Take Care Partners

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  "As circus and dance international development manager, I feel involved in actively contributing to the enrichment of good practices promoting change in the performing arts sector. Collective and individual are interconnected, and the curiosity to understand the human condition stimulates me to live my life fully. Focusing on mental health is an important step we take, alone and with others, to train our inter-relational abilities, nourishing and preserving the pleasure of caring for each other."

  Valentina Barone

  Around about circus & CircusDanceFestival (DEU)

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  "As a festival, we create spaces for people to come together [...]. We want to foster an environment where everyone feels welcomed and valued. This includes acknowledging the challenges of festival work and actively developing approaches that promote well-being, awareness, and sustainable practices. By engaging with mental health in circus and the performing arts, we contribute to making festivals a space of care, both on and off the stage."

  Tim Behren

  CircusDanceFestival (DEU)

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  "We, as festival organizers, are, on the one hand, responsible for taking care of artists and the audience, as well as for creating a positive working and festival environment. On the other hand, working in the cultural sector also comes with challenging working conditions that we must acknowledge, address, and work together to change them."

  Luzie Schwarz

  CircusDanceFestival (DEU)

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  "I am taking part in the Take Care project to actively contribute to the prevention of mental health problems in the circus sector. My personal goal is to raise awareness that we have a responsibility not only to highlight existing challenges, but also to develop preventative measures that promote the long-term wellbeing of performers and professionals in circus and related performing arts."

  Mechtild Tellmann

  CircusDanceFestival (DEU)

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  "As a professor of Arts & Wellbeing with a focus on 'Healthy Artists,' I am passionate about supporting circus artists in maximizing their performance. Good mental health is fundamental to achieving this, and the Take Care project aligns perfectly with this aim by addressing crucial aspects of mental health awareness, training, and support in the circus arts sector."

  Janine Stubbe

  Codarts Rotterdam (NLD)

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  "The Take Care project is an amazing initiative for the circus arts sector, providing essential training, raising awareness, and supporting artists in overcoming mental health challenges, ensuring they have the resources they need to thrive and perform at their best!"

  Rogier van Rijn

  Codarts Rotterdam (NLD)

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  "As a documentary filmmaker who has spent over a decade capturing the world of new circus artists through his lens, I have long been involved in various social projects. With the Take Care initiative, I find a perfect blend of my passion for circus arts and a powerful, meaningful theme. The exploration of mental health, a struggle shared by many artists across all disciplines, forms the heart of this artistic challenge."

  Filip Jacobson

  Filmmaker (DEU)

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  "I feel it is important to promote a sense of fraternity with those affected by mental health concerns and to lessen the associated stigma and sense of solitude. Take Care offers an excellent opportunity to strive towards this goal. I have addressed mental health in my earlier works, and I feel both elation and responsibility to continue to explore the subject through the lens of contemporary circus."

  Miikkael Kukkula

  Filmmaker (FIN)

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  "The circus world isn’t outside society: issues like social security, fair pay, performance pressure, and fears about the future are part of our everyday activities and can’t be separated from artistic creation. That’s why it’s all the more important that we face these challenges together, break taboos, and develop sustainable strategies. I look forward to developing bold visions, loud demands, and small tricks together with Take Care so we can feel comfortable in our sector. Let’s take care of ourselves, together!"

  Arne Mannott

  ON THE EDGE (AUT)

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  "As an arts manager in performing arts and production manager of the ON THE EDGE festival in Vienna, care is at the core of my work- supporting artists and teams, coordinating processes, and shaping spaces where collaboration feels safe and open. I’m drawn to these shared spaces where we create together. For me, mental health and both individual and collective well-being are intertwined with sustainable, meaningful artistic practice."

  Nefeli Antoniadi

  ON THE EDGE (AUT)

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  "As a cultural leader and director of Circuscentrum, I want to look for long term strategies that help prevent mental health problems. As a support organization for the circus sector, we struggle ourselves in finding a balance between giving care to others and taking care of ourselves. By developing better working conditions within our own organization, we want to set an example and inspire others to invest in well-being and burnout prevention."

  Noemi De Clercq

  Circuscentrum (BEL)

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  "As project leader of the safety project in the Flemish circus sector, it is very important for me to keep abreast of all developments within this topic. I follow up on the different sub-domains: technical-, physical- and psychosocial safety. The workshops and exchanges at Take Care are therefore very inspiring and educational for me and eventually for the entire circus scene."

  Rinus Samyn

  Circuscentrum (BEL)

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  "As co-organiser of the international conference Circus a safe(r) space for danger in 2024 and international project officer at Circuscentrum I feel it’s important to share knowledge on how to create safer spaces, to raise awareness about mental health and to be part of an international community where we can learn and inspire each other."

  Séverine Van der Stighelen

  Circuscentrum (BEL)

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  "As a senior lecturer in sports psychology and the author of ‘Circus Psychology – an applied guide to thriving under the big top’, my focus is to support thriving among circus artists. This means supporting circus artists’ mental health and performance outcomes. The Take Care project is a fantastic initiative that has the potential to make a meaningful contribution to circus artists’ mental health. I am excited to be part of the expert panel of this project."

  Fleur van Rens

  Murdoch University (AUS)

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  "Mental health is a critical component of optimizing wellness, creativity, and performance yet circus artists have inadequate access to care. I’m happy to bring to the Take Care project my background as a circus artist, physical therapist and researcher. It also aligns with the goals of our Surveillance of Injuries in Research on Circus (SIRC) working group, to develop guidelines to improve circus arts research, healthcare, and training practices."

  Stephanie Greenspan

  Samuel Merritt University (USA)

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  "I am a teacher, artist and researcher who has been working in circus and dance for several years. My research combines theory and practice, writing, drawing and performance. I've carried out research into circus performers‘ and dancers’ relationships with work, daily life and health. I'm taking part in Take Care as a researcher, conducting interviews with artists in training to share their voices through a sensitive form."

  Agathe Dumont

  Teacher, artist & Researcher (FRA)