A bouquet of flowers and a balloon waiting to congratulate someone on appearing on the big screen for the first time.
Around 40 people gathered in Screen 5 of the EYE Cinema on the afternoon of 16 May for the screening of Circus is for Every Body; a documentary that carries that same warmth and sense of celebration throughout its 30-minute runtime.
Directed by Galway-based Argentinian filmmaker Bruno Pierucci, the documentary follows disabled, Deaf and neurodivergent young people in Galway as they take part in circus for the first time. Over six months, trainers from Galway Community Circus worked with young people from Galway Autism Partnership, Enable Ireland and Scoil Chaitríona in Renmore, guiding them through workshops in aerial performance, acrobatics, balance and creative expression.
The workshops culminated in Take Up Space, a final performance developed alongside disabled and non-disabled artists from UK inclusive circus company Extraordinary Bodies.
Funded through the Rethink Ireland Disability Participation and Awareness Fund, Community Foundation Ireland, the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal, The Arts Council and Galway City Council, the documentary was produced by Bruno Pierucci, Alan Meaney, Rebecca Clayton and Alexandra Stewart.
As an art form built around spectacle, risk and physical expression, circus is often imagined through narrow expectations of what bodies should be able to do. What makes Circus is for Every Body so moving is not simply the performance itself, but watching young people discover new ways of expression, build trust and find joy in spaces society does not always imagine as being for them.
Behind the camera, inside the community
For Bruno Pierucci, Circus is for Every Body quickly became much larger than the short promotional video he had originally been asked to create.
Working across directing, filming, editing, colour grading, sound design and even composing part of the music, Pierucci and a small team spent roughly six months shaping around 80 hours of footage into a 30-minute documentary.
What began as a project to showcase the final circus performance evolved once the filmmaker started spending time with the young people and their families. He decided there was a much deeper story to tell and committed his production company, Blue Cherry Media, to the project.
Before filming began, Pierucci spent time getting to know the participants, playing with them, speaking with their families and helping them feel comfortable in front of the camera. Part of that connection came from his own childhood experiences. Diagnosed with Perthes disease, Pierucci wore restrictive leg braces from the age of five until 11 and underwent a total hip replacement last year as a result of the condition.
While he remembers growing up surrounded by supportive people, conversations with some of the children involved in the documentary reminded him that this is still not the reality for many disabled young people.
“I remember wanting to sit on a swing and not being able to do it. My dad said, ‘Well, but your hands are free.’ The circus is for everyone. That’s what my dad used to tell me: ‘The world is for everyone,’” he says.
While conversations around representation and inclusion have become more visible in recent years, Pierucci believes disabled communities still face barriers in public spaces, creative industries and everyday life. For him, inclusion should go beyond institutional language and become something embedded in communities, workplaces and cultural spaces
The experience of making the documentary also pushed him towards community work beyond filmmaking. Pierucci has become a volunteer with Galway Autism Partnership, where he spends time with autistic teenagers.
One thing he noticed was the lack of male support workers in these spaces. While recognising the important work already being done, he believes different forms of guidance and representation are also needed for young people growing up and navigating their identities.
For Pierucci, inclusion begins by creating spaces where people are not only welcomed but genuinely expected to belong.
“I want children, especially children with different abilities, to watch this documentary and realise they can be in cinema too. They do not need to be Leonardo DiCaprio to be on the big screen,” he says.
That desire to broaden representation also led Pierucci to include circus aerialist Charlotte Evans from Cork in the documentary, offering the young performers an example of an artist working professionally despite physical limitations.
Another story has also emerged in his mind: the experiences of parents and caregivers whose emotional and practical work often remains invisible.
Pierucci also hopes Circus is for Every Body will eventually become available online through YouTube, allowing the documentary to reach audiences beyond its screenings and continue sharing its message.
Taking Up Space: Building a circus where everyone belongs
For Galway Community Circus, circus is about much more than performance and spectacle.
Rebecca Clayton, Arts Manager and Producer at Galway Community Circus, has worked in circus, spectacle and outdoor arts for more than 12 years. For her, circus can provide an alternative space for young people who may not connect with traditional sports or physical activities.
Beyond acrobatics and aerial work, it creates opportunities to develop confidence, self-esteem, self-understanding and life skills through creativity, collaboration and belonging.
Each week, around 600 members pass through Galway Community Circus. However, staff began noticing that some groups of young people were not represented within those spaces.
“The idea for the project was to reach out to three groups of young people that weren’t being represented at the circus at the moment. We worked with Enable Ireland to reach young people with physical disabilities, with Galway Autism Partnership to work with young people on the autism spectrum and with Scoil Chaitríona’s class for D/deaf and hard of hearing children,” she says.
Rather than assuming why those young people were absent, the organisation wanted to understand what barriers existed and how they could begin removing them.
Originally intended as a small showcase for families and friends, the final performance Take Up Space in February 2026 grew beyond expectations after the positive response from audiences.
A major part of developing the production came through collaboration with Extraordinary Bodies, a UK charity founded by the collaboration of show- makers, Cirque Bijou and Diverse City, between whose artists worked alongside Galway Community Circus trainers during two intensive creative residencies.
Many ideas incorporated into the final performance came directly from the young people themselves.
Throughout the process, trainers witnessed significant changes in confidence and communication. One previously non-verbal participant began communicating, an extremely shy participant became one of the strongest personalities featured in the documentary, and the only young person involved who had previous circus experience has since signed up for a youth exchange with Galway Community Circus.
The experience also challenged trainers to reconsider how creative spaces and their own ways of teaching can adapt for people with different needs and abilities.
Despite the success of the project, Clayton acknowledges that creating truly inclusive spaces requires time, resources and willingness to learn.
“The fear of saying or doing the wrong thing can really limit the opportunities for disabled people. The biggest thing I learnt is that all you need to do is ask. Whoever the person is, they know what they need and what they’re able to do. If you ask, they’ll tell you, and then you find a way to make it happen together,” she says.
For Clayton, one of the documentary’s most important messages is showing disabled young people that circus, and creative spaces more broadly, can belong to them too.
Working closely with participants and their families also reinforced how easily disabled young people can become isolated without accessible spaces and community initiatives.
Projects like Take Up Space are not only about creating opportunities in the present; they are also about building friendships, confidence and communities from an early age, helping prevent the loneliness that many disabled adults experience later in life.
Rather than treating the documentary as a one-off project, Galway Community Circus is now exploring ways to continue expanding accessibility through future camps, drop-in classes and opportunities for participants involved in the project.
Seen, heard and centre stage
Kate walked along the small red carpet laid out inside the EYE Cinema before taking her seat.
Throughout the documentary, audiences were introduced not only to her circus performance but also glimpses of her confident personality, humour and determination.
After the screening, a banner displaying the film’s title surrounded by red balloons became the backdrop for photographs with her family. Kate and her mother, Susan, stayed chatting with attendees afterwards with the kind of pride that fills a room.
According to Department of Education figures published in March 2025, around one in 20 schoolchildren in Ireland are diagnosed as autistic.
Kate, who is 17 years old, is autistic and visually impaired. She regularly attends Galway Autism Partnership and first heard about the circus project while activities were taking place upstairs in the building. When Susan later received an email explaining the documentary project, Kate immediately wanted to take part.
At home, Kate’s nickname is “The Queen”. She and her family had already recognised her love for performance, drama and being on stage. Several relatives, including her grandparents, brother and friends, attended the screening to support her.
One particularly memorable moment for Kate was singing independently during the final performance filmed for the documentary.
For her mother, however, one of the film’s most important achievements was its decision to focus not only on disability-related challenges, but also on joy, creativity and possibility.
“It was nice to see positivity too. It’s challenging and there can be hard days; things are more difficult for them in a lot of ways. But the documentary celebrates them and what these kids can do when they’re given the right opportunity. It’s more than just inclusion being a word,” she says.
Throughout the documentary, audiences watch the participants build friendships and discover new forms of expression. Rather than reducing disabled young people to diagnoses or obstacles, the film presents them as individuals with personalities, talents and ambitions.
At the same time, Susan believes the documentary also highlights how much work remains regarding accessibility and inclusion in Ireland.
While Galway Community Circus adapted its spaces and activities for different needs, Susan recalls previously having to travel to Clare or Athlone for Kate to participate in accessible tennis activities through Vision Sports Ireland because suitable facilities were unavailable in Galway.
For many parents of disabled children, she explains, advocacy becomes part of everyday life; constantly looking for opportunities, access and spaces where their children can participate.
Even after discovering a love for circus and performance, practical barriers still shape what opportunities remain available to Kate and many other young people like her.
“I always loved going to GAP, but since the circus thing, I started going even more,” she says.
As organisations like Galway Community Circus continue creating more accessible opportunities, filmmakers like Bruno Pierucci continue telling these stories and young performers like Kate continue stepping into spaces that were not always designed with them in mind, inclusion becomes something tangible rather than aspirational.It is built through the ongoing work of creating places where more people are seen, heard and centre stage.
