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Circus skills workshops.
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Hands-on fun for all ages.
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Circus skills workshops come in a multitude of styles, to suit a wide range of different objectives, but all contain that wonderful ingredient - fun. Teaching yourself circus skills is irrestible to all ages, is both co-operative and non-competetive, and is good exercise and excellent experience in learning for one's self.
The range of equipment used in workshops is very diverse, so there is normally something for all ages and skill levels. Children and adults alike can take great pleasure in physical achievements, involving skills of throwing and catching, balancing objects, balancing oneself, hand-eye co-ordination, timing, etc.
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Some - and I do mean some - of the circus kit.
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Different styles of workshop.
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Workshops can be tailored to suit a variety of different situations, indoor and outdoor, such as kids clubs, retail outlets, public events, or more formal structured courses, perhaps for a summer playscheme. In the past, workshop durations have ranged from around one hour, to one week culminating in a show performed by students for the benefit of their friends, their parents, and most importantly themselves.
Workshops can be drop-in, where participants feel free to come and go as they please, asking for advice as and when they feel to, or they can be structured like a lesson or course of lessons, where students are taken from first principals to whatever end can reasonably achieved in the time available. Or you can have something somewhere in between the two.
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Workshop equipment.
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Our equipment currently includes :-
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- Juggling balls, clubs, scarves, and rings.
- Diaboloes in a range of different sizes.
- A selection of devil sticks.
- Spinning plates and sticks.
- Peacock feathers for balancing.
- Poi for swinging.
- Chinese ribbons for rhythmic gymnastic type work.
- Pedal Goes - like skates only less practical!
- Fun Wheels - like Pedal Goes only less practical!
- A variety of unicycles.
- Hand held stilts ranging from small upwards.
- Pot stilts for small children and childlike adults.
- Strap on stilts for terror addicts.
- Cigar boxes - cigars not included!
- Rola bolas, for people who like falling over.
- Balancing poles and spinning staves.
- Dangerous stuff like fire clubs and juggling axes.
- Face paints and costumes for atmosphere.
- A free standing tightrope rig - safe, difficult, and addictive!
- Yo-yos, mouthsticks, teeter boards, and other sundries too obscure to mention.
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We can also obtain all manner of other circus gear, such as walking globes; aerial equipment including trapezes, web ropes, cloudswings, and cordes lissée; Power Skips, Durastilts, and other walking aids; luminous, electroluminescent, pyrotechnic, and UV reactive equipment; etc. etc.
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Workshop capacity and duration.
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Capacity - as a rule of thumb, we can manage up to around twenty people with one instructor, although the ideal is probably around a dozen. Any fewer and it can become difficult to generate a good atmosphere. Too many, and people begin to distract one another. If you have someone who can volunteer to assist, that is normally very helpful, and makes larger groups run more smoothly. In the past, we have had to deal with 80+ children packed into a woefully small village hall - please, please, don't do that to us.
Duration - single sessions should ideally be around two to two-and-a-half hour, or perhaps slightly less for the very young. At the other end of the scale, weekly workshops can usefully continue indefinitely.
Please contact us for details - we will be delighted to advise you and offer suggestions to make the most of your plans.
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A circus skills workshop at the Meadowhall Centre, Sheffield.
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Juggling
