SAIIER 2020:Eluciole Circus School
This year was very special, for the first time we were 2 teachers for the whole year! We could take more children and give more to each of them. We really need to be two teachers for running the school.
Activities of the year:
This year our participants were:
- Kindergarten : 15 children
- Nandanam Kindergarten : 15 children
- Transition School : 15 children
- TLC : 9 children
- Last School : 4 students
There were classes running every day, organized with each group the day and time for the year.
When the children arrive at the circus we start with minimum 40 minutes stretching and preparing the physical body and the mind, to be able to practice different physical activities in the realm of circus which require a lot of concentration and discipline.
Once the ground is sown, we aim at using the different skills as a means of expression and art form. Circus skills allow different abilities of the individual to shine through. We aim at creating a show at the end of the year, where the children can express the best of themselves.
By working with the fears of the children, the circus practice helps them to work on self-trust, confidence and building a strong mental attitude to overcome difficulties. We work on this during the classes through aerial silks and aerial yoga, hula hoop, acrobatics, juggling and some theater improvisation. Each class, especially with the younger children, is set out to adjust to their energy level and needs of their situation on that day.
Our work goes more deep than physical activity. Our focus is to allow the children to develop a growth mind-set (where they learn from failures, put in effort, are motivated, show perseverance and embrace challenges). We believe this helps the children to develop and grow in another state of consciousness, along the lines of the integral yoga of Auroville.
This year I was able to attend an intense aerial circus workshop, where I was able to learn also the important keys to teach, in a more effective way, by receiving professional ways of leading the class.
Outcomes:
This year we couldn’t present our creations with the different schools, because of the lockdown situation, but the class ran very well. The children enjoyed the work at the circus, especially preparing for the performances, and they were very sad that they couldn’t present their creations.
Circus work helps the children's development, physically and emotionally. They benefit from having successful learning experiences, giving them self-confidence through seeing that they are capable of achieving something (for example, climbing the rope 10 meters high).
In September 2019 some of my students gave a performance at the Youth Center for the AUM Festival about music, expression and arts. We set up our aerial materials hanging from a tree (always with safety precautions). This was a wonderful and very good experience for the performers. It was a beautiful sharing with the community, everybody enjoyed it, appreciated and realized how challenging this experience was for the teenagers, who trained a lot to create this performance.
Future direction:
We have moved the metal sphere structure created for Auroville's 50th birthday performance to CRIPA (finally)! Now we are building a storeroom, but with the lockdown situation we had to stop the work. When the building is done we can start having practice there, and start to work on our future productions.
The leaking problem at the circus is still a problem for us, but hopefully some help will come to repair, and we can start to work in a better condition.
We need to be 2 teachers to run the school, this has become very clear. I know that it’s not easy now to provide a maintenance for a second teacher, but it has become a necessity for the benefit of the children.
Conclusion:
This year has been a special year for everybody in the world; we are facing some situations which stop us in our work. But this situation, this experience is also there to go more deeply inside ourselves, and hopefully will bring us in another state of consciousness, the divine consciousness.
