“Quando o circo atravessa a rua: a formação do artista e sua relação com os espaços públicos” [When the circus crosses the street: the formation of the artist and its relation with public spaces] by Mônica Alves Barreto | PhD Dissertation

Abstract: “The occupation and use of public spaces repeatedly emerge in social debates, revealing  repercussions in the most diverse human activities, including those of an educational and cultural nature. Within this debate, in the middle of the 21st century, we notice questions about the pertinence of artistic performance in these spaces. More specifically, we are interested in discussing how institutions that train circus artists treat the multiple spaces of performance, particularly public spaces (squares, streets, fairs, alleys, among others). Although there is ample evidence of the regular action of circus artists in these spaces, the occupation or not of public spaces by art/culture still raises important disputes and debates in Brazilian society. It is in this scenario that this thesis is developed, aiming to understand how the training process of the circus artist dialogues with the particularities of acting in public spaces. The study started with an exhaustive survey of institutions and spaces for circus training in Brazil, followed by documental analysis of curricular matrices, statutes and pedagogical political projects, aiming at a first approach to the problem  under analysis. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews were carried out with three professionals from five selected institutions, including coordinators, directors and professors. In addition, a questionnaire was applied to graduates of these institutions. The research points to the urgency of public policies to strengthen circus education in Brazil, as well as to develop a less unequal distribution of institutions across the national territory. It also draws attention to the need for institutions to consider the knowledge of the street circus in the training of the circus artist in Brazil, since, although public spaces have been presented as a vital place for the maintenance of the artist, the knowledge aimed at the activities in these spaces are found in a dispersed  and poorly structured way, in the institutions surveyed.”

 

Keywords: performing arts; professional qualification; Street art; circus; circus schools

 

This PhD dissertation, written by Mônica Alves Barreto, was defended in 2022 at the Faculty of Physical Education of the State University of Campinas and is available in Portuguese at the Unicamp Scientific and Intellectual Production Repository.

 

Photo: João Oliveira (CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0)

ANO

2022

AUTORES

Mônica Alves Barreto

EDITORES

Prof. Dr. Marco Antonio Coelho Bortoleto