The circus has always been part of my life. I have practised different circus disciplines in a non-professional way since I was very little and, even if it never took first place in my everyday life, it was always following me. To me, as well as to the people that compose “my world,” the circus is something familiar, or at least known. So, understandably, the circus was the first thing I had in mind when I was told about the possibility of running a workshop for a Cultural Friday at MRCF. The premise was good: I had been working here as an intern for two months, so I already knew most of the participants. In addition, I had the chance to attend another Cultural Friday workshop, a very fascinating one about drawing run by Caspar. At the same time I had doubts: Will it look silly? Will they be bored? How does the activity have to be designed to appeal to people that have probably heard very little about the circus? I was keen to share with them a taste of something that has always been part of my life and filled me with perplexity at the same time.…
All my doubts disappeared from the beginning of the activity. What I am especially pleased about was the participants’ welcoming attitude towards me and the things I was presenting. The group was quite numerous - around fifteen people showed up and this made the atmosphere animated. We started off with a short informative part, during which I showed them some videos of contemporary performances, both by famous circus companies and by lesser-known “underground” artists. Then we developed a discussion arising from the individuals' knowledge, memories and experiences. Step-by-step, a clearer picture came up of circus being traditionally a travelling art, along with the different artists that might be found in a company - from acrobats to clowns, animal trainers, funambulists, and jugglers.
After that we switched to a more practical activity, namely juggling. We started from the very preliminary step of making the juggling balls out of raw materials, such as flour, balloons, wire, tape, and elastic. It soon turned out to be not too easy to actually make these balls and it required a fair amount of patience from all of us. However, no one gave up! Some of the faster ones could proceed to the second phase and attached a wire to the balls to obtain bolas (sort of chains). Apart from myself - jumping around, passing around scissors and replacing broken balloons - the group was relaxed and curious. At that stage, not everybody was clear we were actually going to use the tools we made, so when I announced it, it sounded almost like a joke: “Do you want me to juggle?!”
Yes, eventually, everybody became a juggler for a while. The kids, grown-ups, men and women. Regardless of their scepticism, all of them tried. I taught and showed them how to do it and gave them advice, but the bigger effort was theirs. Mulugeta, to all my surprise, already knew how to juggle, and his help made the difference. The more determined ones started to collect around him, while I was trying to encourage and help the less confident ones. Some continued their attempts for almost an hour; others opted for enjoying the show with a cup of tea. The atmosphere was thrilling, followed by an endless chat between the participants, interrupted sometimes by loud laughs.
I keep a warm image from the activity. I had the clear feeling that, for a while, these people were given the opportunity to forget their hard lives and have fun together. What they will bring home from this friday will vary from one to another - it might be a positive memory, or a new skill, or a new person to talk to. I had a great time, and I want to thank all of them for giving me such a good experience: Omid, Aziza, Kanjuka, Dorcas, Mulugeta, Mjdeh, Riad, Abrehet, Sandra, Adel, Ali, Ala, Geraldine, Sandra, and Leon.
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