Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada and on my way to China.
Today I find myself on my way to China for a job with the Canadian Tourism Commission, but one short week ago I was teaching unicycle as part of the 13th Annual Circus And Magic Partnership (C.A.M.P.) Program in Winnipeg. I posted last week about how much fun the C.A.M.P. program is but beyond it being an absolute hoot to hang out with the Instructors that Neal Rempel (Artistic Director of the Winnipeg International Kidsfest) assembles to teach the program, the reality of teaching circus to kids is one that’s worth investigating as a way to diversify your income base.
Many of the instructors from the C.A.M.P. Program in Winnipeg have created their own training/teaching programs that are either housed in a permanent home or travel to where the students are.
My friends John and Annie from Firefly Theatre in Edmonton teach ariel workshops for teens and adults through out the year in the gym that they train in as a way of supplementing the revenues that their company makes.
Dean Bareham from the Green Fools and Flyin’ Bob Palmer have set up programs around Alberta at various locations and will grow/shrink the program depending on the budget so that they’ll either go in by themselves or bring several instructors in with them to teach.
Phil Leconte from the Silly People is trying to set up a C.A.M.P. program in Waterloo, Ontario based on the Winnipeg model and actually brought out one of the potential partners/funders to the Winnipeg this year to see the Winnipeg model first hand.
My friends Sem and Teresa created the Cirque Amongus program that opperates out of the Detroit Area.
Even giant Cirque du Soleil’s Cirque have a program to teach youth called Cirque du Monde.
If you have a skill and have the ability to explain it with enthusiasm and passion there’s a very good chance that there are opportunities in your community to share your knowledge and skill and be compensated for your time. Beyond the financial reward though, teaching for me is a chance to make sure the things that I’m passionate about are passed on others and this is good for the soul work.
