My name is Taru Rutanen. I am 29 years old and come from Finland.
After my High School Degree, I studied one year in the Community College of the Lahti Academy of Liberal and Fine Arts , where I did my basic studies in education together with further studies in English, Swedish and Communication. We also did puppetry and theatre projects. After that I completed a five year course in Waldorf pedagogy at the Snellman University College in Finland. From these, one year was for general studies, where I learned holistic and creative learning, and four years for deepening my studies in performative arts, in particular speech and drama.
I am passionate about arts in many forms, in particular theatre, storytelling, speech art and circus. I strongly believe that art is a great tool for communication and social issues. Art can be combined with many things and integrated into education, personal development and community building. This is where I believe its beauty lies. Over the years, I have worked in the circus scene primarily focusing on social circus as a teacher. This has allowed me to combine pedagogy with the student empowerment that comes with learning and practicing arts. It has also allowed me to work with diverse groups, including youth and marginalized communities. Because of this I was drawn to do my exchange in the field of Music, theatre, events and related cultural and entertainment services.
I decided to participate in the EYE program since I found it as a great opportunity to learn and get experience, while at the same time working closely with successful entrepreneurs. A friend of mine, who participated in the program and had a great experience with it, recommended the program to me. I felt that it was time to challenge myself and take my professional life to the next level. I wanted further experience in the international market and broader possibilities to work internationally and get more confident living in a foreign country.
I think that this experience will have a positive impact on my personal and professional development. What better school could there be than to get hands-on experience in the field and have a possibility to test your ideas in practice and get feedback from experienced entrepreneurs. Through this project I will be able to develop my skills in the administrative field and coordination, as well as build my confidence in managing and creating activities. Working in an international environment gives me the push to think differently, communicate better and adapt quickly. My goal is to use this experience as a stepping stone to develop my own creative business projects, which I hope will combine education, art, performance and social impact.
For my first two weeks, I have become acquainted with the different employees of the host entrepreneur as well as its clientele, and helped the teachers in delivering the classes. I have participated actively in the management meetings and learned how the company takes care of their business communication and management. I have also learned what kind of decisions typically needs to be made in a company working in a circus school business, how the decisions are being made, what kind of hierarchy exists between the key personnel in making those decisions and how to keep people motivated to also act on those decisions.
As regards my participation in the activities of the HE outside the circus school, I joined the teachers for organizing circus workshops for different school groups in a local health market meant for schools and local communities. In the afternoon there was an open walk-in workshop for the market customers. For me, this was a great learning experience, where I saw practically how important these events are for the business and I saw how it creates visibility and free marketing for the school since there were a lot of visitors. Another circus workshop I participated in was in a local village. The workshop was organized by the local neighborhood organisation.