Attending the American Youth Circus Organization Festival really reinforced for me just what it is that I love about circus: the solidarity, the community, the positivity, the fun. I’d never seen so many circus people – wonderfully unorganized, endlessly enthusiastic, innovative, creative, friendly, skilled circus people – in one place. There were crazy tights and hairstyles all over, and every third person had facepaint or was carrying clubs. People of all kinds, all ages, are working together, learning from one another, respecting each other, and all doing what we love to do.
The list of participating organizations was impressive, a who’s who of youth circus programs and troupes in the US: Circesteem from Chicago IL, Circus Harmony from St. Louis MO, Circus Smirkus from Vermont, The Stone Soup Circus from New Jersey, My Nose Turns Red Circus from Kentucky, SANCA’s Youth Company from Seattle, WA, and many others. These programs are small, unique, and spread apart. To be in one place together really made them into a community with a common goal: to bring circus to kids across America.
And those kids were incredible: talented, dedicated, smart, and funny. I got to interact with them (my favorite overheard quote, from a 13-yr-old boy: “I have an eight-pack… I just forgot to put it on this morning!”) and see them perform. The adults who support those kids, teach them, work so hard to keep these youth programs going, are incredibly inspiring individuals. They are knowledgable and passionate but still young at heart.
Victoria and I met up with the Bindlestiffs in person, who proved yet again to be not only excellent as business mentors, but wonderful people and friends. I reunited with old friends, and talked to and played with people I’d only ever heard of or met in passing, discovering connections, shared accquaintainces, shared tastes, and shared ideas. There were organized and impromptu discussions on a whole range of topics, from Social Circus to gender in circus, from where kids go from youth circus programs to performance technique. At the workshops, I got the chance to try German gym wheel, attempt new juggling patterns, and learn some Circus Yoga.
At the junction between the youth performers and adult teachers there is a gap in continuity that is slowly being filled by college-age circus enthusiasts like myself. The ‘roustabouts,’ the college students who were also the stagehands/gophers of the Festival, formed a little group of our own in green bandanas, silly accents, and shared big dreams for the future. The festival co-ordinators themselves were a recent college grad and a college student who put in a staggering amount of work to organize this major event. My next project, inspired by my Festival experience: a network to connect college-age(ish) circus movers and shakers to each other, to youth circus organizations, and to circus schools and companies!
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