På den palæstinensiske Vestbred er cirkus et middel, der giver børn og unge glæde i hverdagen og en tro på fremtiden. Her i august ankom en gruppe unge fra Nablus Circus School på turné i Danmark.
Det betaler sig at grine – ikke mindst når man vokser op på Vestbredden, hvor check-points, militære invasioner, vold og angst er en del af hverdagen.
Nablus Circus School holder til i den nordlige Vestbred, et af de områder, der er hårdest ramt af konflikten. Her tilbyder skolens artister cirkusundervisning for byens børn og unge, og sammen med børnene organiserer de forestillinger i skoler og flygtningelejre.
I august får mange danske børn og unge mulighed for at møde de unge artister fra Nablus Circus School, der kommer på en tætpakket Danmarks-turne.
I løbet af 23 dage vil gruppen give workshops og forestillinger i landet tre største byer og under kulturelle arrangementer i Nordvest-sjælland.
De vil ganske enkelt møde et væld af danske børn og unge.
Energi skal ud
Mange palæstinensiske børn på Vestbredden er påvirket af de voksnes problemer.
Men de har også deres egne i form af skoler med meget høje klassekvotienter og næsten ingen adgang til fritidsaktiviteter. Børnenes ophober en masse energi, der gerne skal bruges til noget positivt.
Med cirkusskolen får de sjove fritidsaktiviteter, der udvikler dem fysisk og psykisk. De bliver stærkere og bedre til at koncentrere sig, hvilket også afspejler sig i deres præstationer i skolen.
Når et barn lærer at balancere på en ethjulet cykel, bliver barnet mere afbalanceret indeni. Det samme med jonglering. Det handler ikke blot om at styre en håndfuld bolde, men også om at lære at styre sit eget liv.
Ni år med cirkusskole
Cirkusskolen er et alternativ for børn og unge i den nordlige del af den besatte Vestbred. Skolens trænere kommer fra Nablus og de omkringliggende landsbyer og flygtningelejre, og undervejs har de modtaget træning i europæiske cirkusskoler.
En af dem, der har været med siden cirkusskolens start i 2004, er 30-årige Mahmoud Masri, der er med i gruppen til Danmark i august.
Med sig har han seks unge mænd mellem 14 og 22 år.
De unge cirkusfolk underviser til dagligt i cirkusskolen i Nablus, i jonglering, akrobatik, diabolo, stylter, ethjulet cykel, trapez, samt jonglering med tørklæder og svingbolde. Som opvarmning benytter gruppen sig af fælles dramaøvelser.
Forestilling, der vises i Danmark, tager udgangspunkt i de unges liv på Vestbredden – set fra en humoristisk vinkel og udtrykt med smukke og halsbrækkende cirkusteknikker.
Under turneen i Danmark vil truppen besøge danske cirkusskoler med henblik på fremtidigt samarbejde. Truppens medlemmer bliver undervejs indkvarteret hos danske familier, der er med til at give de unge gæster et indblik i dansk kultur.
Besøget organiseres af den danske kulturorganisation SPOR Media og med støtte fra Center for Kultur og Udvikling (CKU).
Se hele turnéplanen i U-landsnyt.dks kalender på
http://www.u-landsnyt.dk/kalender-indhold/pal-stinensisk-cirkus-turnerer-i-danmark
Yderligere oplysninger hos:
www.globalkids.dk/nablus
Gitte Jakobsen, [email protected] og tlf: 20 93 00 36
Se også artiklen herunder
Nablus Circus School
Af Lisa Masri
When you hear the word “circus” you probably think of clowns, elephants, lions, strange people, and a big tent.
When you hear the word “Palestine” you probably think of rolling hills of olive trees, old stone buildings crumbling away, checkpoints, and the occupation army.
So when you put these two together – Palestinian Circus – you get a chaotic picture of animals eating olives and soldiers wearing red noses and bright-coloured wigs, all in a large tent at a checkpoint.
Although this picture provides a good basis for its next show, the reality at Assirk Assaghir (the small circus) is much different.
Since beginning in 1999, when clown noses were made out of rubber balls, the team at Assirk Assaghir has focused more on children and brightening their lives than on being professional circus artists who wow the crowd.
After years of performing for kids in the most disadvantaged areas of Nablus, namely the refugee camps and the old city, the group turned towards teaching circus to children as a way to give them relief from the daily realities of war and poverty.
Circus is also a way to build self-confidence, encourage teamwork, and generally improve the mental health of the children. It is in this vein that I will recount the stories of two students of Assirk Assaghir: The Nablus Circus School.
Khalid and Alaa, now in their last year of high school, began training with the circus when they were 11 years old.
Both live in the middle of Askar Refugee Camp (with a population of 15.900 registered refugees and an unemployment rate of 28 percent); they are from families of more than eight members each, who live in small houses in a cramped neighbourhood.
The street in front of their houses is about one meter wide and the neighbourhood is so crowded, it is impossible to drive a car inside the camp.
With no place to run and play, these boys, along with their cousins, friends, and neighbours, came to the circus, which was first located in a small centre in the camp.
Although the centre donated a small space (8 m by 4 m), the students managed to learn to juggle, play diabolo, ride unicycles, walk on stilts, and do trapeze and acrobatics.
Khalid and Alaa, especially, took advantage of the space and training time, however basic, to gain skills and experience. They saw the circus as an opportunity to do something different with their lives.
Six years later, thanks to contributions from Clowns Without Borders – Sweden and Une Toile Contre Un Mur – France, Assirk Assaghir was able to move into its own more spacious centre in downtown Nablus.
Khalid and Alaa have stayed committed to the circus and are now able to train younger groups in all circus skills. They both believe that being a part of the circus has had a positive effect on their lives.
When asked to imagine where he would be if he were not part of the school, Khalid answered:
“I would not know what to do. If I don’t come to the circus for a while, I miss it a lot. I can release all my pent-up energy there. If the circus weren’t part of my life, I would feel mixed up.”
Although daring acts, professional artists, and flashy costumes can wow a crowd and amaze an audience, the trainers at Assirk Assaghir are completely convinced that the path the organisation has taken – that of focusing on children and education – is the right one.
“Teaching children to juggle, seeing their eyes light up when they succeed, and watching their self-confidence grow as they show their new skill to their friends and family gives you a feeling that is unforgettable,” says the Assirk Assaghir director, Mahmoud Masri.
Assirk Assaghir addresses the psychological effects of the occupation by giving children and youth a positive, self-esteem-building activity.
Circus training gives them social and physical skills to build a better future. Our goal is to show Palestinian children that there is more to live for than there is to die for.
For more information about the activities of Assirk Assaghir, go to www.assirkassaghir.ps or visit us in Nablus at Cinema Rivoli Complex, Ghernata Street; tel.: (09) 233-0877.
Lisa Masri is an American who has been living in Nablus since 2009. As a volunteer trainer at the Nablus Circus School, she runs trainings for the teen girls group and leads aerobics classes for women.
