El arte circense como escenario educativo popular y expresión de la cultura popular: experiencias de jóvenes desde el circo social

Abstract

This Master’s thesis in Communication-Education analysed the popular, community-based, and street educational processes of circus arts within the context of popular culture, drawing on the experiences of young people involved in two training initiatives in Bogotá: the technical programme in circus arts at Juan Bosco School and the Chakana Collective. In addition to the background and theoretical framework—which explored the core themes of circus arts and social circus, popular education and social circus, and popular culture in relation to social circus—the study adopted a qualitative approach, narrative inquiry, and experiential interviews. Regarding the first specific objective, the emerging categories presented in the findings were autonomy and awareness (the construction of the intracultural); parceros, the construction of knowledge and skills among peers; and healing of the social fabric and re-signification of territory. As for the second specific objective, the emerging categories identified were the symbolic, aesthetic, and creative aspects of circus arts, as well as popular culture.