First contemporary circus center in Lithuania – Cirko Sapiens
The team of Teatronas, annually migrating to different districts of Kaunas with the Cirkuliacija festival, decided that it was time for the contemporary circus to take root in the cultural life of Kaunas. Starting from this October, Teatronas who have been engaging different local communities via the festival Cirkuliacija are opening a new space – a centre for contemporary circus named Cirko Sapiens.
The main activity of the centre is the continuous contemporary circus education for people from age 5 and up, as well as for adults. In order to create pertinent working conditions for the local artists, the centre will provide a daily open training space and summer residency possibilities for international artists. In the country with low opportunities to learn contemporary circus, the centre becomes a key factor to see circus community growing and the field expanding. “While organizing the festival, we noticed that many people want to get acquainted with the contemporary circus. Now you will no longer have to shrug your shoulders – everyone who wants to will be able to seriously study various disciplines and how to apply them in their work” says Gildas Aleksa, the head of Teatronas.
So far, artists working in the field of aerial acrobatics or with a Chinese pole have not had the opportunity to train in Lithuania. Cirko Sapiens has opened the way for circus artists to come and stay in Lithuania. This of course determined the international team of teachers: Circus Sapiens teachers are young contemporary circus artists who have just graduated: Kęstas Matusevičius, Lyla Goldman (USA), Aino Mäkipää (Finland) and Džiugas Kunsman, who is already well known to the Kaunas public. Children from 5 to 18 years of age are invited to participate in the general circus curriculum, and adults, whether they have any experience or not, are invited to study individual disciplines in the evenings: aerial acrobatics (silk, trapeze, rope), group/pair acrobatics, acro-dance, juggling and Chinese pole techniques. In collaboration with the Contemporary Dance Association, every Saturday all cirko sapiens will have the opportunity to learn contemporary dance with a different dancer. Both circus and dance teachers will not only train the bodies of the people but will also try to get acquainted with the culture and history of contemporary circus and provide tools to use circus elements in self-expression.
The program and the strategy of the centre were done with the help of the Lithuanian Dance Information Centre and Lithuanian Contemporary Dance Association. The whole opening of the centre is financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
For more information please contact head of Cirko Sapiens Monika Citvaraitė-Lansbergienė (monika@teatronas.lt)
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