Circo De Las Artes is a professional training school of Circus and Movement Arts, located in the Tigre province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was founded in 2009 by Ana Hepner, a dancer and acrobat. The school offers a 3-year professional course as well as recreational classes for adults and children. According to their website, the school is “dedicated to the research, training and integration of the Arts of Circus and Dance in the search for a multidisciplinary language”. A small and friendly space set in a lusciously green suburb right on the Tigre Delta, the school draws people from all over. The student body is mostly from Argentina, but I also met students from Chile, Ecuador, Australia and Italy.
I sat down with the founder and director of the school to talk about her school, their relationship to FEDEC and the general atmosphere of circus in Argentina.
Stav Meishar: Please tell me a little bit about yourself and what led you to opening Circo de las Artes.
Ana Hepner: I was a dancer during all my life but I was curious about other types of movements. It was difficult to find different places with good teachers, and difficult to attend them all for a diversified formation. I went the the USA and got a scholarship to Steps Studio in NYC and had a great experience there. I learned floor barre, trained with Martha Graham and Alvin Ailee, and learned Horton technique.When I came back I was very disappointed with the small Argentinian dance world. I started gymnastics and learned a lot from sports people about progress and that it comes from training rather than natural talents, which is the belief in most dance studios. I somehow found myself in front of a trapeze and started training circus and I loved it. In between, I trained at Laban school in London and learned about dance therapy and healing through movement. So I got all these different methods and teachers and approaches and in Argentina all these different areas were disconnected, everybody working alone with the same goals but separated from each other. That’s how Circo de Las Artes was born. I wanted to work professionally–not just with talented and highly trained people–but with people who were mentally prepared to give the best of themselves, who are hardworking and willing to put in the time and effort. It’s the way you work that will make you professional in the end. So I opened a professional course in Argentina, combining dance, acrobatics, aerial arts, and infusing everything else I learned through the years.
SM:What do you find typifies circus in Argentina, how would you describe the community and the relationships?
SM:How do you feel being part of FEDEC benefits your school, and how does it connect you to the international circus community?
SM: You just came back from Europe, where you brought your graduating class to perform a show in a festival in Auch, France. What was that like?
AH: Many schools submitted to the festival, there was a lot of competition but only 8 schools were selected to present, so we felt very honored to be invited to participate. Seeing the shows of the other schools, and having them watch our show, really helped me realize that the level of circus in Argentina is impressive and measures up to the rest of the world. Also being there with other school directors, meeting and talking with them, made me realize we all share the same problems and concerns, even the biggest schools. We all deal with similar ongoing issues of funding and safety, we’re all trying to reach a higher level, all trying to make circus part of our country’s culture. Performing in Auch really helped us connect to the wider circus community.
SM:How do you think circus in Argentina will evolve over the next 5-10 years?
AH:I honestly think we are at the peak of our circus development, the level in Argentina is higher than it ever was before. But I also think that culture needs government support in order to keep surviving and growing. Our future will depend on the political climate and how our government will support the culture. The local circus community is trying to get the support, but even more institutionalized art forms like theater and dance are struggling, even the biggest dance companies are struggling to get support. Very few companies get support, and what they get is hardly enough. Circus is far behind and much less recognized. We are trying to change that, but it is a difficult struggle that often feels like a lost battle to begin with.
SM: Argentina has been in a financial crisis for years, and only recently has started to recover. Circus being art, and viewed by some as luxury, how does circus fit in the current social and economic landscape of Argentina?
All photos courtesy of Agustina Ignacio
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This post was last modified on December 5, 2017 3:32 pm