Circus Arts: Giving Children a Star They can Reach For. An interview with Movement & Games Teacher, Russell Harris.
How did you discover Circus Arts?
I started with a Brazilian martial arts called Capoeira and fire spinning. My journey really took off with a hula hoop in my 30s. Someone showed me how to use is it in a way that I had never seen before and that became the baseline of my career, if you can show someone something ordinary being used in a way they’ve never seen it, that is a short step to say, “I might not know everything, tell me more,” and it became a progression that reminded me of wonder and beauty and awe. As adults we don’t get that enough and we forget the importance of sharing it with kids. I’m here to remind kids of the magic in life and hopefully the ability to ask how or “tell me more” crosses over into their experience in academics.
What is your favorite act?
A bubble act. To come out on the stage with a bucket of water and some soap, something people see every day, and you show them a bubble bigger than life and everyone becomes a child again.
What do you love about teaching at the Minnesota Waldorf School?
We will never give up on wonder and awe. These kids go from believing in magic and fairy tales in preschool to growing a little older each year learning that they can do the impossible. Accomplishing something once thought a little scary to a child gives these kids a feeling that maybe they are the magic. As long as we keep trying and doing they see the magic in themselves every day.
What is the difference between Movement & Games vs. a typical Phy Ed class?
Teaching Circus Arts within Movement and Games gives me an ability to hyperfocus on anxiety management. Like a Phy Ed class, Movement & Game and Circus Arts are about physical fitness, about taking care of your body, but also our games are designed to help kids deal with social situations. Learning new skills but also how are you going to deal with this stressful situation with the group around you. So we are addressing anxiety management every day. Circus Arts is repeatedly going through anxiety and learning that you are ok. I see so many kids beating themselves up for being anxious, and Circus Arts teaches kids it's ok to be uncomfortable, and it's not necessarily a bad thing because I teach our kids they can get through this. And at the end of the trick these kids are accepting their accomplishments, accepting what they overcame. Take juggling – especially in front of an audience – there’s an activity that is all anxiety inducing! You are doing nothing but being afraid you are going to drop, and these kids learn ‘Hey I’m juggling, I have to drop from time to time, and that's ok!’
When not doing Circus Arts, we do have a focus on cooperative games, games where kids work together to accomplish something. Because our kids have been playing cooperative games their entire time at MWS they continue to work together and challenge each other as they get older. They all want the class to succeed as a whole so there is this beautiful mutual lifting that occurs. During Circus Arts, our kids encourage each other instead of tearing each other down if they can’t do something. Once a child new to MWS realizes they will only be lifted up by their peers, their bravery soars here, they can now slay the dragon, take that extra leap, and they know they will be ok.