ACROCONNECTION . 2021 . FRANCE
IN A NUTSHELL
⊛ Dates: 15-30 June 2021
⊛ Location: France
⊛ Who: 25 youth workers, educators, body-based practitioners interested in partner acrobatics stage presence and public awareness; and who would like to actively co-create the workshop with us!
⊛ Where from: France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Slovenia
⊛ The project was co-funded by Erasmus+ Programme: Food, travel costs and accommodation are covered.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The workshop “AcroConnection” aimed to explore how partner acrobatics and social circus can contribute to the empowerment of disadvantaged groups and the promotion of European values. The project involved youth workers and artists from various parts of Europe as well as local residents to exchange and develop educational tools using acrobatics and social circus as a source of inspiration and encouragement. We wanted to empower young people through movement and play remind them of their potential and the opportunities of their environment and show them how to become active agents in their personal lives and in their development as members of their community. In circus and acrobatics dialogue discussion and exchange of experiences challenges and perspectives in the work of participants we actively explore and explore our own potentials and limits of youth work.
Together participants explored art and culture as powerful agents producing knowledge and promoting the exchange of ideas and experiences and having an impact on society. With intense training plenty of space for interpersonal and intercultural dialogue, we wanted to reach and sensitize participants to social circus focusing on partner acrobatics stage presence and public awareness as tool empowerment and positive social change among youth. Partner acrobatics associated with social circus theatre drills provide access to social-emotional cognitive and physical experiences as well as self-assessment and self-organisation autonomy goal acquisition solidarity self-esteem physical wellbeing, communication and adaptability. Theatre and clown exercises allow participants to develop essential skills such as stage presence public awareness and openness to connect to their own vulnerability and sensitivity and offer a fun way to international participants and locals to connect.
TRAINERS
FELIX FISCHER
Felix loves connecting people into collective and artistic projects and processes. With friends and colleagues, he started the german NGO Jonglirium e.V. to support social circus music and theatre around the globe. He studied circus and special needs education (specialising in challenging behaviour and mental disability) at the Humboldt University (Berlin) and is very grateful for a meaningful chance to combine his skills into projects that create opportunities and broaden horizons.
He is a passionate acrobat & musician performing with the FourStringCompany all over Europe after cycling and performing for half a year in South America. In acrobatics, his passion is to discover & understand the magic points where the tricks build up from and how to find balance and connection before adding momentum. Also, he started a beautiful project space in the nature in East Germany together with like-minded creative people in 2016 – hosting trainings workshops and events there.
BRUNO MORERA
Musician, Clown, Street Performer, Acrobat, Bruno has a huge experience in itinerancy and nomadism. He has toured for almost 10 years with nomad companies. He works clown for individuals and improvisation for groups in all three practical levels: directing performing and coaching. He participated to the research-action of Ser’p’art in the field of collective improvisation in the public
space and worked on this topic with many directors (Loco Brusca, Jango Edwards, John Melville, Jef Johnson, Juan Carlos Muñoz...). In his interest for the physical body on stage, he also trained contemporary dance butoh, acro yoga, standing acrobatics, Thai massage and vegetarian cooking.
MARTA WITECKA
Marta is a handstand, yoga and acroyoga teacher, with an experience in partner acrobatics. She discovered yoga in 2011 and that brought her later to handstands and acroyoga. Her life changed completely once she abandoned her sprouting legal career and decided to commit to the teaching practice, which has been bringing her joy and opportunity to connect to people and share her passions. She has been teaching movement for a few years continuously and what's most important for her is motivating people to move their bodies and minds and find their own practices which make them happy.
She believes it's possible to make dreams come true if we really believe in them and work hard to make them happen. Marta is an active vinyasa yoga teacher, AcroYoga pioneer in Poland and creator of the learning platform www.HandstandWorks.com which offers an online handstand training.
Further reading:
Standing On Your Hands Is Not Such A Distant Idea
The moment you put your hands on the ground and bring your feet up the whole world ceases to exist… kind of. Because you feel like a child again, for whom there is nothing but what it does here and now. That’s what makes standing on hands more than just an acrobatic trick.
This training course has been co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme. If you would like to find out more about the programme, please visit European Commission’s webpage here.
