Abstract

Introduction:  The circus attracts the attention of professionals from different areas; among them are Physical Education teachers working in Elementary Education. In fact, several studies reveal that teachers can be the "key" to opening the door to circus activities in school. Therefore, we believe that analyzing their experience is an interesting way to understand this approach. This study aimed to investigate the introduction of the teaching of circus activities in two Brazilian schools in Elementary Education.

Methodological procedures:  This article presents a field study conducted in two Brazilian schools, one in the city of Itatiba-SP and another in Belo Horizonte-MG. Through observations and interviews, we tried to understand the context and characteristics of each proposal.

Results and discussion:  We found that, in both cases, the figure of the teacher is mainly responsible for the inclusion of the circus in school and that the activities developed are justified by contributing to a more expressive and artistic education.

Considerations:  The cases studied show us two interesting proposals to organize classes that can inspire other teachers, managers, or researchers.

Keywords: Circus activities; art and education; circus; basic education; Physical education