From all the people I conversed with, each of them described their personal experiences observing the kids changing and growing at Chapitô. All of them mentioned their smile and self-confidence only getting bigger as the school year went on.

Finally, Chapitô has become a major cultural center in the Portuguese capital. Through its rich programming at the bartô Tent, its worldwide productions, and local animations, Chapitô’s activities foster active citizenship and civic empowerment, stirring up the civil society through the arts.

Untapping the potential of arts for social change

When raising the vital question of the social impact of Chapitô, various numbers and figures can be looked at and interpreted: not only Chapitô has been active for more than 30 years, it employs about 100 people, provides education to more than a 100 students a year, has sold more than 30 original productions through the world. Yet, these numbers might not give justice to the work done by the organization. Instead, we could measure Chapitô’s impact by looking at the number of “lives we saved”. The absolute values don’t matter that much when you look at kids’ smiles at the end of their curriculum. “What we do at Chapitô, it is saving lives, building hopes and brighter futures”, that’s what I heard in the financial department.

Targeting art, education and justice, Chapitô provides a holistic answer to a complex issue: the marginalization of youth at risk. Different initiatives and actions hence intertwine to provide an innovative solution to social exclusion. On that Friday afternoon, I also had the chance to exchange a few words with Américo Peças, advisor for education and social affairs at Chapitô. As it may be difficult to summarize Chapitô in a few words, it becomes very clear when you ask him the question:

“Chapitô is about empowering people. Chapitô is not welfarism, it’s neither a cultural only nor an elitist vision, it is an empowering experience for marginalized kids”

For more than 30 years, Chapitô has successfully used circus arts as an effective tool for social change: circus calls for teamwork and a combination of strength and intelligence, it helps people develop a sense of belonging, it allows creativity and freedom, and it requires perseverance as well as discipline. Starting at the youngest age, this empowerment process through arts and collaboration is at the core of Chapitô’s mission and social business model.