National Circus School

Performing arts are important to the cultural fabric, yet in North America, they tend to lack diversity and may reinforce social inequities through training and performance that is based on hegemonic cultural identities. In this paper, we explore an approach to creation and rehearsal that could be more inclusive to diverse perspectives and identities such that performing arts can convey the complexities of multiple realities relevant to the North American context. We propose ethical relationality, a conscious consideration of relationships with the self, others, historical legacies and social and physical environments, as an approach to the creation and rehearsal processes. The application of ethics to these processes has the potential to produce more relatable, pluralist and ethical creation practices and performances and promote responsible, responsive, and affective engagement with others. It requires a flexible, collaborative approach with shared power and shared responsibility for each other, the engagement of all participants in the process, and the work created. Through a case study of a wordless theatrical dance performance, we give a concrete example of how an ethical relationality approach could facilitate open and courageous creative processes, acknowledging the various factors of oppression and omission to which the performing arts are subject.

Circus practice is a very popular activity that has had minimal engineering research published. The purpose of this study was to measure peak cable tension in nine circus disciplines: aerial hoop, rope, aerial silk, flying pole, tightwire, Chinese pole, swinging trapeze, solo and duo fixed trapeze. Cables in these disciplines were instrumented with load cells and tension force was recorded. Thirty-four acrobats, professionals, and students from professional circus schools participated in the study and performed a total of 118 acrobatic movements. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) determined differences in participants. Almost all movements and disciplines showed a statistically significant difference between participants. Maximal forces were found to be 4.8 BW (bodyweight) in aerial hoop, 7.3 BW in aerial rope, 5.6 BW in aerial silk, 4.0 BW in flying pole, 5.6 BW in swinging trapeze, 6.8 BW in solo fixed trapeze, 2.5 BW in duo fixed trapeze, and maximal tension in cable were found to be 15 kN in tightwire and 2.8 kN in Chinese pole. These findings may provide substantial implications for acrobatic design and rigging to improve safety of circus equipment. La pratique du cirque est une activité très populaire pour laquelle peu de recherches en ingénierie ont été publiées. L’objectif de cette étude était de mesurer la tension maximale des câbles dans neuf disciplines de cirque: cerceau aérien, corde lisse, tissu aérien, mât pendulaire, fil de fer, mât chinois, trapèze ballant, trapèze fixe solo et duo. Les câbles de ces disciplines ont été instrumentés avec des cellules de charge et la tension a été enregistrée. Trente-quatre acrobates, professionnels et élèves d'écoles de cirque professionnelles, ont participé à l'étude et ont exécuté un total de 118 mouvements acrobatiques. Une analyse de la variance (ANOVA) a déterminé les différences entre participants. Presque tous les mouvements et disciplines ont montré une différence statistiquement significative entre les participants. Les forces maximales ont été trouvées à 4.8 poids corporel en cerceau aérien, 7.3 fois le poids du corps en corde lisse, 5.6 fois le poids du corps en tissu aérien, 4.0 fois le poids du corps en mât pendulaire, 5.6 fois le poids du corps en trapèze ballant, 6.8 fois le poids du corps en trapèze fixe solo et 2.5 fois le poids du corps en trapèze fixe duo, et la tension maximale dans le câble a été trouvée à 15 kN dans le fil de fer et 2.8 kN dans le mât chinois. Ces résultats peuvent avoir des implications importantes pour la conception et le gréage acrobatique afin d'améliorer la sécurité des équipements de cirque.

To establish and assess an intersectoral local network focused on the roles of registered nurses and primary healthcare nurse practitioners to ensure the continuity of care and service pathways for refugees in Quebec. Developmental evaluation with a mixed methodology. The qualitative component will include: (1) a document review; (2) observations of participants during meetings of different governance structures; (3) semi-structured interviews with key actors (n=40; 20/neighbourhood interventions); and (4) focus groups with end users of the services (refugees) (n=4; 6 to 8 participants per group). The quantitative component will be based on: (1) a data sheet on health and social interventions for refugees users filled in by registered nurses, primary healthcare nurse practitioners and physicians and (2) data analysis of the clinical-administrative database since 2012. This study received funding in June 2019 and Research Ethics Committee approval was granted in July 2020. In Quebec, refugee vulnerability is exacerbated by the lack of integration of existing resources and the lack of access to care and continuity of services. To address these issues, an integrated local network for refugees must be developed. Additionally, we will explore the role of registered nurses and their collaboration with primary healthcare nurse practitioners. This study will provide recommendations on how to optimize the scopes of practice of registered nurses and primary healthcare nurse practitioners, adapt care and services and develop a local intersectoral network to better meet the complex needs of refugees. It will evaluate the use and the appreciation of new services for targeted populations (neighbourhoods and refugees) and aim to improve the accessibility, continuity and user experience of all health services for those populations.