Publications scientifiques 

J’ai choisi de diriger le sujet de mon mémoire vers la discipline du cirque, et plus précisément dans l’acrobatie circassienne, car c’est un monde où la conscience kinesthésique est très élevée. Il est donc possible d’examiner les corps en mouvement et d’en analyser l’intentionnalité, tout en en discutant avec les acrobates eux.elles-mêmes . C’est ainsi que j’ai pris comme base de données des enregistrements vidéo de l’entraînement et de la répétition de la représentation scénique – ou show, terme utilisé dans le monde du cirque, ainsi que des interviews in formelles lors d’un brunch chez ces mêmes interprètes. Les données ont été rassemblées à la fin de l’année 2017, à Montréal au Québec, Canada, avec deux professionnels de l’acrobatie, V et J, diplômés de l’École nationale de cirque de Montréal (ENC). L’analyse sera concentrée sur la vidéo 23 de l’entraînement, et la vidéo 30 du brunch. Je m’autoriserai cependant quelques extraits des données restantes, si les exemples sont pertinents . Des images illustreront les gestes aussi bien des séquences de l’entraînement que de l’interview. Cette dernière est également entièrement transcrite, en annexe.

Durant le processus de création du mémoire, je me suis retrouvée confrontée à plusieurs difficultés. La première concernait la notion de confiance, difficilement définissable. La seconde résidait dans la distinction entre mouvements interactionnels émergents et mouvements prédéfinis faisant partie du spectacle. Pour pallier ces contraintes, je n’analyserai pas le sentiment de confiance, car celui-ci est cognitif et hors de ma compétence. Je tenterai en revanche de mettre en relief la confiance incarnée ou corporelle, dans une perspective phénoménologique. C’est-à-dire que je tenterai de mettre en évidence les éléments physiques, corporels et concrets, où selon moi, la confiance s’exprime. La question est donc de savoir quels éléments confirment la présence d’une confiance cognitive préalable, et la renforcent dans une perspective future. Je pars du postulat que cette confiance cognitive existe, me basant sur les déclarations des deux acrobates (transcription de la vidéo 30, l.53, 401, 696, 768, 861). Quant à la problématique de la distinction entre émergence et codification scénique, elle a fait l’objet de débats dans les années soixante-dix et a été décrétée non pertinente. Je n’essaierai donc pas de séparer les deux, mais considérerai les deux faces interactionnelles comme un tout, un type de communication spécifique au monde du cirque, et plus généralement peut-être, au monde des arts de la scène.

La question qui m’a poussée à écrire ce mémoire était de savoir comment des figures acrobatiques de main à main aussi complexes étaient possibles. Mon hypothèse intuitive – et confirmée par la suite, notamment par les dires des acrobates – était : la confiance. Je me poserai donc ici les problématiques suivantes : Comment s’exprime la confiance en soi-même et en son.a partenaire dans le main à main circassien ? De quelle manière cette confiance se manifeste-t-elle dans le corps et les paroles des artistes de cirque ?

Pour répondre à ces questions, je commencerai par poser les bases de mon analyse dans l’état de recherche avec un éclaircissement sur le sens des mots « cirque » et « confiance ». Les autres paramètres soutenant mon hypothèse et répondant à ma problématique seront explicités dans les parties correspondantes, suivis des exemples concrets, tirés de mes don nées. Pour mettre en lumière l’expression corporelle et verbale de la confiance dans l’entraînement de main à main et dans le monde circassien, je présenterai tout d’abord l’intercorporéité et les concepts qui lui sont reliés, puis l’intentionnalité kinesthésique. J’entrerai ensuite plus en détails dans la synchronisation et la résonance, avant d’exposer le cas de la rupture ou confirmation de confiance à l’aide de l’exemple de la chute.

Opinnäytetyö toteutettiin toiminnallisin menetelmin. Toiminnan tarkoituksena oli saada mielenterveyskuntoutujille toimiva sirkusryhmä, jossa joutui haastamaan itsensä ja toimimaan muiden ihmisten kanssa, näyttämään esimerkkiä sekä esiintymään muille ryhmäläisille ryhmäkerran lopuksi. Tavoitteena oli tuoda ryhmäläisille mahdollisuus kokeilla uutta ja saada onnistumisen ja välillä epäonnistumisen kokemuksia, sallia uudelleen yrittäminen turvallisessa ympäristössä. Työn teoreettisina lähtökohtina tarkastellaan käsitteenä mielenterveyttä ja luovia menetelmiä. Teeman tarkastelussa huomioidaan ryhmän ohjaus, työssä jaksaminen ja sosiaalinen sirkus. Opinnäytetyö koostuu kirjallisesta ja toiminnallisesta osuudesta. Toiminnallinen osuus sisälsi ryhmän perustamisen, suunnittelun ja sen ohjaamisen keväällä 2015. Kirjallisen tuotoksen tavoitteena on kuvata ryhmän toimintaa ja omaa ammatillista kasvua. Kirjallinen tuotos toimii lisäksi ryhmän toiminnan raporttina ja kenties antaa virikkeitä luovuuteen sosiaalialalla. Toimintaa arvioidessa todettiin, että tavoitteet oli saavutettu. Ryhmäläiset osallistuivat jokaiseen kertaan innolla ja halusivat esiintyä kaksi kertaa ulkopuoliselle yleisölle.
Toiminta oli aikaa vievää, vaati henkisesti ja fyysisesti paljon, mutta se oli myös palkitsevaa. Tulevaisuudessa on syytä hyödyntää sirkusta yhtenä osa-alueena työskenneltäessä sosiaalialalla.

The study examined how college students perceive older versus younger women based on their tattoo status (i.e., no tattoo, feminine tattoo, or masculine tattoo). A randomly assigned sample of 376 responded to a survey involving a 2 X 3 experiment designed to assess the impact of age (older versus younger) and tattoo status on four dependent measures: credibility, promiscuity, and attractiveness. Results indicate that older and younger women are perceived
differently depending on their tattoo status. Not wearing a tattoo may lead to a more favorable perception of older women than wearing one, but wearing a feminine tattoo may engender a more favorable impression of older women than having a masculine tattoo. In contrast, avoiding to wear a tattoo may not be as helpful for the perception of younger women as it is for older women. Also, while younger women may be rewarded for gender role transgression with respect to tattoo status this is not so for older women. [author summary]

BACKGROUND: Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is common in performing artists and other young active individuals and involves abnormalities in bony morphology of the acetabulum and proximal femur that can negatively impact walking biomechanics, muscular strength, quality of life, and sleep. Rehabilitation for hip-related conditions should target known modifiable impairments such as hip muscle strength, though a reliable method of assessment in this population remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To determine the inter- and intra-rater reliability of hip muscle strength assessments using handheld dynamometry (HHD) in young active circus artists with DDH. METHODS: Reliability of hip strength in all planes was assessed using HHD in 21 adult performing circus arts students (mean age 21.3 yrs [3.2]; 13 M, 5 F, 3 NB) with symptomatic radiologically and clinically diagnosed hip dysplasia. The reliability of average peak force and absolute peak force were expressed for each position tested. Reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) with standard error of measurement (SEM) and minimal detectable change (MDC) values calculated to improve clinical interpretability. RESULTS: Good to excellent inter-rater reliability resulted for all hip muscle strength testing positions, ICC=0.88 (95%CI 0.70 to 0.95) to ICC=0.97 (0.92 to 0.99), except average peak hip flexion strength, ICC=0.71 (0.28 to 0.88). Absolute peak hip abduction, ICC=0.77 (0.16 to 0.94), and adduction strength, ICC=0.72 (–0.55 to 0.92), demonstrated the lowest intra-rater reliability. Transverse plane strength measures (rotation) produced the lowest SEM and MDC values followed by the frontal plane (abduction/adduction) and sagittal plane (flexion/extension). CONCLUSION: HHD is an appropriate and reliable method to assess hip muscle strength in circus artists with DDH.

A growing number of individuals live with medical conditions and injuries that render them minimally communicative. Assessing their level of consciousness and awareness is a major challenge that has profound implications for care decisions and their relationships. Resonance: a novel brain-computer interface assemblage, is designed to detect and augment expressions of consciousness in minimally communicative individuals. Resonance consists of (1) high-density EEG features that vary with states of consciousness; (2) sound; and (3) therapeutic clowns. Seven EEG features of consciousness are calculated in real time and mapped to sonic output. Therapeutic clowns use multisensory improvisational play to interact with these sonified brain features to create interpersonal connections with minimally communicative individuals. Resonance has the potential to reveal real-time variations in an individual’s level of consciousness, which may create an entirely new form of interpersonal interaction with minimally communicative persons.

As revisões sistemáticas visam a mapear, discutir e sintetizar as produções acadêmicas, consideram campos específicos e contribuem para a difusão e o avanço do conhecimento. O presente artigo discute a produção acadêmica sobre o Circo social no âmbito dos programas de pós-graduação stricto sensu no Brasil. A busca por dissertações de mestrado e teses de doutorado foi realizada considerando os principais diretórios e bases de dados acadêmicos nacionais, empregando distintos uni-termos (circo social; circo; educação popular; arte-educação). Foram localizados oito trabalhos, dois de doutorado e seis de mestrado, defendidos em áreas distintas do conhecimento. As análises indicaram a capilaridade da prática do Circo social em todas as regiões do território nacional, ressaltando a contribuição socioeducativa dos projetos sob uma busca intencional da transformação social. Notamos, por fim, a construção de uma pedagogia em diálogo com saberes e tradições da cultura popular, considerando as particularidades das comunidades onde cada ação é desenvolvida, com destacada ênfase em processos de arte-educação para crianças, adolescentes e jovens.

The nature of physical theater can facilitate understanding of the complex characteristics of embodied movement . Given also the scarcity of empirical studies in the area , the purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological, and temporal study was to thoroughly examine the embodied nature of physical theater (e.g. unity of body and mind) within different aspects of movement, such as performativity, communication with others, and emotional expression. Seven undergraduate students (Mage = 20.43 ± 1.28 years old) enrolled in a semester-long physical theater class at a major Southeastern US university. Based on the qualitative, phenomenological analysis, three physical theater themes emerged regarding improved embodied sensations over the class period: a) embodied artistic expression (e.g. body-mind unison; sense of flow; physical theater as a form of exercise), b) embodied emotions (e.g. body and mind in emotion, expressing emotions freely), and c) embodied interactions (e.g. body, mind, and emotion in communication; more attentive to body language; communicating with the audience). In the field of Performing Arts, viewing movement holistically as an end in itself can bring about senses of fulfillment, body awareness, improved consciousness, and increased value of physical culture (value of creative movement), and well-being.

Educational, cultural, and community institutions related to circus arts are rarely in the focus of scientific examination outside the scope of performing arts. This work aims to further the cause of filling this gap: the study examines the content service structure of five major circus arts centers by analyzing, from the perspective of library and information science (LIS) entirely digital solutions not requiring personal presence necessitated by COVID-19:
1. Centre National des Arts du Cirque (Châlons-en-Champagne, France);
2. Circusland, El Palau Internacional De Les Arts Del Circ – The International Palace of the Circus Arts (Besalú, Spain);
3. École nationale de cirque Montréal – National Circus School (Montréal, Canada);
4. National Centre for Circus Art (London, United Kingdom);
5. Sirkuksen tiedotuskeskus – CircusInfo Finland (Helsinki, Finland).

Particular attention is given to the institutions’ social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube) activities; comparative statistics are provided on posts, reactions thereto, comments, and shares. Our presentation reveals the circus arts centers’ system of educational programs, trainings, events, contact with the audience, and activities aiming to promote this art form even under these unusual circumstances. By analyzing internationally the pressure of digital development on circus arts applied by the pandemic, we aim to encourage the innovation of further fields of culture and education, and the launch of pilot projects.

This study aimed to evaluate the muscle dynamics involved in single and double-arm handstands performed by five skilled gymnasts, with a mean age of 23.6 ± 1.94 years. Myoware Muscle Sensor (AT-04-001) (MMS) signals were collected from three key upper limb muscles: Wrist Flexor (WF), Triceps Brachii (TB), and Lateral
Deltoid (LD), all on the dominant side of the body. To facilitate data collection and processing, Internet of Things (IoT) programs were employed, utilizing Arduino IDE and Python 3.10.0 applications to connect the NodeMCU (ESP8266) via server and client code. The NodeMCU's display frequency range was set at 0–1024 Hz, with a Baud (Bd) rate of 9600 in Arduino, which is a crucial parameter for visualizing the data accurately. It continuously reads the serial and plotter monitor signals from the MMS through the A0 pin. The processed data was transmitted wirelessly by the NodeMCU, displayed on a monitor, and recorded for analysis. Participants executed three trials of their maximum handstand performance on the floor; the gymnasts peak level of 15 seconds performance was used for analysis (i.e., the middle time of the best trial; e.g., maximum performance was 45 seconds in this 16–30sec used). The observed muscle stimulation range was from a minimum of 109617 Hz to a maximum of 151292 Hz. Overall, one-arm handstands (52.79%) demonstrated better muscle activation than double-arm handstands (47.21%). The analysis revealed a statistically significant positive Correlation (r) and Probability (p) between the WF and LD (r = 0.870, p = 0.001). However, no significant correlations were observed between the WF and the TB (r = 0.507, p = 0.134) or the TB and the LD (r = 0.491, p = 0.150). To conclude, despite comparable inter-muscle contributions, the study suggests a significant association between WF and LD. Future research can build on these findings, exploring additional muscle groups and refining training protocols for performance optimization and injury prevention. This study encourages broader investigations, including more muscles in the upper and lower body, with advanced research laboratories and larger sample sizes.