The Hungarian Juggling Association is the PLATFORM in Hungary of INDEPENDENT CIRCUS ARTISTS. It gives an official background to all initiatives about juggling as a circus art, sport or hobby/ free time activity. In its projects, the members of the association use the creativity, joyfullness, and challenge of juggling combined with a strong educational approach, in this way completing cultural, educative and civil missions.

The Hungarian Juggling Association evolves its activity both at national and international level.

The Association’s main 4 NATIONAL MISSIONS are:
1. Give opportunities to the members for networking
2. Disseminate news to the community, therefore run a website: www.zsonglor.hu and a facebook group.
3. run the INspiral Circus space as the core space for practice, artistic work, networking and trainigs. www.inspiralcircus.hu
4. Organize and coordinate international projects, meetings and events, among them the yearly Hungarian Juggling Convention.

 

Beside these main activities, we promote the national network of juggling clubs, run a collective focusing on the research of teaching methods, and run a social circus collective that performs research and shares ideas on this topic.

We cooperate with important Hungarian circus professionals: organize common events and collaborate for the development of the circus sector.

 

At INTERNATIONAL LEVEL the Hungarian Juggling Association is very active:
The association has carried out, or was co-organizer, of more than 60 international projects during its 15 years activity.
We initiated and created NEW PARTNERSHIPS and participated actively in INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS.
We are a member of several European professional networks and the coordinator of the Social Educircation european social circus network and of the Mixdoor performing art european project
 

The Association, because of its wide international connections, is also an information point to the Hungarian community and transmits the European news at national level.

The members of the Association can travel in the frame of the European project to partner countries. They have to answer to the calls, send applications and go through a selection procedure. Beneficiaries each time organize a dissemination workshop to give on the knowledge and also inform the membership about their activity through the community’s channels.

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national activities

 

 

We are active in three main field: circus education – social circus – art

 

Social circus activity

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1. We run weekly groups in different social environments

• In the periphery of Budapest, in the district of Pesterzsébet we are working with the Kaj Zhas (Where are you going) roma circus group since 2014. During these years, many young people have learned juggling, acrobatics and balancing on our weekly sessions. There were many performances, camps, circus programs, and our most devoted members participated in four youth exchange programs abroad. The youngsters we have been meeting every week for 3 years, became great jugglers, they help us as young co-trainers, and circus has become an important part of their identity.

• with a group of refugee children and young people we hold weekly circus sessions at the city of Fót for young asylum seekers. We consider it very important that these youngsters, who suffered so much, not only receive the minimum life conditions by arriving to Hungary, but also nice experiences and playfull care.

• Our Psycho Circus program works with children and adolescents in the Psychiatric Department of the Heim Pál Children's Hospital with weekly circus sessions. Our goal is to give a sense of success and fun, contribute in the mental recovery, and to make better the inevitably unpleasant stay in the hospital.

 

2. We have a 20 hours training for professionals working in Health- Social and

 educational sector. So they can learn our social circus methods and integrate it into their daily work. More than 50 professionals completed this course int he last 3 years and most of them is using in their daily work at different levels.

 

3. Social circus day every months, which is to chanelize all those who are active in

he social circus area in Hungary. We bring them further methods during these sessions and also they can report abour the work they are doing. Since it is not anymore the Hungarian Juggling Association being active in social circus field but many more individuals and association we find important to creat a meeting point for these professionals as a tool for futher development, sharing and meeting.

 

Education

 

We face a huge challenge or problem (?) We have a lack of circus teachers, especially at our social circus groups, but also in Inspiral at kids and youth classes and camps. We need teachers who can teach multicircus, ie: all disciplines at basic level.

 

In 2018 we are going to have several intensive workshops again

 

Under Erasmus+ program – formerly Life Learning – we have international projects which allows our members and to Hungarian comunity to go on expertises abroad and participate in trainings.  projects going on listed down here.

 

We are also involved in Eramus youth program, so we can send our youngsters for programs in which the focus is less professional, but the topic is always circus.

 

Artistic approaches:

 

1. Residency programs for artists – Especially in August we host companies and give our rooms for free for creation processes. We had that program with success we definetely repeat next year.

 

2. We keep low cost – not for profit - membership in Inspiral Circus Center as a training space and creation center.

 

3. We stay at the mission of having aristic workshops about creation and stage present, other preforming skills We try to organise more workshops with cross-over art forms and less skill focused.

 

4. Show nights and open stages where new creations can be tried out or performed – should go back to regulare presentations. We try the surrounding countries. Also we introduce first with Freak Fusion Cabaret and other Firebirds shows.

 

5. Coperation with Trafó – Contemporary Theatre in Budapest, in case of each contemporary Circus company performing on their stage: meetings, discussions, workshops, visits etc. It was going on the whole year of 2017, we continue in 2018.  

 

Community approach

 

Hungarian Juggling Convention stays in Pécs for 2018. We try to adapt it more to festival program and have more comunity then was in 2017.

 

Would be great to have stronger platform for voluntary motivation and comunication.

 

We cooperate with important Hungarian circus professionals: organize common events and collaborate for the development of the circus sector.

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