Social circus ringleader

For Mike Hirschbach, clowning around is serious business. He graduated from L’École Internationale de Théâtre in Paris in 1986, performed at the Calgary Olympic Games, and toured with Cirque du Soleil for two years. In 2003 he started working as a trainer for Cirque du Monde, a program that provides free circus training to youth at risk across 30 countries. “In professional circus training, people are working toward a career,” says Hirschbach, 56, from his home on Halifax’s Chocolate Lake. “In social circus training, the goal is to help change lives.”

After spending two years travelling the world with Cirque du Monde, Hirschbach settled back in Halifax to start his own social circus program. In 2007 he opened the first Circus Circle in a downtown Halifax church, where twice a week street youth could learn skills such as juggling and tightrope walking. Since then he has set up programs for youth aged 16 to 30 in five communities in the province and put on a show at Halifax’s Neptune Theatre to highlight members’ work.

Hirschbach says circus training gives troubled youth access to a safe space and community, as well as the opportunity to be mentored. He describes his favourite image: a volunteer wearing a three-piece suit teaching a youth covered in tattoos and piercings how to juggle. “If these guys met on the street, they would walk right by each other,” he says. “A shared passion for circus work brought them together.”