Performing (Dis)ability through circus skills

1. Performing (Dis)ability through circus skills Teaching circus skills to individuals living with learning disabilities in Northern Ireland Dr Nick McCaffery

2. Introduction/background

3. Streetwise Community Circus aims to make circus skills accessible to people throughout Northern Ireland, irrespective of gender, age, disability, or economic, religious or cultural background, by providing circus workshops throughout the community run by teams of experienced tutors. • Streetwise Community Circus aims to make circus performing/teaching a viable and sustainable living for our members.

4. New members must achieve a level of competence in all the skills that we teach Administration is on a per workshop basis – resulting in a 25%– 75% administration to artist expenditure

5. Benefits of Circus skills • bringing people together using circus as a common bond • raising confidence and self-esteem • increase mobility or fitness • providing an opportunity for future employment • Just making you more attractive to the opposite sex • (although that turned out to be a lie!)

7. Disability and Circus • Began in 2002 • Funded by Arts Council for Northern Ireland & Belfast City Council • Slow process, but dynamic quality! • The need to become more professional

8. What happens in a disability workshop • Full range of circus skills • Juggling, stilts, unicycle, clowning, etc. • 3 (ideal) stages of a project • Introductions; focus; performance. • Potential for group work and individual performances • New techniques for teaching • Peer and carer support

9. Glengormley showcase video Available at www.sccw.co.uk

10. Pyramid infrastructure for disability circus projects

11. Outreach Projects

12. Evergreen Project • Designed for those who wish to continue with circus skills • Focus on performance • Belfast based • Moving toward more participant governance

13. Summer School • Began in 2009 • c.20 performers, 5 tutors, 2 directors … plus other artists/volunteers • 2 weeks of intense work

14. International directors Tend not to have a circus background Enable our performers to add much more than just circus skills Broad range of additional skills

15. Summer School 2011 showcase video Available at www.sccw.co.uk

16. And thank you for inviting me to work with the amazing group of performers! A Heckuva Hullabaloo! was built from their inspiration from start to finish. Normally, I dislike using the word inspiring to characterize people with disabilities (myself included), as it's connotation is usually used to describe bravery and overcoming obstacles in the face of adversity. But after getting to know the group, their likes, dislikes, passions, and strengths, in this case, inspiring is the only word that fits. Not because they are overcoming obstacles in the face of adversity, but because, they brought themselves to the process and participated fully with open hearts. Their fearlessness, humour and wit, individuality, and openness were the most important ingredients we used to create the show. In my 20-year career and as actor and director, working with both disabled and nondisabled artists, this is the first time I can recall the experience being 100% positive from start to finish. Christine Bruno 2010

17. Evaluating the projects • Relative lack of supporting academic study • Discovering the value of social circus, • Communicating the value of social circus • Participant observation and qualitative analysis … aka • Collecting stories • Spread the word!!!

18. Feedbackfrom performers “It was the best thing I had done from myself and most of all is you. Thank you for you. All activities” “An avenue for excess energy which meant I am more settled in the afternoon.” “I met new friend” “I learned to juggle. I learned to be less shy” “I learned some really cool tricks to show my family” “The people I had was emotional to me. Had reaction. Great fun to do. Thank you.”

19. Feedback from families/carers My daughter had a ball and just loved every minute of her time spent with you all Confidence has grown Positive mood. Looking forward to practice. Saying I’m happy. What Streetwise do for Megan we couldn’t do in a million years Better sleep and more positive Yesterday my son was able to button his own shirt, for the 1st time A marked increase in self confidence More positive in his moods

20. Feedback from families/carers “I’m a parent of a young man with 2 disabilities. He’s severely autistic and struggles with communication and confidence. My son has been buzzing for the past two weeks. He is so eager to go and talks non-stop about all the happenings. He has felt included and valued. To see my son so full of exuberance and excited about his involvement has been such a blessing. My son has been in a number of activities/schemes over the years and this is the only one he has asked to go back to – normally I have to encourage/nudge out the door. I’ve waited 18 years for that”

21. Feedback from partner staff “Positive body language to indicate increase in confidence” “I watched one of our very shy clients grow in confidence each week. By the end, he was walking into the hall and joining in the group with no prompting whatsoever.” “I have been working in learning disabilities for 10 years now, but this really made me re-evaluate, and realise that our clients can be capable of things that we wouldn’t have thought they could do. I think it will make me try new and more adventurous activities with my group in future.”

23. Feedback from our own tutors • Keep it simple, but regular • Devise methods for gathering data • Allow for open – ended answers • Evaluation encourages our tutors to reflect on their work, and (hopefully) to improve At the beginning of the project X was basically wheeled in and sat in the corner and told to watch and by today she was trying on her own to work out a complicated hat juggling piece.

24. Feedback from our own tutors“describing the impact” I feel the impact was very positive for most of the participants, and at least positive for all. X worked very hard on hats and juggling for the whole project and got to show these skills off. He would often comment on how his mother said that it was helping him at home. Y picked up skills very fast but found it hard to concentrate on one routine, and to work with other participants. He showcased a hat routine with 3 others and I feel his ability to work in this group improved during the project. I feel Z become less shy and more vocal during the project, and her mobility during warm ups seemed to improve along with the project. I think that everyone gained socially from the project through informal talking, listening and group activities. Everyone learnt a physical skill they hadn't known previously and, while hard to measure, I think everyone felt proud of themselves and happy with the result of the showcases.

25. Concluding thoughts • Social Circus has the potential to work • Circus and learning disability has the potential to work • Be patient • Learn to talk to health professionals and act professionally • Record everything and distribute this data – even if it shows people all the mistakes made • Make it fun, but don’t make it just fun!