Get to know our ESC volunteers - Clemence

Where are you from?

I come from Brittany, Northwest of France. It’s a place that is usually mocked for bad weather, but I think I discovered a place that might be worse – Ireland! Haha!

What is your training or background in circus or the arts?

I have no experience in circus, but I have some experience working with young people and in the arts too.

I found a passion for artistic gymnastics when I was very young, and since then I have been a gymnast, a volunteer coach and a judge. My experience in gymnastics helps me in my work at the circus because in each discipline you need to have a bit of confidence and knowledge of your body.

I try to bring art into everything I do. In my last job in France, I was working as a youth leader, and I always came with creative activities that I also wanted to try. This way I learned to do a lot of nice things in art.

One of my goals in life is to become a makeup artist for movies and/or theatre and I’ve done some small projects with this, including two in Ireland. I volunteered with Macnas to do makeup for the Halloween parade in Galway and Dublin, which was amazing, and I also had the chance to use this passion at the circus for the Christmas Cabaret.

What made you want to volunteer at GCC?

I really needed to work on myself, alone in another country. I started to look at the European Solidarity Corps, thanks to the advice of a colleague at the time.
I found this opportunity and immediately knew it was made for me. It’s a mix of everything that is important to me: art, teaching, helping, and inspiring new generations of young people who really want to find their space in this world in a safe place.

When I was younger and in school, we had to take an online test to see which type of work would suit us best and I got “circus artist”. I always laughed about it because it was far from what I was thinking, but apparently it was a big sign for my future! Here we are 10 years later, and I am now working in the circus world.

Who is your sending organisation? Tell us about them.

My sending organisation is JTM “youth around the world” in Rennes. They are helping young people by proposing a lot of interesting projects to do around the world, like gap years, internships, and volunteering.

What do you love about working with GCC?

Working at Galway Community Circus is a big opportunity, because it really is a mix of everything that is important to me - the arts, teaching the next generation and giving them tools for their future. The fact that GCC cares a lot about mental health is also amazing.

I have amazing colleagues who really want to make our year here a great experience and I’m learning a lot from them. I’m thankful to work in a safe environment. It’s a good feeling to go to work knowing you’ll spend your day working with kind people, in a place where you’ll be able to add something special that comes from yourself.

So what do I love? My work, my colleagues, the values … everything!

What projects are you working on at the circus and what results do you hope to achieve?

Right now, I’m working with my fellow ESC volunteer Sophie on creating image cards for different circus props that show how to do certain tricks. These cards will give the tutors more ideas for teaching disciplines that are not their specialties. Because there are different ways of teaching and learning, the cards are another helpful tool in learning circus. They will also be good for young people to reference when they are working on a performance, because they can choose certain tricks that are on the cards. I really hope it will help them when they are trying and learning new things.

I also want to work on a calendar for the Circus. The idea would be to take nice pictures of our members on circus props, with costumes and makeup, and in each photo show a different emotion that people feel in life, focusing on mental health. I really want to help people learn more about mental health through this calendar because sometimes it’s a subject that people don’t want to talk about or are denied the opportunity to talk about.

What do you love about Ireland?

I really love Galway, for now it’s by far my favourite city here. I love walking in the city centre, at the Spanish Arch, the Salthill prom, and going to Blackrock. I really enjoyed the Christmas swim; it was cold but fun.

People are very nice here and the landscape is beautiful. I really love to hear the musicians on the street, and I love the Irish language – I'm trying to learn it. I really love this country.

What are a few important things you have learned while volunteering with GCC?

I learned I can live in another country. I am learning a lot about myself and my capabilities. Moving far from home is removing all ideas that people have about you, all influences from others, and everything people told you that you couldn’t do or that you should do. Being alone in another country is the perfect way for me to discover who I am and want to be.

I am learning how to teach circus, which is similar but also very different from gymnastics. Gymnastics is very a strict sport, and sometimes too much is asked of the young people doing it. I am learning how to teach in a non-competitive way.

I am trying to learn a bit of everything so I can be a better support in classes. So far, I have learned aerial hoop, trapeze, Chinese pole, unicycle, tightwire, and juggling.

What is one thing you love about circus in general?

What I love the most is the ability to be myself without having to worry too much about what people think. It’s a very welcoming and open-minded world. There are so many possibilities in circus. It’s amazing to try new things and do something different.

Circus is amazing because you can be yourself or whoever you choose to be and express yourself through incredibly crazy artistic disciplines.

Why do you think a program like ESC is important?

This type of program is so important because since I was very young, I always followed the “normal path” - kindergarten, primary school, elementary school, high school, university... so I always learned the same things, the same way, in the same environment with the same people, which is not very interesting. Learning things by discovering the world is for me so much better and has much more impact than sitting in a chair listening to the same people 8 hours a day.

It’s very important to have this opportunity available and to know something like this is a possibility for young people. I only heard about it at the age of 25, and I really wish that I knew about it sooner. It’s a safe way to go live in another country for the first time, because you know that you will have everything you need there before going, you have the support of a lot of people if you have any issues, and it’s also very accessible. You don’t need lots of money to go and these kinds of programs are also open to everybody.

I really want to show the teenagers I was working with for two years before I came here that they can do the same thing. Yes, I have experienced difficulties because I have a lot of anxiety, but it also has given me so many positive things and I wish for everybody to have this experience at least once in their life.

Would you recommend that other people apply to volunteer at organisations through the ESC programme? Why?

I would definitely recommend it. The European Solidarity Corps programme is a beautiful experience. I have learned much more in 5 months than I have in my entire life, and I love the work I'm doing, the people I work with, and Ireland.

It can be difficult to go through the process, to apply and wait for answers. It can be difficult to receive negative answers, and it’s not an easy thing to decide to go to another country, but it’s really worth it. You just need to want it and be motivated so you can have the best experience for yourself and give the best experience to your colleagues too.

You can learn more about the European Solidarity Corps here or visit the European Solidarity Corps page on our website for more information.