Txitatoki Urdaibai Zirko Eskola – Gernika

Txitatoki Urdaibai Zirko Eskola is a circus school located in Gernika-Lumo , in the heart of the Urdaibai biosphere reserve, in Biscay.

The school was created in 2014 in Arteaga by Elsa and Keko , two circus enthusiasts wishing to develop a real circus project in a rural setting.

After several years of operation, the initial space became too small to accommodate the school's growth.

Txitatoki then settled in Tantai Espazioa , in Gernika-Lumo, which today constitutes its main place of activity.

A circus school for everyone

The project seeks to make circus arts accessible to all people , regardless of their age, experience or abilities.

No prior experience is necessary to get started.

The school welcomes young children, teenagers, and adults alike.

Learning pathways

The teaching is organized around several pathways allowing students to start gradually and then deepen their knowledge of the different families of circus disciplines.

Circummotor activity

Circummotor skills constitute the first entry point for the youngest children.

She uses circus tools to develop psychomotor skills, balance, coordination and body awareness.

Play occupies a central place in these early experiences.

Multidisciplinary circus classes

As children grow up, they can join the different levels of circus classes.

These courses offer a multidisciplinary approach to allow students to discover several techniques.

Acrobatics

Acrobatics forms one of the foundations of the teaching.

Students gradually develop agility, strength, mobility, coordination and body control.

Acrobatic work may include various ground movements as well as learning jumps and mortales for groups with the necessary skill level.

Aerial disciplines

Aerial disciplines also occupy an important place.

The trapeze is one of the school's iconic apparatus.

Aerial silks allow you to work on suspension, strength, mobility and expression in space.

Specific aerial courses allow teenagers and adults to delve deeper into these disciplines.

The offer also includes groups for adults over thirty years old.

This organization makes aerial disciplines accessible to people who do not necessarily fit the traditional profile of a young circus practitioner.

The school therefore welcomes adults of different ages, including people over fifty .

Vertical dance

Vertical dance complements this offering.

This discipline uses suspension and working on vertical surfaces to create a different relationship between body, movement, space, and gravity.

Juggling and balancing

Juggling is another major discipline taught at Txitatoki.

It helps to develop coordination, precision, rhythm and concentration.

Object balancing is also integrated into the courses.

Students can discover the balance ball and various techniques for working on stability and body control.

Progressing in one's practice

Multidisciplinary teaching allows one to develop a general knowledge of the circus before possibly seeking to delve deeper into certain techniques.

For students who already have some experience, the school encourages more regular practice.

From certain levels, students can come twice a week in order to accelerate their technical progress.

The classes then combine acrobatics, aerial disciplines, juggling and balancing.

This diversity allows for the gradual development of a comprehensive practice.

Free training

Txitatoki also offers free training time.

Annual registration allows students to access the times scheduled for this independent practice.

The school thus seeks to gradually guide practitioners towards greater autonomy.

A practice that goes beyond the physical

Physical development is an important objective of education.

The practice allows you to work on balance, coordination, strength, flexibility, agility and psychomotor skills.

But the educational project is not limited to physical abilities.

Txitatoki also uses circus arts to support personal development .

• Emotional management is one of the areas being addressed.
• Practice can contribute to the development of self-esteem.
• It also helps to gradually build trust.
• Learning a new technique often requires several attempts and forces one to accept mistakes as a normal step in progress.
• This experience develops perseverance and the ability to surpass oneself.

Working in a group also allows for the development of sociability and cooperation .

Some disciplines require observing others, helping them, or trusting them.

The practice thus becomes simultaneously individual and collective.

Hazitoki: a truly inclusive circus

One of Txitatoki's most important characteristics is its commitment to inclusion .

The school asserts that circus arts should be accessible to all people, regardless of their age, condition, or physical abilities.

This philosophy is translated concretely into the Hazitoki program.

Hazitoki is a social integration project through circus arts.

Its goal is to promote genuine inclusion of people regardless of their physical or intellectual abilities.

• The participants concerned are not systematically separated into specific groups.
• When possible, they join classes with the other students.
• The exercises are adapted to allow everyone to participate according to their abilities.
• An educator can accompany the participant when necessary.

This organization allows people with special needs to carry out the same activities as the rest of the group with the necessary adaptations.

The project thus seeks to create ordinary relationships between people with different abilities.

The circus becomes a space for meeting and shared practice.

Inclusion is therefore not presented only as a theoretical value.

It is part of the regular operation of the school.

This dimension gives Txitatoki a particularly strong identity in the field of inclusive circus .

Circus in schools and in the community

School interventions

The school also develops a significant activity with educational institutions.

Extracurricular courses can be organized directly in schools.

Txitatoki then moves the necessary equipment and installs the equipment adapted to the activities.

Students can discover aerial disciplines, acrobatics and juggling.

The activities also help to work on balance, coordination, flexibility, self-esteem and psychomotor skills.

This offer makes it possible to bring the circus closer to children who do not directly attend the school in Gernika.

Tailor-made workshops can also be organised for schools and established groups.

The team then adapts the content to the age, number of participants and objectives of the hosted structure.

Open and itinerant workshops

Txitatoki also develops open workshops intended for parties, events, festivals and public demonstrations.

These facilities are organized around several spaces.

• A specific area is provided for children up to five years old.
• Other areas are dedicated to aerial disciplines, juggling, acrobatics and balancing.

The public can thus move between different families of disciplines and take on challenges adapted to their level.

The school can move all the necessary equipment to set up these spaces in different municipalities of Euskadi.

This travelling activity allows a very wide audience to discover the circus.

Family circus activities, workshops and summer camps

Txitatoki also offers family circus activities.

These sessions allow children and adults to practice together.

They offer another way to discover the disciplines and share a physical and artistic activity.

Circus camps and workshops are organised during certain holiday periods.

They allow children and young people to practice more intensively over several days.

The diversity of activities allows for alternating between aerial disciplines, acrobatics, juggling, balancing and team games.

A cultural player in the region

The school also has a strong presence in its local area.

His project explicitly seeks to bring the performing arts and circus closer to the rural environment .

This approach helps to reduce geographical barriers to accessing culture.

The location in Urdaibai allows us to offer a regular circus performance outside of major metropolitan areas.

Txitatoki is thus identified as a cultural actor in the Urdaibai biosphere reserve.

Its action is associated with objectives related to health and well-being, education, equality, reducing inequalities and working in partnership.

The school also participates in various municipalities in the Basque Country during public events.

Her workshops allow families to discover circus arts during festivals and cultural events.

An experienced teaching team

The teaching team has significant experience in teaching.

Elsa and Keko have been developing their circus project for over fifteen years .

Keko Salvador is in charge of the team's educational direction.

He has a university degree in circus pedagogy.

The team includes several teachers specializing in different disciplines.

Routes adapted to each age

• Children can start with circus motor skills .
• They then progress through the different levels of multidisciplinary circus.
• From adolescence onwards, they can continue with general courses or delve deeper into aerial disciplines.
• Adults have access to courses tailored to their level and age.
• People with functional diversity or special needs can integrate into these same pathways thanks to the adaptations offered within the framework of Hazitoki.
• Families have access to sessions that allow for joint practice.
• Schools can benefit from interventions directly on their premises.
• Communities and event organizers can host open workshops.

This diversity allows Txitatoki to act simultaneously as a school , educational project , inclusive space and territorial cultural actor .

The circus is considered there as a demanding artistic practice but also as a tool for health, personal development and meeting others.

The school seeks to enable each person to progress based on their own abilities.

Performance is not considered the sole objective.

Fun , trust , cooperation and autonomy are integral parts of learning.

Since its creation in 2014 , Txitatoki Urdaibai Zirko Eskola has thus developed in Gernika and throughout Urdaibai a particularly comprehensive approach to educational and inclusive circus.

Its offering now combines regular classes, aerial disciplines, acrobatics, juggling, balances, vertical dance, family circus, open training, workshops, school interventions and traveling workshops.

Through the Hazitoki program, the school also affirms a conception of the circus in which differences in abilities do not constitute an obstacle to collective practice.