play with the circus equipment at Meersbrook church, where a beginners youth session takes place every Wednesday evening.
I sit with them at the end of the room and share the joy of seeing “children being children”, as Pete Bird, a father of two comments. “The circus is a place where kids can be kids again... They get a lot of pressure nowadays. They have to be in school for many hours and perform well. We grade them in almost everything they do and encourage them to be competitive. It is is sometimes too much for them”.
The youth circus sessions are open to children and youngsters from 5 to 18 years-old. They can learn a range of circus skills including juggling, diabolo, plate spinning, stilts, unicycle or tightrope but the circus also has “invisible benefits” for them, as Trudi describes them.
“There are children who are not really good at sports, they're not really good at group games or anything like that and it is wonderful to see how they blossom at the circus. They don't realise it, but they are growing in many ways. They learn how to be persistent, how to engage in group activities, they do some physical activity, they are more creative... and they are having fun!”, she adds with a smile.
An instructive fun day
“If you want to be a clown I'll teach you”, says seven year-old Tulip holding a hulla-hoop.
“Isn't it too hard to learn?”, I ask.
“Well... Sometimes it is easy and you can learn quite fast and then you go and do the hard stuff”, she says with an encouraging smile.
Like her, many children come buzzing around me like flies asking questions and encouraging me to try things.
I stand up and try a bit of hulla-hooping with her. Then, eight year-old Lydia comes on her stilts and insists on teaching me how to spin a plate. As I slowly manage to keep it dancing on top of the stick, I grin from ear to ear, thinking about the most important thing that the youth circus teaches us a wider lesson: that it can be possible to learn by simply having fun.
by Carlota Calderon
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