reboot
Cirque & Transmission
With reboot
| Date: | 28.03.2025 |
| Time: | 10:00 |
| Location: | Zirkusquartier Zürich |
| Price: | Gratis |
| Duration : | 2 days |
| Age : | From 16 years |
| Level : | For professionals |
Two-day workshop | Registration by e-mail to: info@courantdcirque.ch
Past dates:
reboot
Feminist approaches to (re)thinking governance: what opportunities are there for the performing arts sector?
In the past, feminist movements have tried to organize themselves more horizontally and democratically in order to limit the power dynamics within their associations. Since the 1970s, several innovative organizational forms and tools have been developed, such as co-management, participatory management, non-violent communication tools and gender-segregated spaces. These models aim to break with institutionalized hierarchies and counteract traditional patriarchal structures.
In the performing arts, these feminist principles have inspired new forms of collective creation. More and more companies, collectives and structures are focusing on joint decision-making processes and an equitable distribution of artistic responsibility and are trying to avoid traditional hierarchies. Between progress and limits, many challenges remain to maintain the balance between theoretical equality and internal practices where forms of informal power can still emerge.
With the support of Movetia and in collaboration with Zirkusquartier, the Reboot project is organizing two days of reflection on governance issues in the performing arts. The workshop is aimed at actors from the fields of circus, dance, theater and related disciplines.
For registrations or questions, please contact info@courantdcirque.ch. The number of places is limited, a selection will be made if there are too many registrations.
Presentation of the workshops
“TAKING RISKS, EXERCISING CARE: A KEY TOPIC IN THE ARTIST’S CAREER” – AGATHE DUMONT
Agathe Dumont is a dancer, professor of artistic education at the École supérieure d’art et de design (TALM) in Angers and an independent researcher specializing in circus arts, dance and visual arts. She has conducted
extensive research on the health and well-being of artists, particularly the psychosocial risks to which they are exposed. In 2022, she published a report entitled “Taking Risks, Taking Care: Health as a Key Issue in Circus Artists’ Careers”. This study, initiated in 2019, follows on from an earlier research project conducted on dancers in 2015. The main aim of this study was to investigate the role of health and care issues, the factors contributing to physical, mental and social injuries and their prevention in the careers of artists from different generations, disciplines and fields. By collecting data through surveys and qualitative interviews, Agathe Dumont wanted to give artists a voice and show how they incorporate this issue into their daily lives and careers.
The findings aim to provide an overview of the sector’s practices and perceptions in relation to health and care, while highlighting the artists’ testimonies through personal narratives. This research opens up opportunities for reflection on improving support mechanisms and questioning the role of institutions and work organization in the prevention of psychosocial risks among artists. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing and addressing these issues in order to develop effective support and prevention strategies.
“TRANSFORMING CONFLICTS: QUEER AND FEMINIST TOOLS FOR COLLABORATIVE AND INCLUSIVE SOLUTIONS” – COLLECTIF FRACAS
Collectif Fracas is a queer and feminist collective founded in 2019 that is dedicated to conflict resolution and addressing intra-group violence. Inspired by transformative justice, the collective seeks to turn conflict into opportunities for healing and accountability without resorting to traditional legal approaches.
Main missions:
- Intervention: Use of methods such as mediation, restorative justice circles and social analysis to support collectives in resolving tensions.
- Training: Conduct workshops and customized training to equip communities with tools for conflict management and violence prevention.
- Resources: Provide tools, testimonials and practical guides to promote collective and compassionate conflict resolution.
Events and activities:
- Organization of the (In)justices Festival in 2021, focusing on justice in queer and feminist communities, with debates and panel discussions available online.
- Tailor-made support for collectives in different regions.
“REINVENTING COLLABORATION: PRACTICAL TOOLS FOR INCLUSIVE AND EFFECTIVE COLLECTIVES” – THE COLLECTIVE TOOLS PROJECT
The “Collective Tools” project is a collaborative action and research initiative launched in September 2023 between the Haute école d’art et de design – Genève (HEAD – Genève) and La Manufacture – Haute école des arts de la scène (Lausanne).
Main objectives:
- Facilitating collective work: analyzing and improving group dynamics in the cultural scene and activist movements in French-speaking Switzerland.
- Identification of effective methods: Observing and formalizing tools and protocols that promote harmonious collaboration and help collectives achieve their goals.
Methodology:
- Observation: study of different artistic, associative and activist collectives to understand their working methods and tools of collaboration.
- Formalization: Documenting these tools in the form of protocols or “rules of the game” for practical application.
- Testing: Testing these protocols in different groups to assess their effectiveness and adaptability in different contexts.
The Collective Tools Project offers a freely accessible toolbox for improving collaboration in groups and collectives. These practical tools, which have been collected, tested or developed by the team, are available online.
Circ-Exchange x reboot
The Circ-Exchange will take place on Thursday, March 27, 2025 at Zirkusquartier.
The Reboot team will also lead a workshop on “Collective Making” as part of the first Circ-Exchange in 2025. In this workshop, the Reboot project will be presented and aspiring artists will be given concrete tools to strengthen their collective work. Through practical exercises and discussions, participants will explore group dynamics, learn effective methods of collaboration and reflect on ways to strengthen collaborations within their artistic projects. After an intensive exchange, we will bring the Circ-Exchange to a close with a cozy aperitif.
Circ-Exchange Format
Circ-Exchange is a networking format that includes workshops and discussions for circus professionals in Switzerland. The aim is to create a space in which artists can exchange ideas, meet, share experiences, move together and explore key questions such as: What are the needs of the circus scene? How can the Swiss circus community be strengthened? How can the exchange between artists be further promoted? Get in touch here for suggestions, feedback and proposed topics for Circ-Exchange.
reboot
reboot is an international cooperation project between the Swiss company Courant d’Cirque and the French Compagnie d’Elles, supported by Movetia and ProHelvetia.
It is about sharing knowledge and best practices with the aim of understanding circus arts as a possible place of transformation. Around the two companies, a dozen associated partners are actively involved in the project.
All these players in the circus world are joining forces to develop benevolent and inclusive practices to revolutionize the aesthetics of tomorrow.
Sarah Simili
Sarah Simili was born in 1983 in Valais (Switzerland) and is a circus artist, director, teacher and researcher. Since 2015, she has directed the Compagnie Courant d’Cirque and the encirqué project(s). Sarah is also responsible for the production and management of several large-scale projects, including LABO’Cirque and Axé Cirque. She holds a DAS in Cultural Management and a CAS in Dramaturgy and Text Performance and completed a Master’s degree in Gender Studies at the University of Angers in 2023. She also trained as a gender equality consultant at La Petite in Toulouse. In 2024, she began a second Master’s degree in Management of Artistic Educational Institutions at the University of Rouen. In addition to her artistic, educational and academic activities, Sarah is strongly committed to the recognition and structuring of circus arts in Switzerland. She was president of the Swiss Federation of Circus Schools (FSEC) for 7 years and co-founder of the ProCirque association, of which she is currently co-president.
Yaelle Antoine
Yaëlle Antoine trained at the Annie Fratellini circus school and at L’Esacto-Lido in tightrope walking and contortion. After an injury, she left her career as an acrobat behind and used her years of experience in the circus ring as a director and teacher. She experiments with writing in the circus, inspired by the circus and the spoken word. Most of her work is co-written with Marion Guez, a tightrope walker, researcher and lecturer at UGA, and she is a co-founder of Les Tenaces, a women’s collective that fights against sexism and for equality in circus and street arts. Year after year, Yaëlle Antoine invests in urban and public spaces in search of the right spaces for her dramaturgies. For her, investing in public space remains a preferred artistic means of concretizing her social and political concerns through mediation and artistic actions. She plays with formats, spaces and aesthetics and has a penchant for hybridity. Yaëlle Antoine is a member of the Esacto-Lido teaching team and participates in a number of training courses. Yaëlle Antoine is subsidized by the Occitanie region and the Drac.
Agathe Dumont
Agathe Dumont is a dancer and art teacher at the École supérieure d’art et de design TALM – Angers and holds a doctorate in performing arts from the Université Sorbonne-Nouvelle. She conducts theoretical and practical research on the everyday body and artistic work. On the one hand, she focuses on the sociology of artistic work, the relationship between “care” and the organization of work, on the other hand, she develops practical research in the studio or on stage on everyday life, training, gestures of care and resistance, especially in circus, dance or performance within TERRAIN – L’incubateur en Pays de la Loire. From 2015 to 2020, she worked with Mariam Faquir on an artistic research project at L’L-chercher en arts vivants, which resulted in the book Déclinaisons du quotidien, mettre le corps au travail, published by L’Éditions in 2023.
Jules Farce
In 2012, Jules Farce founded the queer, feminist and self-managed Parisian bar La Mutinerie. In 2019, he also co-founded – together with Elsa Deck-Marsault and Cha Prieur – Collectif Fracas, a queer and feminist collective that helps people deal with interpersonal conflict, violence and aggression. These two groups, each in their own way, have taught him a lot about how groups function, how to regulate conflict and how to consider systemic issues of power and oppression. Jules has trained in a range of restorative justice and transformative justice tools and systems, and also works as an institutional socioanalyst as an independent consultant. His practice aims to clarify and analyze the forces at work in a group to help people emerge from crisis and reorganize their collective forms.
reboot is supported by
