Re-imagining the development of circus artists for the twenty-first century

Burtt, Jon; Lavers, Katie

doi:10.1080/19443927.2017.1316305

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The work of circus artists is compared to that of competitive athletes (Ménard & Hallé, 2014), dancers and actors (Goudard, 2010; Leroux, 2014; Wallon, 2002), but has unique challenges in terms of extreme physicality, mental problem solving, and overcoming danger (Bouissac, 2006; Kristensen, 2004). Texts addressing the education of circus artists report on the diversity of physical and artistic techniques that students must learn (Burtt & Lavers, 2017; Étienne, Vinet, & Vitali, 2014; European Federation of Professional Circus Schools, 2008; Filho, Aubertin, & Petiot, 2016; Herman, 2009; Munro, 2014). Cirque du Soleil’s innovation has been accredited to their judicious intersections with the complementary expertise in the fields of dance, theater, sport, and music (Leroux & Batson, 2016; Rantisi & Leslie, 2014).…”

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confidence: 99%

Empirical development of a screening method for mental, social, and physical wellness in amateur and professional circus artists.

Donohue

Gavrilova

Galante

et al. 2020

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

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There is limited information available to assist evidence-supported detection and referral of mental, social, and physical health issues affecting performance in circus artists. Therefore, this study examines mental, social, and physical health of artists in 2 circus settings (circus school, professional circus). The specific aims were to assess overall health and develop data-informed wellness screening methods in these populations, assisting referral guidelines for performance and health optimization. A comprehensive psychometrically validated battery of standardized measures was administered to 109 professional circus artists employed by Cirque du Soleil and students enrolled in the National Circus School. Compared with students, professionals reported significantly fewer problems with social isolation, fatigue, and factors that interfere with circus performance specific to shows/evaluations; they also reported greater satisfaction in their social roles and overall circus performance. Professionals also reported significantly less severe depression, and greater receipt of emotional and informational support compared with normative samples. Scores of students were similar to those of normative samples, although their scores measuring anxiety and fatigue were higher. There were no significant differences between professionals and students in perceived interferences during training, or circus-related problems with coaches and classmates/coworkers. For all participants, scores on measures of mental, social, and physical health were negatively associated with factors reported to interfere with circus performance. Participant responses to the measures were used to develop guidelines to facilitate detection of factors interfering with performance and to assist informed referrals.

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confidence: 99%

Empirical development of a screening method for mental, social, and physical wellness in amateur and professional circus artists.

Donohue

Gavrilova

Galante

et al. 2020

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

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“…In accordance with the multisystemic model of resilience and physical literacy principles, our previously developed Circus for Development Model (CfD – see Figure 2 left) will be used to guide the development of the intervention. Informed by empirical work and applied intervention done within the circus context (e.g., Ménard and Hallé, 2014 ; Burtt and Lavers, 2017 ), CfD presents a continuum of competencies to be developed through and for circus artists’ optimal growth from novice to expert. Namely, it integrates four key attributes that have been shown to contribute to artists’ performance and wellbeing, including physical attributes ( Decker et al, 2019 ; Kriellaars et al, 2019 ; Barker et al, 2020 ), psychological attributes ( Shrier and Hallé, 2011 ; Filho et al, 2016 ; Ross and Shapiro, 2017 ; Donohue et al, 2018 ; van Rens and Filho, 2019 ), interpersonal and social attributes ( Filho et al, 2017 ; Filho and Rettig, 2018 ), and creative attributes ( Leroux and Batson, 2016 ).…”

Section: Methods and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since circus arts exemplifies a truly embodied cognition context, a holistic approach is required to simultaneously address cognitive, affective and performance demands ( Rokotnitz, 2018 ). There is currently no research examining holistic health interventions in circus students and limited evidence in performance artists in general; however, leaders in the field argue that integrating interventions supporting coping, resilience, and creativity as part of the circus school curriculum is key to optimize artists’ wellbeing ( Ménard and Hallé, 2014 ; Filho et al, 2016 ; Burtt and Lavers, 2017 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supporting Holistic Wellbeing for Performing Artists During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Recovery: Study Protocol

et al. 2021

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The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the abrupt closure of circus schools, venues, and companies, introducing a myriad of novel stressors. Performers and students must now attempt to maintain their technical, physical, artistic, creative, and cognitive abilities without in-person support from their coaches and must manage the isolation from their training and performing spaces. For circus artists, the transposition of the work space to a home environment is not possible, which creates novel stressors that could lead to the exacerbation and escalation of mental health issues. The purpose of this study is to develop, implement and evaluate a holistic interventional program based on the socio-ecological model of resilience and operationalized through physical literacy. This will be a prospective longitudinal study with a retrospective comparison to data from a similar student cohort pre-pandemic. Interventions were designed using a population-specific, participant-based developmental model within a knowledge translation framework. The interventional program includes group webinars, small group information sessions, and one-on-one Zoom meetings, in addition to the distribution of electronic educational materials. The interventions will holistically provide psychological, physical, social, technical, artistic, and creative supports. Resources will be deployed throughout the closure period and through recovery, as transitions to return to training after prolonged hiatus will magnify known psychological and physical difficulties. Repeated, longitudinal assessment of students will be utilized to track changes over time at key transitions in the pandemic and school year and will be compared to a pre-pandemic school year. The framework for this program will be translatable to other performing arts and high-performance contexts. The program has implications for the mental health and overall wellbeing of artists and for cultural and economic recovery of the industry.

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“…Continuous travel is the requirement for circus artists; they have to switch from one town to another to perform and entertain people [4,14]. Among their performers there are those who fled their homes an4d entered the carnival as the only choice in their adolescence [15,16], while others are the individuals who joined the circus at will as a profession. Most of the artists join the ring at three or four years of age and spend all their lives on the wheel there.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Artistical Conceptualisation of Jewellery Works for Circus Artists

Qazi¹,

Qazi²,

Mahmood³

et al. 2020

AJAD

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The idea behind the research study lies mainly in the traveling art of the artist, as well as in her friendliness and affection for the poor young performers of the circus, as well as in the refreshing of old recreation shows. The resilient nation of Pakistan has long suffered the turmoil of terrorist attacks. Such heinous acts against civilians and security forces have created, albeit short-lived, a sense of demoralization in the society. The research was conducted as a qualitative analysis and covered the back story of homelessness and at-risk Circus youth / artists, life style (container / cottage), difficulties, learning, travel, and management, etc. It is a unique attempt in Pakistan's Art Studio to design and manufacture contemporary jewelry pieces (brooches) reflecting the circumstances of the Circus youth / workers / artists' lifestyle, physical and emotional integrity was a rich source of inspiration that motivated me during my replication and analysis process. For circus artists, the carnival continues to travel; it keeps moving from one city to another to perform and entertain people. Hence highlighting their societal challenges and being closely associated to political, cultural and artistic realities. The art pieces of the project help to illustrate and understand the lives of circus performers, deprived of the freedom of the conditions under which they work, and the fun fashion they adopt in return.

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Re-imagining the development of circus artists for the twenty-first century

Cited by 12 publications

References 11 publications

Empirical development of a screening method for mental, social, and physical wellness in amateur and professional circus artists.

Empirical development of a screening method for mental, social, and physical wellness in amateur and professional circus artists.

Supporting Holistic Wellbeing for Performing Artists During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Recovery: Study Protocol

The Artistical Conceptualisation of Jewellery Works for Circus Artists

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