Take Care: European Conference on Mental Health and Well-being in the Circus and Performing Arts Sector

The Take Care conference on mental health and well-being in the circus and performing arts sector was held on 7 June 2025 at CircusDanceFestival, Cologne. It addressed how artists can better care for their mental, emotional, and physical health by fostering healthier habits and stronger collaboration.

Two keynotes, three workshops, and a final panel, all exploring topics such as mental health, working conditions, health habits, and queer identity. The objective of the Conference was to unite physical, mental, and ethical perspectives, while creating a space for people of all generations to share their experiences and ideas.

This conference marks the launch of the Take Care project—the first-ever EU project dedicated to supporting mental health and well-being in the circus arts sector.

📅 Saturday 7th of June 2025, 9:00-15:30
📍 Latibul @ CircusDanceFestival, Cologne (DEU)

Programme

➡️ Check out the article on the Around About Circus website for details on the session content and speakers.

Resources

👉 KEYNOTE: Circus & Science: an overview of health research and monitoring in circus performance - Rogier van Rijn, PhD. June 7, 2025

👉 KEYNOTE: CARE as a verb, not only as a noun: what have we been actually practising? - Gaia Vimercati and Amanda Homa

👉 WORKSHOP: Creativity and nutrition – oh my guts ! - Krisje Beaumond

Acknowledgments

Take Care is a European project co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission, and led by FEDEC - International network for professional circus education, with the following partners: Around about circus (DEU), Circus Dance Festival (DEU), Codarts (NLD), Filip Jacobson (DEU) and Miikkael Kukkula (FIN).

Gallery

©️ Franzi Schardt, CircusDanceFestival