Cuban children train for the circus

Lots of kids may dream of running off and joining the circus...but these children in Cuba are actually working towards that goal.

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD CUBACIRCO PARTICIPANT, CARLOS ENRIQUEZ, SAYING:

"It is really great because the circus is a way to express yourself and to express your feelings through circus acts like tumbling, juggling."

Some 70 Cuban children travel from as far as two hours away to attend this school that meets inside an abandoned movie theater in downtown Havana. Here, 42-year-old Odelmi Hernandez, who once worked briefly as a circus clown, is the ring master of sorts, teaching aspiring acrobats and jugglers and training tumblers for three hours a day.

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DIRECTOR OF THE CUBACIRCO PROGRAMME, ODELMI HERNANDEZ, SAYING:

"Within our social objectives we also want to attract disadvantaged kids, kids with behavioral issues, kids whose parents have problems and we use circus art to incorporate them social