New circus artists from Reykjavík, Oslo and Ostrava join forces to fight bullying. 

Ost­ra­va (Febru­a­ry 2, 2022) – Young fans of the new cir­cus from Rey­kja­vík (Ice­land), Oslo (Norway) and Ostrava(the Czech Repub­lic) have laun­ched a joint pro­ject that will con­nect the cul­tu­res of the three coun­tries. Toge­ther they pre­pa­re seve­ral per­for­man­ces and go to scho­ols, kin­der­gar­tens and chil­dre­n’s homes to visit the chil­dren. The­ir Edu­cati­on by Cir­cus pro­ject will have seve­ral high­li­ghts, such as per­for­man­ces at the Cir­ku­lum Fes­ti­val in June at the Sile­si­an Cast­le in Ost­ra­va, cre­a­ti­ve workshops at chil­dre­n’s camps, pro­ducti­ons of non-ver­bal the­a­ter for scho­ol­chil­dren aimed at pre­ven­ting bully­ing, or per­for­man­ces for kin­der­gar­tens about natu­re and the envi­ron­ment taking pla­ce in parks.

„Our fri­end Tiny Beat, who is dedi­ca­ted to beat­bo­xing and occasi­o­nally per­forms with us at events, recent­ly told me about a pro­ject that brings toge­ther talen­ted artists from all over the world and toge­ther they moti­va­te chil­dren to spend the­ir free time acti­ve­ly in Ger­ma­ny. I was thrilled by his sto­ry and about the gre­at atmosphe­re that pre­vails at indi­vi­du­al events, how this pro­ject moti­va­tes chil­dren and gives them new ener­gy in life. Because we have been coo­pe­ra­ting with scho­ols and chil­dre­n’s homes in the Mora­vi­an-Sile­si­an Regi­on for a long time, it has occurred to me to try a simi­lar pro­ject in our coun­t­ry and con­nect it with a new cir­cus, „the prin­ci­pal of Cir­kus tro­chu jinak, Vác­lav Pokor­ný, spe­ci­fied the ori­gin of the idea.

The freethin­king „cir­cus per­for­mers“ have managed to over­co­me all admi­nis­tra­ti­ve obstacles and rece­i­ved a grant from Norwegi­an funds, which will ena­ble the invol­ve­ment of artists from Ice­land and Norway.

It all star­ted in Decem­ber when four mem­bers of the Ice­lan­dic cir­cus art asso­ci­ati­on Hrin­de­glei­kur visi­ted the Czech Repub­lic and toge­ther with Ost­ra­va, artists and jug­glers from the Cir­cus rehear­sed a new cir­cus play. This play will be per­for­med at pri­ma­ry scho­ols in the Mora­vi­an-Sile­si­an regi­on and Ice­land in the spring. It will bring the world of cul­tu­re, sports, move­ment and art clo­ser to chil­dren. „The per­for­man­ce carries ele­ments of a new cir­cus and points to the issue of bully­ing at scho­ols. We know from our own expe­ri­en­ce that the non-tra­di­ti­o­nal world of the new cir­cus bre­aks down barriers and this could help chil­dren bre­ak down the­ir barriers and show them how to cope with pro­blems con­cer­ning bully­ing or help them spe­ak to the­ir tea­chers or parents about it,“ Vác­lav Pokor­ný explained.

The inter­nati­o­nal Edu­cati­on by Cir­cus which will con­ti­nue with jug­g­ling and art workshops for the pub­lic, with visits of Ost­ra­va cir­cus per­for­mers in Ice­land and also with spring per­for­man­ces for scho­ols and kin­der­gar­tens will cul­mi­na­te ear­lier on the second wee­kend of June at the CIRKULUM inter­nati­o­nal fes­ti­val. The fes­ti­val will move from Poru­ba Hlav­ní tří­da to the Sile­si­an Cast­le in Ost­ra­va this year. As part of the fes­ti­val, a series of per­for­man­ces for Ost­ra­va scho­ol­chil­dren will take pla­ce the­re befo­re that wee­kend. However, the pro­ject will not end with the fes­ti­val, it will con­ti­nue, for exam­ple, at a sum­mer camp for chil­dren from chil­dre­n’s homes, who will rehear­se toge­ther with artists and then per­form at homes for the elder­ly and at muni­ci­pal fes­ti­vi­ties in the region.

For more infor­mati­on, ple­a­se con­tact:
Vác­lav Pokor­ný, the prin­ci­pal of Cir­kus tro­chu jinak and the head of the Edu­cati­on by Cir­cus pro­ject
vaclav.pokorny@cirkusjinak.cz, +420 608 257 594
Nela Cha­mrá­do­vá, pro­ducti­on
nela.chamradova@cirkusjinak.cz, +420 702 001 601