“By turning you upside down, we teach you to stand on your own two feet. By dropping objects we teach you to catch them. By having you walk all over someone, we teach you to take care of them. By having you clown around, we teach you to take yourself seriously.” (Bob Sugarman – circus writer)

 Beleiving that circus arts contribute to empowering youth, physically and emotionally, in March 2007, the Palestinian Circus School started up the first circus clubs throughout the West Bank, in Ramallah, Hebron and Jenin. In October 2011, the school has started new circus clubs for beginners in Bethlehem, Al Faraa Camp and Birzeit. We now have ten clubs running: Jenin girls, seven beginners groups, one intermediate group, and one advanced group.

The advanced group

The group consists of 25 girls and boys from Jenin, Hebron and Ramallah, between the ages of 12 and 18.

 - The trainings begin in October and end in May.

 - It takes place at the school in Birzeit each Friday from 10 am to 5pm.

During the weekly workshops the students are introduced to trust games, intermediate and advanced level in juggling, acro-lifting, acrobatics, aerials, stilts, dance and theatre. In May the students show their family and friends the skills they learned during the year in an open day organized by the school. Moreover, since 2007, the advanced students have been taking part of a 3 week intensive summer school during the month of July, where they develop their own Mobile Circus show and tour with it for an additional week to 4 or 5 West Bank cities.

The intermediate group

The group consists of 20 girls and boys from Ramallah and Al Bireh, between the ages of 10 and 17.

- The trainings begin in October and end in May

- It takes place at the Episcopal Technical and Vocational Training centre in Al Tirah in Ramallah each Thursday from 4-7 pm.

During the weekly workshops, the students are introduced to trust games, and intermediate level of juggling, acro-lifting, acrobatics, aerials, stilts, dance, and theatre. In May the students show their family and friends the skills they learned during the year in an open day organized by the school.

The beginners group

Seven groups throughout the West Bank, consisting of students whose ages range between 10 and 17 years old.

 - The trainings begin in October and end in May.

 - It takes place in the following cities:

• Hebron                                           Saturday from 11am – 1pm
• Bethlehem                                    Saturday from 3:30 – 5:30 pm
• Birzeit                                            Thursday from 4 – 7pm
• Birzeit                                            Saturday from 4:30-7:00pm
• Birzeit / Jalazon students         Saturday from 2-4pm
• Jenin                                              Wednesday from 3-5:30 pm
• Al Faraa Camp                             Wednesday from 3-5:30 pm

During the weekly workshops, the students are introduced to trust games, and basic level of juggling, acro-lifting, acrobatics, aerials, stilts, dance and theatre. In May the students show their family and friends the skills they learned during the year in an open day organized by the school.

 Jenin grils

 The group consists of 40 female students from the Social Rehabilitation Centre in Jenin, all between the age of 16 and 20.

 - The trainings begin in October and end in May.

 - It takes place at the Social Rehabilitation Centre in Jenin each Wednesday from 10:30 am - 1:30 pm.

During the weekly workshops the students are introduced to trust games, basic level of juggling, acro-lifting, and acrobatics, but our main aim is to use circus as a social tool with the girls. In May the students show their family and friends the skills they learned during the year in an open day organized by the school.