Circus TransFormation in Action, CTF, is a social circus training program run by Caravan International Youth and Social Circus Network. After seven cycles of the training, Caravan and Sorin Sirkus gathered CTF alumni together for two days. In the Alumni Meeting, participants shared knowledge and reflected on how the alumni network could look like. This article summarizes the discussions from the perspective of one CTF alumnus.

It’s 9:08 a.m. on a June Sunday morning, and I’m sipping my coffee at Ecole de Cirque de Bruxelles. I’m a little bit nervous but mostly excited. The first-ever CTF Alumni Meeting is about to start! It’s been a while since I’ve met international circus people, and I don’t know many of the participants in this event. However, I’m sure the next two days are going to be very fun and informative.

CTF stands for Circus Trans Formation In Action and it’s Caravan’s flagship international social circus training program. The program is based on 5 years of European-funded research and it provides ongoing training in social circus. The participants take 4 modules in 4 different European circus schools, joining circus trainers from across the world. Seven cycles of CTF have been completed between 2015 and 2024. In total, 149 participants from 20 different countries have taken part. 

I was part of CTF 4, which was arranged in 2018-2019. In the years after the training, I’ve chosen another path outside of the circus community. I changed cities and changed careers, so my ties to circus have weakened over the years. However, CTF was such a great experience that I jumped at the chance to experience a glimpse of it again.

The Alumni Meeting gathered circus trainers in Brussels

Since the very first round of CTF, the participants have longed for possibilities to keep the connections and meet other circus trainers across the world. Caravan, with the help of Sorin Sirkus and Ecole de Cirque de Bruxelles, decided to organise an Alumni Meeting to meet people, share knowledge, and think about the future of the Alumni Network.

“CTF inspired me a lot – it opened a door to a new world. It was amazing and powerful. I hope that these kinds of alumni meetings continue, so that I can keep the contact with the people and Caravan”. – Participant of CTF 7

We were 15 people from all over Europe: Finland, Belgium, Ireland, Slovenia, Italy, Sweden… The participants represented almost all CTF cycles, only CTF 2 was missing.

Before the meeting, we were asked to prepare name games, icebreakers, and energizers, and we got a chance to play many of them. I bet everyone learned several new games to take home. We also learned new techniques related to object manipulation and functional juggling. The program was flexible and the participants’ wishes were taken into account.

In addition to the games and object manipulation, there were discussions and workshops on topics related to social circus. In this article, I’m summarizing some of the conversations. To understand the state of social circus better, I also conducted short interviews with four CTF alumni and Caravan Coordinator Bara Adolfova.

What is social circus, and who is it aimed at?

The definition of social circus varies, so depending on who you ask, you might get a different answer. A widely shared definition is that social circus is the use of circus arts as a tool for social change. 

In social circus, the focus is on personal growth, social inclusion, and self-expression rather than on technique. Youth circus typically refers to recreational activities organised by non-governmental organisations, where children and young people practice circus arts in weekly classes.

Social circus activities are aimed at groups of people who are, for some reason, in a more disadvantaged social position than others. In the Alumni Meeting, we realized how varied the target groups are that we work with, from children to seniors.

Examples of target groups that the CTF Alumni work with:

• Blind and visually impaired people
• Immigrants
• Seniors
• People with physical or cognitive disabilities
• People with substance abuse problems
• People with mental health issues
• Hospital patients
• Prisoners

The definition of social circus sparked some discussions among the participants. For example, if your work is technically in youth circus class, but much time is spent on supporting young people with mental health issues, is it youth circus or social circus?

Social circus faces both organisational and practical challenges 

The field of social circus is developing, but it doesn’t come without challenges. In the group discussions and interviews I had with people, I heard challenges both at an organisational level and the trainer’s level.

Organisational challenges:

• Funding. Funding is often project-based, and when it runs out, the projects often end.
• Measuring the impact. Social circus organisations often lack the skills or resources to measure the impact of their work.
• Youth participation. Organisations see youth participation as something important, but they struggle to find the time to include young people in decision-making.
• Outreach. Finding new participants and keeping them can be challenging, because circus and its benefits are not widely known.

“I’m worried that there will be even more funding cuts to the arts and youth work. Circus organisations have been creative in fitting their projects in different funding boxes, but we might have to get even more creative in the future.”

“As a field, circus cares about what young people have to say. Unfortunately, many organisations don’t have the resources or time to focus on youth participation.”

Trainer-level challenges:

• Conflict management in class. Children, especially those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, might end up fighting in class or not listening to instructions.
• Trainer’s motivation and skill development. It can be difficult to teach the same techniques over and over. Another challenge is when the students reach a higher skill level than the teacher.
• Not being understood by others in the organisation. Many CTF participants come back to their organisation buzzing with new ideas. It can be difficult to make change, when people in the administration and other trainers don’t share the same information from CTF training.

“It’s hard to make a change alone in your organisation. Others don’t always share the same vision with me.” 

We discussed these topics and shared good practices that have helped to solve the challenges. Things don’t change overnight, but hearing encouraging experiences from other trainers can spark new ideas.

Battling societal changes with social circus – now and in the future

“In the future, social circus will…”

Circus is not detached from the rest of the society. Through a workshop, we mapped phenomena affecting social circus, and imagined what the future might bring.

What might social circus look like in the future?

• Circus will become more wide-spread in places where it currently isn’t
• Social circus will not be called social circus – it’s just “circus” for everyone
• Circus will become part of healthcare
• We will see more cross-disciplinary approaches, where circus collaborates with other professionals, for example teachers
• As the society changes, social circus will have new target groups: the elderly, refugees (from war but also climate change), LGBTQ+ people, people with digital addictions, people suffering from mental health issues
• Circus will be more recognised and become part of school curricula
• International in-person meetings will need more consideration as climate change affects plane travel
• Funding cuts will happen, but the circus field finds new creative options for funding
• Circus can offer a space for an “offline experience” in a world where digital addictions and problems caused by social media become more common

Social circus is a powerful tool to solve societal issues. We’ve seen many success stories where circus has been able to bring people together or encourage individuals through difficult times. Circus is adaptive and fits many target groups. Whatever the future brings, I have no doubt that circus will continue to help people.

CTF has been a life-changing experience for many

“CTF changed my life. It happened quite early on in my circus journey, and I found a real sense of community. It broadened my horizon.”  – Participant of CTF 6

“CTF made me so much more confident as a teacher. It gave me a background, a basis for my work.” – Participant of CTF 5

“CTF was really good because I got to see what’s happening elsewhere. I learned about different projects, and a lot of new games. I can bring that knowledge home. Overall, I’m more motivated than I was before CTF.” – Participant of CTF 6

“CTF didn’t bring me that much new knowledge related to teaching circus, because our organisation is quite developed already. However, it was interesting to see and hear how people do circus elsewhere. I heard about doing circus with refugees in a refugee camp and other things that are really far from our safe reality in Finland.” – Participant of CTF 3

I interviewed people about the experience of CTF and what they learned through it. Many described it as “transformative”, or “life-changing”. Meeting people from all over the world and sharing knowledge was something that they hadn’t experienced before. The training gave them tools to use in their work and more self-confidence as circus trainers.

For others, the biggest benefits of CTF came from seeing and hearing how circus is being taught elsewhere. Especially people working in big organisations easily forget that not everyone has the same resources. They see how much can be accomplished even with a small space or limited funding.

Even years after completing the training, the memories and learnings from CTF are strong. There’s clearly a need for a program like this in the field of youth and social circus.

The Alumni Network can continue to bring people together

This was the first CTF Alumni Meeting organised in this format. Part of the program was to discuss what the Alumni Network could look like. How would CTF trainers want to be connected with each other and with Caravan in the future? We had insightful discussions on this topic.

What the CTF alumni would like to get from the network:

• Keeping the connections alive – whatever the format
• Regular in-person meetings to share knowledge, possibly with a specific theme
• Finding project partners, for example for youth exchanges
• Finding expertise within the network, for example related to specific target groups
• Getting to know participants from other CTF cycles

We agreed that the timing of the meeting is important. This meeting ended up being rather small – there were 12 CTF alumni present and the organisers. Early June was a challenging time for many, because end-of-term activities were going on in many organisations. Hopefully we can find a timing for future meetings that would work better for the majority of people.

There was a shared feeling among the participants that this meeting was insightful and important, and we wish that these types of meetings continue in the future.

Green(er) travel – from Belgium to Finland by train

Climate change came up in our discussions about the future of social circus. As we all know, flying produces a lot of carbon emissions. Having an international meeting means that most of the participants fly across Europe to participate.

With this event, I decided to try an alternative approach – I came back to Finland by train. I flew to Brussels, but wanted to reduce the carbon emissions that my trip creates, so I decided to do part of it “on land”. I also saw a chance to visit a friend on my way, in Germany. I took a train to Münster and spent two days working remotely from my friend’s home. Then I continued my journey to Copenhagen, the next day to Stockholm, and finally crossed the Baltic Sea by ferry. In total, I spent around 18 hours on the train and 12 hours on a ferry over four travel days.

For most participants, the journey to Brussels wouldn’t take as long as for a Finnish person. I would love to see more people choose to travel by train in future events. Erasmus+ funding supports Green travel by additional support for the extra costs of travel. I understand that the higher cost of train travel and the longer time that it takes are barriers for many. But if you have the possibility, give it a try!

Traveling by train allows time to think and reflect – or write. Part of this article was written on the train on my way back to Finland.

By Sohvi Silius