PWB is now fundraising and raising awareness of our work in Germany. At present this is just to support PWB central which is based in the UK, but there is no reason that it couldn’t acquire its own local volunteers or funding to run outreach programmes in Germany.
If you are interested in joining our team in Germany, or you speak German and can help in other ways, then please get in contact.
We are proud to introduce Ilka Koling who will be leading the PWB-Germany team for now – her bio can be found below.
She will be supported by Elena who went on our Kenya 2019 tour and whose Bio is also below.
One of the first things they will do is make an information stall to various circus events and try and get people to join the FAB500 and volunteer to go on Tour with us in Jan 2021. Then maybe in the summer they will run some Fundraising events. So do let us know if you think you can help with any of that.
Ilka Koling Bio (age 20) – English
At the age of 10 years I started to perform in my local youth circus, called Circus Alfredo, which is based in Münster, Germany (www.circus-alfredo.de). As I became more experienced, I was soon organising shows for new groups. In my teenage years, alongside working and performing voluntarily with Circus Alfredo, I started to make contact with many other youth circuses in Germany and began organising meetings and workshops for young participants.
Since 2017 I have been a member of the management board of Circus Alfredo and been trained in coaching and organising at the Hiltruper Weihnachtscircus (www.hiltruper-weihnachtscircus.de), where I am involved in hiring artists, developing acts and moving and setting up the Big Top. Outside of circus life I am studying to become a Primary School Teacher (extra subject Sports) at the Westfälische Wilhelms University in Münster.
I love to work with young people, organize events and get to know new people. After I met Performers Without Borders at EJC2019 I am now really motivated to be part of the team and explore the possibility of supporting PWB in Germany with Fundraising and Volunteer Recruitment and maybe even eventually setting up “PWB-Germany” as a sister organisation.
Ilka Koling Bio (age 20) – German
Im Alter von 10 Jahren habe ich mit dem Auftreten in dem Kinder- und Jugendcircus meiner Stadt, Circus Alfredo in Münster, Deuschland (www.circus-alfredo.de), begonnen. Als ich erfahrener wurde, habe ich früh begonnen Auftritte für neue Gruppen zu organisieren. Im Teenagealter habe ich dann neben meinem ehrenamtlichen Auftreten und Arbeiten im Circus Alfredo begonnen mit anderen Circussen aus Deutschland in Kontakt zu treten, Treffen und Workshops für jüngere Teilnehmer.
Seit 2017 bin ich Teil des Vorstandes im Circus Alfredo und habe Fortbildungen und Ausbildungen für das Trainieren und Organisieren absolviert. Im Augenblick helfe ich ferner noch mit den Hiltruper Weihnachtscircus zu organisieren in dem ich dort Artisten engagiere, Nummern fertigstelle und den Circus mit Auf- und Abbbaue. Neben meiner Arbeit beim Circus studiere ich zur Zeit an der Westfälische Wilhelms Universität Sportwissenschaft um an Grundschulen unterrichten zu können.
Ich bin sehr interessiert mit jungen Menschen zu arbeiten, Events zu organisieren und andere Menschen kennen zu lernen. Nachdem ich die Performers Without Borders auf der EJC2019 kennen gelernt habe bin ich nun sehr motiviert Teil des Teams zu werden und die Möglichkeiten herauszufinden die PWB in Deutschland mit Spenden zu unterstützen und Freiwilliger Arbeit. Eventuell sogar die Gründung der Tochter Organisation „PWB- Germany“.
Want to see more photos?
To see more photos from Performers Without Borders, head over to our Flickr profile
See more photos
Having always been surrounded by her dads juggling props, Elena finally got her own pair of Poi for her 10th Birthday. Soon after, she visited her first Juggling Convention and got sucked into the Juggling Community which became her second family. After finishing school in Germany, she moved to Bristol to do a BTEC course for two years at Circomedia – Centre for Contemporary Circus and Physical Theater. Here she had a great time learning, trying out, playing and creating and fortunately, also found out about Performers Without Borders.
As a volunteer, she went on the Kenya Tour 2019 and the wonderful projects with PWB confirmed her ambition to engage more in social contexts using Performing Arts. Since September 2019 she is studying at the HKS Ottersberg in Germany (University for Arts in Social Context) and doing a Bachelor in Dance and Theater Pedagogy. She would like to gain more attention for Social Circus and Performers without Borders and is excited about the idea of setting up a network for social circus in Germany and building up a PWB-Germany branch.