Circus is a wonderful thing. It connects people, makes them laugh and makes them move. There are so many possibilities. Anyone can find something that they like. Some are maybe more drawn towards acrobatics like silk, hula hooping or trapeze. Those who are less flexible and athletic, can always grab some juggling balls, flower sticks or a spinning plate and lovers of finding balance can find it on a slackline, giant spinning ball or a RolaBola! Best of all, these are not just toys and ordinary movements, you can create choreographies and performances. You can really express yourself and combine different circus skills.
I wasn't new to doing circus before coming to Slovakia. I am already part of my local community circus in Ljubljana and when I came to Bratislava, I noticed quite soon that CKK is not as experimental and free as my home circus, where we improvise a lot. The approach in Cirkuskus is more based on choreographies and workshops, because they work a lot for various companies, who rent them and they require more structured shows.
Something totally new to me in Bratislava was becoming a circus teacher for kids and before the first class ever, I was of course kind of nervous, asking myself, what are they going to be like. And then the day came and it wasn't all that scary. I actually enjoyed being with them, interacting with them and giving them tips on how they should juggle or spin a plate. Actually one of my favorite weeks during my time in CirKusKus was doing the kids summer camp CircusOK at the end of June, where I was helping with teaching and also doing some food preparation and cleanup work. It was hot, but so much fun!
The CirKusKus family is kind of big, as there are many people teaching various circus disciplines. Helli is the main acrobat, teaching silk, aerial hoop, partner acrobatics and trapeze. Suzanne, she is from Belgium, living now in Slovakia for 9 years already, is the captain of balance skills and Eli and Dejvo are the main teachers for juggling, POI and other circus disciplines that mostly involve more work with hands and dancing. Besides this core group, there are also other affiliates of the CKK, who perform, sometimes help with workshops or are just a part of the Bratislava Circus community, that has weekly meetings on Wednesdays in the evenings, where many of the local circus artists meet and train together.
Another thing is also travelling around for events and workshops with CKK, because when it gets warmer in the spring, CirKusKus suddenly awakens from its winter sleep and starts to travel around. Mainly with two little cute cars. An old little yellow WV and an old Škoda Felicia. Sometimes we started packing these cute old cars very early in the morning, opening the little circus storage in the basement of Nova Cvernovka and getting ready for our daily performance trip.
Oh yeah and I did stilting for the first time here in Slovakia. It was so much fun, but at first of course a bit scary, because you are suddenly so high up, so you just have to get used to it! But it's one of my favorite things now. It's the way people look up at you. And all of the kids want to be as big as you. Sometimes the parents take them up to you, to give a high five! Sometimes we even grab some clubs and start juggling! I hope I can do it more in the future.
Text a fotka: Fedja Saksida
Fedja je dobrovoľníkom programu Európskej komisie Európsky zbor solidarity na dobrovoľníckom projekte v organizácii Cirkuskus pod koordináciou Bratislavského dobrovoľníckeho centra. Projekt bol podporený Európskou komisiou z programu Európsky zbor solidarity.
