The Palestine Circus School

KULTA had a great meeting with the Palestine Circus School in Ramallah saturday august 3rd 2008. They were in the middle of a clown and comedy workshop with instructors from Gjøglerskolen in Denmark when we arrived, but also worked on acrobatics, acrobalance, aerial acrobatics and juggling the same day. We were surrounded by children and youth of all ages with smiling, proud and exited faces, eagerly working on techniques and numbers for the show that has premiere saturday august 9th 2008. This workshop runs for 3 weeks and ends with a show that finally will tour the West Bank for a week.

Shadi Zmorrod and his wife, Jennifer, started the circus school 2 years ago. They have been working hard and with very little resources trying to keep it alive in the 3 cities Hebron, Jenin and Ramallah. The school is offering 2 hours of training once a week throughout the school year and special workshops in summer. It is increasing in popularity and everyone is welcome to this oasis of crativity and joy, no matter what age or background.

The school is depending on sponsorships and funding, agreements of cooperation and donations of equipment to stay alive. It is a harsh reality they live in after the wall was built, and it makes it so much harder for them to make it work. International exchange is very important for them, where qualified instructors from other countries can come and work with children and youth in an area that faces daily challanges and extreme restrictions of movement. This problem of living under occupation has led to economic difficulties. They have agreements of free use with a few of their locations, but because of lack of funding they have to start charging a little for the programs that used to be FREE OF CHARGE.

Circus Behind the wall

They made the first student show in 2006 where they wanted to tell about life after the wall was built. This is how they describe it:

In a step transcending many barriers, forbidden in the Palestinian society, connected to oppression of our art and history, we give rise to something new. Facing and crossing mental, cultural, social and political walls, the Palestinian circus school was born. The students, under the direction of Shadi Zmorrod and co-direction of Grazia Dentoni, developed their first show: "Circus behind The Wall".

Why circus?

It is not the circusart in itself that is important. Try to imagine everyday life without an oasis filled with positive energy where you can relax and dream, and don't have to think about the 8 meter wall surrounding your everything. Circus can be a healty escape and a place to find your own worth as a human being. Just look at the happy faces on the photos, totally open and without fear.

The same thing is done in Norway, and many other places in this world: social and cultural activity is offered as a positive alternative to walking the streets. It builds selfconfidence through achievement, and you get something to look foreward to every day, every week, all year. This kind of activity builds positive attidudes and tolerance amongst children and youth, and can prevent the development of violent behavior. This is what Kulta hope to achiev in cooperation with our twinorganisation in Gaza.

The visit at the school at the West Bank gave us hope for the future.