On July 7th, their fifth day in Puerto Rico, the 9 young circus performers of Circus Harmony St. Louis brought their skills to a group of about 26 Puerto Rican children. The kids they taught ranged in age from 7 to 18 – and came from all over: some were special-needs students from the National Circus School’s Circus Therapy program, some were homeschooled or children from other area schools who came to try something new, and some were students from the social circus program. The day of lessons included contortion, tumbling, trapeze, and juggling.
The National Circus School of Puerto Rico, which has been hosting Circus Harmony for the past week, was started by Japhet Irizarry in the backyard of his family home in Dorado when he returned from the National Circus School of Brazil. “In 2011, Japhet graduated from the National Circus School, in Brazil,” his sister Leslynette explained. “And when he came back–this property is from our family, so he came here, and didn’t have a place to keep doing circus.” Leslynette, who is a psychologist, had long since converted the upstairs section of the home into a therapy center. Then, she realized she might be able to combine her skills with her brother’s to create something special.
“So we give occupational [therapy], speech and language [therapy], and psychological therapy for special kids. He asked for a place to do circus for himself. So he started doing things over there. And we saw him from the window, and thought, oh my god, what he is doing is something that we could use in therapy!”
On this day, many of the students that the St. Louis circus kids taught skills like unicycling and juggling were from that very therapy program.
“I think it’s going to be fun, because these kids haven’t seen as much circus,” said Japhet Irizarry. “This is a good experience, and excellent experience for them to see another youth showing what they know and trying to share. They’re going to see how much they can do, and how they can improve.”
“Circus is always therapeutic,” added Leslynette Ramos Irizarry. ”And what’s happening here is that we have some specific groups, where neurotypical children and children who have special needs mix together. Normally we don’t put them in separate groups. What we do in this group is, for those with special needs, we make a therapy plan, using the circus as a medium to work with them. Each child is different, but basically, we have some general objectives that we work with.
For kids with autism, for example, the class develops their socialization skills, waiting for their turn, managing their emotions, developing their motor skills, working on sensory issues. They go to the same classes as others, they just might get a little more assistance. They all know this is psychotherapy, but for them, they’re just going to their circus class. Circus is what they want to do.”
Francisco Cásares Vazquez, 17, is a student with autism and sensory processing disorders. He has been attending circus therapy for several years – and was excited about the unicycling class the Circus Harmony kids had to offer him. “I like [circus] because it’s fun, and it’s funny, especially when the teacher knows how to make jokes, it’s great.”
He says that aside from being fun, the circus helps him with his sensory processing issues, which can make it psychologically very difficult and painful for him to touch objects with certain textures. Since circus is so tactile, it can help children overcome that.
“For me, it’s therapy, because I’ve really got to deal with…tactile experiences,” Vazquez said. “Like, usually when I touch grass without shoes, it feels like I’m being poked with little tiny spikes. This helps, sometimes. Not necessarily all the time, but it helps, and it can bring a smile.”
As the nine Circus Harmony students spread across the tent and began to help students add a fourth ball to their juggling routine, or perform their first flip, the children who had gathered from all walks of life in Puerto Rico were happy to learn from them.
Ariana Rubí, a student from the elite Revolution Circus group, appreciated the opportunity. “We have some students of some of the classes we have in the circus, as well as some kids from other schools that are coming to try something new. I’m excited to see what we’re going to learn!”
