Harnessing International Partnerships to Develop Circus in Ireland
Through international collaboration, we develop the artform of circus here Ireland.
We partner closely with key national and international networks to learn from international best practice, share our work and develop with the wider sector. Our international partnerships and projects provide a rich environment for circus practitioners to grow and develop in, and we bring skilled artists and students to Galway through long-term artists residencies and EU schemes.
This year some of our work with international partners and organisations included:
Creative Europe: Wires Crossed – Head, Heart, Balance
This year saw the completion of ‘Wires Crossed - Head, Heart, Balance’, a Creative Europe funded co-operation project between Ecole de Cirque de Bruxelles, Galway Community Circus, The Serious Road Trip Romania, Université libre de Bruxelles and the European Funambulism Network that supported artistic and participatory excellence in funambulism.
In April, Galway Community Circus travelled to Brussels to visit our partners at Ecole de Cirque de Bruxelles and the European Funambulism Network to see them put on the final performance of BassAlto. BassAlto was born out of Wires Crossed and is a company of 5 professional wire walkers who perform with 10 local participants from the location of the performance. The final performances were magical, and we were so proud of the BassAlto team and our partners at Ecole de Cirque de Bruxelles for their incredible work.
FEDEC
We were delighted this year to become a member of FEDEC, an international network for professional circus education. FEDEC support the development and evolution of training, teaching and learning in the field of circus arts.
As a member of FEDEC, we have joined an international community of professional circus schools, are raising the profile of Galway Community Circus at a European level, are enhancing the training of our students and teams by offering support through the network, and are participating in the development of the circus sector.
Caravan Circus Network
We continued as board members this year of the Caravan Circus Network, leading on many important projects for the sector and enabling access and opportunities to Irish artists and organisations.
Caravan is an international youth and social circus network of circus schools from across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, that advocates for the positive impact of youth and social circus. The network was established in 2008 by 7 European circus schools, with a common goal to use social circus as an educational tool and to dedicate this work to groups from disadvantaged backgrounds with specific needs.
Erasmus+ - European Solidarity Corps
Each circus school year we bring 4 European volunteers from around Europe to be a part of our circus team. In the 2023 calendar year, we had 8 volunteers with us from Turkey, Serbia, Italy, France, and Germany.
The European Solidarity Corps helps young people take part in projects that benefit communities either abroad or in their own country, and involves projects in a wide range of fields including education and training, citizenship and democratic participation, environment and natural protection, migration, culture, and many others.
This year we were also delighted to receive the Erasmus+ Youth Accreditation, which means Galway Community Circus has appropriate and effective processes and measures in place to implement high quality learning mobility activities and use them to benefit the youth field.
