APPLIED ANATOMY TO CIRCUS: OUR EXPERIENCE
Authors: Galdeano Denival Soares , Rossi Lia Mara , Pereira Celina S. B. , Liquidato Bianca Maria , Almeida Thiago Carvalho , Barros Mirna Duarte 
Published: June 2021

The circus arts involve a high degree of acrobatic, athletic, and aesthetic ability with extreme physical demands placed on performers. In spite of their performances, circus artists have focused on energetic flow, transfer of weight and expression of emotion. Unfortunately, injuries are often considered a part of life for the circus artists. We believe that for these artists it is mandatory to understand it under anatomical perspective and know the planes of the body and how moving different body parts that creates actions. Our group already offers an extension applied anatomy course with Yoga and, from last year, we have also offered a course of applied anatomy to circus. Our purpose was emphasizing the knowledge of muscle actions as well as joint movement based on aerial silks. A total, 60 circus artists from many parts of Brazil took part of this. Our course was programmed to provide applied anatomy for acrobatic aerial movements. The course was divided into six modules: 1. basical histology, 2. upper limbs, 3. lower limbs, 4. trunk, 5. respiratory system, perineum, pelvic floor and 6. Movement control by central nervous system. In each module, during the first hour, students received a practical class with warm‐up exercises with the main concepts about anatomical terminology related to joint movements like rotation, abduction, adduction, flexion, extension related to specific topic. After this, theoretical and practical contents were developed simultaneously by the same professor who was able to give many practical examples correlating both circus and Anatomy. In the end of the period of each module, all of students were gone to circus to apply the gotten knowledge and to develop a discussion with the group about kinesiology, joint alignment, and muscle action to promote scientific background to minimize traumas and optimize performance. Improvement in performance after course was measured by online survey that showed an increase in anatomical comprehension and better performance after the course. Applicability was reported in 100% of surveys. In spite of many students had not have prior knowledge about anatomy, the topics were satisfactorily assimilated by all of them and concepts were applicable. Additionally, students reported feeling more confident after course allowing them to effectively maximize their job. Circus artists explained that they have an opportunity to help their students and learn about their bodies and how all their bones, joints, and muscles that work together in harmony to create aerial poses. Using the correct anatomical terminology they could can simplify and streamline this process immensely. In conclusion, we believe that a basic understanding of human anatomy allows the circus artists to a different perspective in understanding movement patterns and where they come from.

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This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.