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PCS started its own story with Circus behind the Wall, the first creation that narrated how circus came to Palestine, which obstacles it had to face and how it became a tool to give hope to our young people.
Since then, PCS engages on the quest to introduce Palestine to a new form of Performing Arts, the one of Contemporary Circus.
We see the extreme need of young people to express themselves and to convey a message to their audiences. Through circus we create a new creative medium where we introduce the young people in the language of the body. By using music, costumes, theatrical elements, dance and the many circus skills we develop stories about our daily realities.
This Program is one of the programs of the Artistic Department, and it is an intensive artistic and technical preparation program for a period of one year, within 6 hours per week.
Shams groups alumni are targeted at students over the age of 18.
Program Goals:
• Developing the artistic and technical level of the group to reach a generation of professional artists.
• Increasing the number of artists who are able to produce circus shows at a high artistic and technical level.
• Producing a circus show that represents the Palestinian Circus School locally and internationally.
The focus in the first phase is on developing the technical side of students in their specializations, in addition to developing teamwork techniques such as group gymnastics and human pyramids.
The second stage focuses on the artistic development of the group, as this stage includes workshops on the topics of artistic and physical research, how to produce circus scenes and performances, in addition to workshops in dance and theater.
In parallel with the working on the disciplines and the artistic and technical development of artists, work will be made on individual productions of students in their specialties, which will be shown at the end of the stage.
Period of intensive work on producing the group's graduation performance.
Through the Palestinian Circus School’s endeavor to cooperate and create partnerships with circus artists, local and international troupes, and circus schools locally and internationally, the Palestinian Circus School aims to produce joint performances on the level of students and professional circus artists.
By organizing an international circus festival in Palestine, we want to spread joy and pride among the local population. We want to increase their knowledge and understanding of the role of circus in Palestine in strengthening the personal, social and national identity.
At the same time the festival aims at opening a window for the world to witness at first hand the creative potential of Palestinians in all their walks of life, raising international recognition of the Palestinian creativity and its’ aspiration for freedom and a life in dignity.
In last instance we want to offer a space for encounter and mutual enrichment between local and international artists, a place where they can see and appreciate new work, where our local artists get exposed to quality performances they can hardly ever assist at and be exposed to new techniques and ways of creating through the different workshops.
The Palestinian Circus School organized the second edition of its festival “Palestine Circus Festival – United for Freedom” from 27 September to October6, 2018. More than 25,000 people were reached with 31 shows in Birzeit, Ramallah & Al-Bireh, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Gaza and Amman.
After the circus invasion in Palestine in October 2016, we are back to celebrate Palestinian and international creativity, diversity and unity during our second edition of Palestine Circus Festival, with 4 Palestinian and 5 International renowned circus companies.
Through organizing a festival, PCS aims at embracing the diversity of the Palestinian Society, spreading its narrative, preserving the culture, empowering the community, and providing awareness on the role of social circus in Palestine. It is a portrayal of the freedom of expression, trust and emotional connection with the audience.
Celebrating ten years of the foundation and the success of achievements, the Palestinian Circus School organized the first circus festival of its kind on Palestine. More than 34 international and 30 local circus artists participated in this festival; that took place in the period between 6-14 October 2016. More than 45 shows were organized, half of them were for general audience and the other half were for students of private, public and UNRWA schools. The festival toured Jerusalem, Ramallah, Al-Bireh, Jenin, Nablus, Nablus, Birzeit and Al-Far’a refugee camp.
More than 23000 people attended the Palestine Circus Festival’s shows!
In the first part of the festival that was organized between 6-14 October 2016, PCS organized more than 45 shows in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Al-Bireh, Jenin, Nablus, Nablus and Al-Far’a. Half of the shows were for the general audience and the other shows were for the students of general, private and UNRWA schools. The other part of the festival was organized for the Moroccan group “Colokolo” in the period between October 31st and November 4th, 5 shows were performed in Ramallah, Jenin, Bethlehem, Hebron and Birzeit. In all of these shows we succeeded in reaching to more than 23000 people.
Through succeeding in reaching more than 23000 of direct audience in the festival’s activities and hundreds of thousands through advertisements and media coverage, we can assure that the festival achieved the goals and exceeded the expectations of the organizers and many of the donors and partners.
