A Rare Opportunity
BY AMBER MONSON
Founder and owner of Sky Gym in Georgia.
In August 2014, and for the first time
in history, the American Circus
Educators Conference was hosted in
Montreal at the École Nationale de
Cirque (ENC), a significant opportunity
as ENC is recognized as one of the
world’s leading circus schools.
Even more exciting was the fact that
the ENC shares its campus with
Cirque du Soleil’s international
headquarters and the Tohu Theater,
North America’s only theater
dedicated solely to new circus
performance. The involvement of
such organizations drew an interna-
tional audience, including many
of the founders, luminaries, and icons
of circus education today. Quite
honestly, attending EdCon felt
like attending the Oscars of North
American circus!
The activities, which took place over
five days, were meant to provide a
forum for community-building, as well
as a showcase for new research and
best teaching practices, and they
lived up to the host institution in both
quality and variety—presentations,
panels, research, discussions, and
workshops. The workshops themselves
covered a broad range of topics,
including safety, rigging, pedagogy,
research, and social-adaptive and
performance techniques.
The keynote speakers focused on
various types of cutting-edge research.
Dr. Dean Kriellaars presented the
concept of Physical Literacy as it relates
to circus education. Dr. Michael
Unger discussed the the concept of
resilience as it relates to working
with youth who are deemed “at risk.”
Another conference highlight was ACE’s
featured Safety Recognition program.
This program, designed by ACE, involves
an extensive examination of safety
policies and resources to help teachers
minimize risk with and among their
students. It also recognizes participating
educators and institutions who
have completed the rigorous review
process and demonstrate a continued
commitment to safety and compliance
with the advised guidelines. This
exciting program will bring a greater
safety level to our industry and
allow professionals to be recognized
for their standardized expertise.
Additionally, it provides a mentoring
and development path for emerging
teachers, which satisfies a desperate
need for better safety resources
within an exploding industry.
There is always room for improvement.
Some of the session topics veered
from what was listed in the schedule,
and I would have appreciated more
time to engage directly with others
and to play and move with the
international group of artists that
surrounded us.
Nevertheless, the 2014 conference
completely lived up to my high
expectations. From the the support,
logistics and ins