A Smirkus Residency is an extended visit to your
school by a circus professional who shares circus
skills with students each day for one or two weeks.
The circus theme can be incorporated into
the entire curriculum, or circus skills can be taught
as part of a physical education, arts enrichment,
or other program. Smirkus Residencies are
available throughout the school year, from September
through May. We generally book a full year in advance.
Your residency can be one or two weeks long. In both
cases, the focus is on learning and developing a broad
range of circus skills. Our motto is always: Compete
with yourself. Cooperate with others. The two-week
residency culminates with an "open-workshop"
to allow parents to attend and participate in the
circus arts. The residency then concludes with an
entertaining hour long school wide assembly.
Why a Circus Residency?
Circus is a non-competitive physical art
form that extends easily to any part of the school
curriculum. Circus training requires the
same dedication, discipline, and hard work of any
sport, but it stresses collaboration rather than competition.
Circus Smirkus was founded to provide a format for
kids and adults to collaborate in life-enhancing adventures
through the circus arts. Our approach is full inclusion—we
make all possible accommodations to allow every student
to participate. Our program encourages participants
to set reasonable personal goals and to follow through
with them. Kids and staff learning new skills
together without any element of competition is the
heart of our education philosophy.
How Do I Book a Residency?
* Generate
support from the staff, faculty, and PTO
at your school.
* Obtain
the necessary approvals from your school
administration.
* Contact
the Residency Coordinator at the Smirkus
Office (see below) to verify that the dates you would
like are available. Remember that we book a full year
in advance, so it's good to have alternatve dates
in mind when you call.
* Send
in your application with the required $500
deposit to get the ball rolling!
How Do I Prepare for a Smirkus Residency?
We have made some of our circus curriculum resources
available to help you prepare for a residency, or
simply to get you started teaching your kids about
circus on your own! Click
here to go to our page of Circus Resources for Schools.
For more information, contact:
Rick Davis, Residency Coordinator
rick@smirkus.org
Circus Smirkus
1 Circus Road
Greensboro, VT 05841
Tel (802) 533-7443 ext. 33
See you at the circus!
