CIRCLE is the missing link between vocational training, the professional environment and the public. As FEDEC’s flagship project, it has devised the ideal context and spaces for student creation.

4 DAYS DEDICATED TO STUDENT CREATION – THE FUTURE IS NOW!

Every year since 2007, CIRCLE has been hosted by the Circa Festival in Auch and takes place over 4 days in a venue dedicated to FEDEC schools. Here, about 50 students and their supervisors from network schools come together to present short performances lasting 20 to 30 minutes in professional conditions, and take part in one of the largest European gatherings dedicated to contemporary circus. 

Each performance is followed by a discussion meeting between the students, the educational teams, sector professionals and the audience, providing them with the opportunity to share the creative process, their artistic approaches, their inspirations and ambitions.

Since it was founded in 2007, CIRCLE has taken many different forms in order to evolve in a way which best suits the network’s needs. In 2011, it was also hosted by the Future Circus Festival (Turku, Finland) as part of the “Kaleidoscopia” project organised by the Turku University of Applied Sciences – Circus Department and in 2007 by the La Piste aux Espoirs Festival (Tournai, Belgium).

A FULLY-FLEDGED EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

CIRCLE is incorporated in the pedagogical programme of participating schools. It is meant to be both an experience of free creation, without any themes or aesthetic restrictions, and an experience away from school which supplements the vocational training programmes. By participating in CIRCLE, students are given the chance to experiment with new forms, new associations, to learn from each other and prepare for work in a restricted group within a timeframe, with an original form of exercise which complements those developed in current pedagogical programmes.

This project is fully in line with the current innovative outlook of all professional schools which aims to train not just performers and writers but also creators and engaged citizens who are open to other cultures and other forms of art and audiences.

THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS EMPLOYMENT

For future graduates, CIRCLE is their very first contact with working life.  Thanks to the skills they develop and the collaborations created under the CIRCLE project – not to mention the reception from the audience and the feedback from professionals and supervisors attending Circ – the young participants acquire new skills which are important for their future career.

The CIRCLE project has a direct impact in terms of students’ acquisition of skills (interpersonal skills, networking and artistic, technical and linguistic skills). It is an important step which helps them move on from being a young graduate to a young professional.

The encounters with the professional world provide all the students participating in CIRCLE and students from the other FEDEC schools attending Circa with an opportunity to address issues connected with structuring artistic career paths and the difficulties, doubts and needs at the start of a career in the arts.

WISH TO PARTICIPATE?

All FEDEC schools are invited to apply by completing the call for participation sent to directors each year.

By applying, schools commit themselves to respect the following principles:

• Students participating in the CIRCLE project must be currently enrolled in the school, or have graduated the previous year
• The performing group is between 3 and 6 students
• The presentation must last between 20 and 30 minutes
• Technical requirements must be limited and realistic safety rules must be complied with. The use of protection means is mandatory and should be foreseen and integrated by all schools
• The security priorities must be taken into account and respected. Means of protection must be planned and integrated by all schools.
• Participants must all be over 18 years old

• Participants have to stay the whole week of the CIRCLE project, from Saturday to Friday included.

In order to offer a real representation of FEDEC schools and to give space to new members, the selection of participating schools is made by the CIRCLE Committee (whose members are validated by the Board of Directors) according to the following priority criteria:

1. Schools that meet the application deadline
2. Schools that never took part in a CIRCLE project at Circa
3. Schools that least took part in a CIRCLE project, and the least recently in the last 5 previous years
4. Schools allowing for a balance between higher education and preparatory/vocational schools
5. Schools located in a country not represented in the selection
6. Schools that collaborate with each other to present a joint collective creation

For further information on the CIRCLE project, please contact us (events@fedec.eu)