São Paulo, Brazil. In January and February 2027, the Brazilian circus Ponte das Estrelas (Bridge of Stars) will tour Germany with its program, “Imagina – Imagine…” The initiative shows how circus pedagogy can open closed doors for those less privileged.
Imagine disadvantaged children and teenagers traveling to a distant land, encountering different people and ways of life, and discovering that the world—with all its contradictions—can still be one. Imagine them having the opportunity to showcase their talents there, realizing that they, too, have the power to offer a gift to others. This is how our dream of organizing a tour in Germany began.
Circus Ponte das Estrelas (Circus Bridge of Stars) is the youth outreach program of Casa Criança Querida, a social-educational center based on Waldorf pedagogy. It serves 170 children and young people—ranging from 3 months to 18 years old—from the favelas on the southern outskirts of São Paulo. Our children grow up in an environment where crime, drug use, domestic violence, and child prostitution are part of daily life. Twenty young people, aged 12 to 18, participate in the circus project. They come every day to eat, learn, laugh, and live together, engaging in music and art. In addition to other educational activities, they participate in a wide variety of circus-related pursuits.
Each year, we develop a program featuring theater, juggling, unicycling, tightrope walking, clowning, and animal acts. We perform at public and private schools, theaters, and NGOs, as well as at Waldorf conferences in and around São Paulo. Occasionally, we are even invited to perform in states as far as 800 kilometers away. “Imagina – Imagine…” is a story about the good and the sad aspects of our world, about the danger—in a society steered by the masses and the media—of forgetting one’s own dream, and about the courage to rediscover one’s inner fire and bring one’s life dream to fruition.
Dates Circo Ponte das Estrelas
Translation Paula Boslau
Image Circus Ponte das Estrelas
