Circus Arts, Fire, and Empowerment:
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What are people's Sparks?
As teachers, we know how motivating it can be for students to discover their ‘creative sparks’. When people are encouraged and recognized for their individual aspirations, all aspects of their lives flourish and they are more likely to develop resilience and thrive in their daily lives.
Learn to Burn
Our Learn to Burn class is the ultimate in empowerment for our adult students. After we familiarize them with the props, we then teach everything they need to know to light up SAFELY and confidently. We teach fire safety, dipping, snuffing, and provide the opportunity to fire dance in a safe and controlled environment. We can also document their first burn experience with a professional photo as a keepsake of their incredible journey of self empowerment and perseverance.
Bringing it all together
Our programming is grounded in the message that each person has a creative 'Spark' that is the foundation of well being and positive decision making. Our programs convey an important message: Success is possible if you surround yourself with positive people who support and nurture your creative spark!
We incorporate Developmental Assets theory as a framework with which to support people in making positive choices. The goal in our programming is to explore themes such as: What is my individual 'Spark'? What does 'support' and 'friendship' look like to me? Do the people around me encourage my flame, or diminish it? By working with people to explore their sparks, finding support for developing their interests, we help them create a positive and hopeful vision of who they want to be in the future. |
Why Circus?
Ground-based circus arts are fun, inclusive and non-competitive, adapting to all abilities and special needs. Circus arts incorporate prop manipulation with artistic movement to music, so even people who are shy or uncomfortable about their bodies become confident when the prop is the focus rather than themselves. Most circus props are familiar to everyone (for example, juggling objects, hoops, and balls) and we are all excited to play with these objects- which helps imagination to blossom. Props can also be constructed and personalized during craft activities, connecting people with their artistic expression.
Circus arts teach the value of perseverance by working through small challenges and building on success with the help of mentor and peer encouragement. We encourage teamwork by providing a supportive environment to take risks in a safe way. Self esteem is encouraged by celebration of success. We model that it never gets easier because the tricks can always be built on. Importantly, we all struggle to master skills on an individual level as there are always new skills to develop. Finally, we share our achievements with each other and the greater community in the performances that we create. Resources
The SEARCH Institute provides extensive supplemental curricula and classroom support to encourage the exploration and discussion of developmental assets and identifying peoples’ spark.
TestimonialsI attended a fire safety workshop with Vesta Education this weekend. I've been a fire spinner for years and I have never received proper safety training, so I was really excited to do this workshop in order to assist with fire safety at other events. I had assumed it would be a simple lecture and rather boring, so I was pleasantly surprised at how in depth and hands on it was. They walked us through every detail of their set-up and explained numerous do's and don'ts, then had us all handle the safety equipment and take turns spotting each other with lit props. It was very thorough and engaging and I feel much more prepared to play safely in the future.
T. Brooks, Victoria, BC |
