Social circus

  • Za'atri circus school in Jordan. © Sirkus Magenta
The field of social circus has expanded, with circus professionals and social workers with backgrounds in circus using the art form as a means to promote social inclusion as well as physical and emotional wellbeing.

Finland is one of the top countries when it comes to applied use of circus skills. Circus methods are used in social and health services as well as in services to improve well-being at work.

Finns have exported the know-how of social circus skills to Korea, established a circus school at a refugee camp in Jordan, produced circus shows for special-needs groups on an international level, and developed a method for studying the impact that circus has on wellbeing.

We have around ten organizations actively working with social circus in Finland and they have participated in many domestic and international development projects.

Two ESF (European Social Fund) projects on social circus were carried out in 2009–2011 and 2011–2014 by the Centre for Practise as Research in Theatre at the University of Tampere.  More information at vaikuttavasirkus.fi