Circus Survey 2022
We want to hear from the companies, organizations, programs, schools, individual workers, and other institutions and businesses that are spreading the love of circus in the United States. Whether you run a circus school or program, work as an individual performer, teaching artist, or circus contract worker, or own a circus performance production company, we want to hear from you. You matter, be counted!
Every two years, the American Circus Educators Association (ACE), a branch of the American Youth Circus Organization (AYCO), runs a voluntary survey to collect information about circus education in the USA. This year, ACE/AYCO is collaborating with the American Circus Alliance (ACA) to expand the survey to also gather information about the US circus performance sector.
The goal of the survey is to get as complete a count as possible of all circus educators, companies, and workers in the United States. AYCO/ACE and ACA will use this information to advocate for the circus industry. We know that circus education and performance have a huge impact on the lives of those who work in the industry, but to make a case for our impact on the economy and vitality of our greater communities, we need hard numbers.
Please help us learn about all the wonderful circus operations around the United States by taking the survey and sharing it with other circus workers you know. The more organizations and people we hear from, the better information we will have to support the whole sector.
This survey will be open from April 1 – May 30, 2022.
To learn more, please see our FAQ below. (You can also preview the entire survey in PDF form, but please be sure to click the “Take the survey!” button to fill the survey out in SurveyMonkey. We cannot accept pdf responses.) If you would like any additional information about the survey, please contact us at survey@americancircuseducators.org.
FAQ
What is included in the survey and why?
We’ve included questions that will feel relevant to most individuals, organizations and programs while keeping the survey doable for everyone. The survey includes sections on basic business information, offerings and participants, performances, insurance, and challenges. Please feel free to review the full survey beforehand at the pdf link above (but be sure to submit your responses via SurveyMonkey).
Who will see my response?
Only a limited number of internal AYCO/ACE staff and contractors/interns specifically hired to work on the Circus Survey 2022 may see your response. Your response will not be shared with any other person or organization. Results will be shared with the community in aggregate only (i.e. no organization’s individual response will be shared or identified).
What will you do with this information?
Our survey team, who have expertise in survey design, data analysis, and circus, will combine all the responses together and summarize the results. They will look for patterns to help us understand the landscape of circus education in the U.S. We will use these results to make decisions about how best to support circus educators and advocate for our sector.
Where can I get a copy of the results/data?
We plan to release the results at the ACE EdCon 2022. After that, the results will be publicly available online.
Who should take the survey?
The companies, organizations, programs, schools, individual workers, and other institutions and businesses that are spreading the love of circus in the United States. Whether you run a circus school or program, work as an individual performer, teaching artist, or circus contract worker, or own a circus performance production company, we want to hear from you.
Can I answer as an individual?
Yes! This year we want to hear from coaches, whether your are individual with your own business where you recruit your own students and rent space for regular instruction or you are a coach who is affiliated with another organization (a school, company, program, etc). We also want to hear from performers, whether you are self-employed, run your own company, or run a company. And we also want to hear from all other circus workers – administrators, riggers, directors, choreographers, agents, etc!
What is the deadline to respond?
May 30th, 2022.
What if my company/organization went out of business because of COVID-19?
We are very sorry to hear that. We would still really value your input on the survey–it will help us document the impacts of the pandemic on our sector.
What if my company/organization has a circus program but also does other things?
We definitely want to hear from you! In some cases, larger companies and organizations offer circus training or performance as a subset of their usual activities. If that’s you, we’d like to know just about that section of your operations that relate to circus. If all of your operations relate to circus, please answer with the relevant data for your entire company or organization.
I don’t think my company or organization fits into these categories.
We always expect circus companies and programs to fall outside of common definitions and categories. If that’s you, we would like to know more! Please feel free to contact us at survey@americanyouthcircus.org. You may also fill out the survey as best you can, writing in any additional information in the write-in questions.
What do I get out of responding?
You’ll help the whole sector by giving AYCO/ACE and ACA more information about who is out there, what they are doing, and what the challenges are! Also, to thank respondents for their time, we are offering a raffle drawing for one free registration for the Virtual ACE EdCon on October 7-9, 2022.
How can I contact someone with another question?
Please reach out to us at survey@americanyouthcircus.org.
