Fellow’s Profile
Fellow’s Profile
Circus education provision for young people
1991
Yorkshire and The Humber
A retired teacher, I now research and write on aspects of the cultural and social history of the circus.
My 1991 Fellowship explored circus training provision for young people in Hungary. This was at a time when I was heavily involved in developing educational and social circus for young people in Leeds.
I co-founded the Leeds Children's Circus and then began Circus Zanni, an award-winning youth circus. I was strongly involved in developing the European Youth Circus Network and I have regular contact with groups across Europe and around the world. I have often travelled to advise on youth circus work and have directed youth circus events in the UK, Europe and Brazil. I set up the pioneering National Association of Youth Circus in 1994, to promote circus for, with, and by, young people. This work has been further developed and continued by the CircusWorks organisation.
I completed a Masters degree in Educational Circus and then went on to gain a PhD by published works for my research and writing on the social history of the circus. To date I have six published books on aspects of this subject, in addition to four other published books.
Stephen Ward's (CF 1991) latest book Opulence and Ostentation: Building the Circus has been published. This book is a comprehensive exploration of the development of historic static circus buildings across the UK, Europe, and the New World. Journal The Circus Diaries describe it as "an invaluable contribution to circus scholarship".
By Stephen Ward, 2023
Author Stephen Ward (CF 1991) has written a book, Artistes of Colour: Ethnic Diversity and Representation in the Victorian Circus, which was published on 22 February. The book explores the contribution that Black and ethnic performers made to the success of the nineteenth-century circus.
By Stephen Ward, 2021
All Reports are copyright © the author. The moral right of the author has been asserted. The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.
Stephen Ward's (CF 1991) latest book Opulence and Ostentation: Building the Circus has been published. This book is a comprehensive exploration of the development of historic static circus buildings across the UK, Europe, and the New World. Journal The Circus Diaries describe it as "an invaluable contribution to circus scholarship".
By Stephen Ward, 2023
Author Stephen Ward (CF 1991) has written a book, Artistes of Colour: Ethnic Diversity and Representation in the Victorian Circus, which was published on 22 February. The book explores the contribution that Black and ethnic performers made to the success of the nineteenth-century circus.
By Stephen Ward, 2021
All Reports are copyright © the author. The moral right of the author has been asserted. The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.
