Kinder- und Jugendzirkus Arcobaleno – Göppingen

The Kinder- und Jugendzirkus Arcobaleno is a children's and youth circus based in Göppingen , Baden-Württemberg. Affiliated with the Catholic parish of Christkönig, it has been developing a project for over twenty-five years in which young people learn circus arts, create shows together, and gradually pass on their knowledge to new participants.

A story that began in the summer of 2001

The story of Arcobaleno begins in the summer of 2001. Six young people decided to create their own circus, began training, and developed their first ideas. Their first official performance took place in June 2002. Since then, the project has grown considerably while maintaining its original collective structure.

The group currently comprises around 25 artists and coaches aged between 5 and 30. This significant age range is one of Arcobaleno's distinctive features: children, teenagers, and young adults practice together and participate in the life of the same project.

A system based on transmission

Arcobaleno operates without a permanent team of professional coaches . The principle is based on mutual learning: the most experienced artists pass on the techniques they have mastered to beginners. Over the years, the young people thus become capable of guiding new participants themselves.

This intergenerational transmission places great emphasis on individual responsibility . Members do not simply come to consume a circus class: each one contributes progressively to the functioning of the group, to training, to the preparation of acts and to the organization of activities.

A wide range of disciplines

The training sessions allow participants to discover a particularly wide range of disciplines. Arcobaleno practices, in particular, floor acrobatics , duo acrobatics , human pyramids , chair acrobatics and ladder acrobatics .

Juggling is also very popular, with various techniques including diabolo and devil stick . Young people can also practice unicycling , poi , hula-hooping , and rope skipping .

The artistic program also includes stage dance and clowning . This diversity allows participants to find a discipline that matches their desires and abilities, and then gradually develop acts for performances.

Saturday training sessions

Training sessions are held regularly on Saturdays . Teenagers begin with a specific session before all the artists come together for several hours of group work. An additional time slot is then dedicated to young artists in training.

Each year, the participants develop a new circus program together. The different disciplines worked on during training gradually become acts and are then brought together in a true collective creation.

The annual tour and performances

One of the highlights of the year is the Arcobaleno tour . For about a week, the group travels to different towns and cities to present its show. This experience allows children and teenagers to discover how a small touring troupe operates.

In addition to their annual tour, Arcobaleno performs at festivals , birthdays , parish events , and family gatherings . The group can offer both performances and interactive activities that allow the audience to participate.

The Mitmachzirkus and social projects

The Mitmachzirkus is indeed another important activity. Instead of remaining mere spectators, children and adults can try different disciplines themselves and discover the circus arts firsthand, accompanied by members of Arcobaleno.

This approach is also used in various social and educational projects . For several years, Arcobaleno has been developing collaborations with SOS-Kinderdorf Württemberg , the Zirkus ZickeZacke in Winnenden and a refugee accommodation facility in Göppingen .

SOS-Kinderdorf Württemberg

Cooperation with SOS-Kinderdorf Württemberg dates back to 2008. Arcobaleno coaches occasionally organize multi-day projects there during which children discover different disciplines, prepare acts and finally present a show.

Zirkus ZickeZacke from Winnenden

Since 2008 , several members of Arcobaleno have also participated annually in the Zirkus ZickeZacke project in Winnenden. Around forty children discover different disciplines during a day there before presenting a program to their families that same evening.

An intercultural circus for refugees

Arcobaleno has also developed an intercultural participatory circus program for children living in a refugee center in Göppingen. The instructors bring juggling and circus equipment to share a moment together with the children, using diabolo, juggling, and other activities.

Training and artistic quality

Even though the project operates without permanent professional coaches, its members regularly seek to improve their skills. In particular, they participate in training courses and exchanges with other circus organizations, and some instructors have undergone specialized training in circus and theatre pedagogy .

This combination of autonomy , transmission and external training allows Arcobaleno to retain its character as a project led by young people while progressively developing the technical and artistic quality of its shows.

After a quarter of a century of existence, Kinder- und Jugendzirkus Arcobaleno thus constitutes an original project in the landscape of the German youth circus: a largely self-managed group where children, adolescents and young adults successively become artists , creators and then transmitters of the skills acquired.