In the News: UW’s The Daily writes about SANCA

Circus school offers competition-free alternative athleticism

March 3, 2015 at 9:56 PM | Emily Muirhead

Nick Harden (far left) leads students through a warm up to get their muscles ready before splitting off into the different age grouped classes. Photo by Seth Halleran

Nick Harden (far left) leads students through a warm up to get their muscles ready before splitting off into different classes. Photo by Seth Halleran

You don’t have to wait for the Ringling Bros. or Cirque du Soleil to come to town to catch a glimpse of the circus. Even better, you don’t have to be a trapeze or juggling master to participate in circus life either.

The School of Acrobatics & New Circus Arts (SANCA), located in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood, claims to be the largest circus school in the nation. Founded in 2004 with only five students, SANCA has now grown to serve more than 1,000 students in weekly classes and has served almost 50,000 people in all.

Some of these students include members of the UW community, such as database developer Jason Page, who works in the UW Information Technology department. Page grew up juggling and after hearing about SANCA’s classes from a friend, said he found a perfect fit.

“As soon as I walked in I knew it was nothing like the rest of Seattle,” Page said. “It was so friendly and I immediately fell in love with it. It’s all positive, no ego, no competition.”

Page spoke of the competitive nature he experienced while participating in other “fringe” physical activities, such as climbing or cycling, both of which tend to have welcoming communities, but can inevitably become competitive — a mindset he says simply does not exist at SANCA.

“In Seattle if you don’t like team sports there’s not a lot of options,” said Jo Montgomery, co-founder of SANCA with Chuck Johnson. “We offer an alternative. Part of it is the culture we’ve created here. It’s OK to fail because the important thing is to try, and to encourage others.”

Montgomery said the facility serves people of all ages and there is no skill limit.

Montgomery also leads the Every Body’s Circus school within SANCA, designed for youth with disabilities like spina bifida or visual or hearing impairment. These students work on the same basic skills every student aims to accomplish, with the added benefit of enhancing social skills specifically adapted to their needs. Every Body’s Circus partners with Seattle Children’s Hospital, where Montgomery is a nurse practitioner.

SANCA offers more than 50 classes each quarterly session, including unicycling, trampoline, strength and flexibility, aerial trapeze, and Chinese pole. SANCA even offers a one-time “pay per flight” trapeze class Fridays.

“You just have to work up the courage to swing once and see if you like it,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery said she has seen countless times how acrobatics classes enable first-time participants to get over fears of heights and perceived limitations of their bodies.

Amber Parker, a case manager with the UW Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute, said SANCA has changed her both physically and mentally. She has been attending SANCA classes for eight months, with no plans of stopping.

Parker said after a life of poor body-image and self-esteem, she found solace in SANCA’s strength-and-flexibility and adult aerial classes, which encourage personal improvement instead of striving to be the best. She even started a blog called “The Fatcrobat,” as a testament to personal strides she has made in her physical ability and confidence because of unconditional support from SANCA classes and coaches.

“It’s changed my perspective on what I can actually do,” Parker said. “I never thought I could do anything like this, so now that I can it opens up the ‘I can do anything’ mindset. Nothing is off limits now.”

SANCA caters to professional performers as well. It often hosts gym time for performers from Teatro ZinZanni, or for artists in residence from groups such as IMPulse Circus Collective, The Acrobatic Conundrum, or Circus Syzygy.

Montgomery noted that when kids participating in classes see professional circus performers make mistakes, it shows them that struggling with a skill doesn’t have to be a disappointment, but can be inspiration for working toward personal goals at their own pace.

“Safety is huge here,” said Alyssa Hellrung, a part-time lecturer in the Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies department at the UW and an aerial trapeze coach. “But we do push kids physically and emotionally outside of their comfort zone.”

For those who have dreams of flying, the School of Flight program might be a good fit. Aside from SANCA’s main gym, which includes a tumble track trampoline, spring floors, climbing ribbons and poles, a “big top” and “tot room” for children, the trapezes are housed in an adjacent building designed for this literally high-reaching activity.

Hellrung sees SANCA classes as an opportunity for every type of person, regardless of body type or skill level, to learn what their bodies are capable of, and have some slightly unconventional fun.

“People assume that this is an insular world, but it’s not,” Hellrung said. “Not everyone feels sporty and this circus has room for everybody, even if you just want to learn to juggle. It still gives you the benefits of athletic activity without the pressure of having to compete at the end of every week.”

The circus often carries the stereotype of being a place for only those with strange skills such as contortionism, or having bizarre personalities. But SANCA strives to foster not only excellence in performance for most of its participants, but a personal confidence and welcoming environment over all else.

“I love telling people I’m in the circus,” Parker said. “Misconceptions open up dialogue. SANCA is really about fitness and community and connecting to other people.”

SANCA is located at 674 S. Orcas St. Visit their website, sancaseattle.org, for more information.

Reach writer Emily Muirhead at [email protected]. Twitter: @e_muirhead

Original story here: http://dailyuw.com/archive/2015/03/03/features/circus-school-offers-competition-free-alternative-athleticism#.VPcNdsauJRY

IMPulse Circus Collective presents Figments

IMPulse Circus Collective, a Seattle-based circus troupe founded in 2013, will debut a new contemporary circus show as a part of the Moisture Festival. Shows will be at Broadway Performance Hall in Capitol Hill on April 10-12. This exciting, acrobatic show is appropriate for audiences of all ages.

Figments transports the audience into a world populated by imaginary friends that have been forgotten by the children who imagined them. This quirky group of imaginary friends must navigate the real issues of finding a place to belong in a make-believe world. Performers fly through the air and showcase amazing feats of acrobatic grace, strength, and beauty as they weave a whimsical tale.

IMPulse Circus Collective, artists-in-residence at Seattle’s School of Acrobatics & New Circus Arts, presented their first self-titled show in 2013, and returned in 2014 with their production entitled Bonkers. Members of IMPulse Circus have performed on stages and in circus rings throughout the world. They draw inspiration from the worlds of contemporary circus, vaudeville, and theater to create accessible and exciting circus shows.

Featuring artists Arne Bystrom, Emma Curtiss, Jasmine Manuel, Jonathan Rose, Marta Brown, Nick Harden, Reed Nakayama, Wendy Harden, and Zora Blade.

April 10 & 11 @ 7:30pm, April 13th @ 3pm

Tickets are $10 for youth, $15 for seniors, and $25 for adults. Tickets can be found at moisturefestival.strangertickets.com.
More information about IMPulse Circus Collective can be found at impulsecircus.com.

Acrobatic Conundrum presents “The Language of Chance”

January 30 – February 8

For all dates and times and ticket link please visit http://sancaseattle.org/calendar/

or languageofchance.brownpapertickets.com

Acrobatic Conundrum premieres “the Language of Chance”: two takes on contemporary circus, one extraordinary evening of new works.

Since its debut in 2012 Acrobatic Conundrum has taken artistic risks to inspire and connect with audiences through the medium of circus arts. “The Language of Chance,” follows suit on a grander scale, with two new works created exclusively for the troupe. Both pieces are inspired by themes from an enigmatic story from magical realist author Jorge Luis Borges, The Library of Babel.

Seattle choreographer/director KT Niehoff created the first piece, “A Book is not a Ladder,” in which contemporary dance and circus meld in a visually stunning world. Niehoff designed the striking set and costumes, and made the original sound score in collaboration with electronic musician Pietro Ravanni. In the piece, the acrobats find themselves at odds between the sensations of falling forever, and the Sisyphean task of looking for story in a nonsensical world.

Elizabeth Klob—director of the UMO Ensemble—created the second piece in collaboration with the company. The work evokes a tale of missed connections and serendipitous endings, told using through physical theater, clown, and circus arts. With an original scenography and additional music by Ravanni, the piece transports viewers on an unexpected, labyrinthian journey.

This group of acrobats blur the lines between dance, theater, and circus, inventing their own form of storytelling. This piece is the must-see circus event of the season.

Wasting Away

Wasting away tells the exciting and bizarre story of an idyllic small town that is slowly overrun by their accumulation of garbage. Seemingly oblivious to their predicament the town carries on with its joyous and acrobatic daily routine until the problem becomes too big to ignore. Full of humour and heart, this show presents an action-packed tale of conflict, growth, and cooperation that simultaneously offers social commentary and manages not to take itself too seriously.

Wasting Away includes all-new original acts on the Chinese pole, high flying partner acrobatics, tumbling, aerial fabric, contortion, club juggling, aerial rope, clowning, and much more.
Wasting Away is created and devised by the Directors and members of Cirrus Circus, with additional dance choreography by Rachel Randall, aerial choreography by Bridget Gunning, costume design by Milla Voellinger, set by Morgan Sobel, acrobatics consulting from Jacob Skeffington and select originally composed music by Tristan Moore.

Erica Rubinstein, Cirrus Circus Managing Director

Arne Bystrom, Cirrus Circus Assistant Director

Seattle Times article: Circus festival marks SANCA’s 10th anniversary

“Circus festival marks SANCA’s 10th anniversary”

Seattle’s School for Acrobatics and New Circus Arts celebrates its 10th anniversary with a Summer Circus Festival, Aug. 15-24, 2014, that highlights its move in professional circus production. The school also maintains its commitment to serving youngsters from every background.

By Michael Upchurch, Seattle Times arts writer

Ten years ago, Seattle’s School for Acrobatics and New Circus Arts (SANCA) opened in a 1,100-square-foot warehouse space in SoDo. In its first few weeks, it attracted a dozen or so pupils.

By 2013, SANCA — the only all-ages circus school in Seattle offering instruction in a wide variety of disciplines — had expanded to a 25,000-square-foot campus in Georgetown, with 3,300 registered students.

That makes it, by some estimates, the largest circus school in the country.

To celebrate that amazing trajectory, SANCA is holding its first Summer Circus Festival, Aug. 15-24. David Crellin, better known on the local vaudeville circuit as emcee Armitage Shanks, is directing the festival, which features Acrobatic Conundrum, IMPulse Circus Collective and numerous other talents.

Also being celebrated: the completion of the first year of SANCA’s professional training program.

“Seattle has actually become a major circus town in the States,” says Crellin.

But when SANCA co-founder Jo Montgomery came up with the idea for the school in 2003, she didn’t have professional circus possibilities in mind. She simply wanted “to keep people moving,” she said in an interview last month.

Montgomery, then 44, was a nurse practitioner at Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, where she still works three days a week. There she kept encountering kids who, she says, were struggling with “being inert and overweight and not having the money to go to cool places, camps or sporting clubs.”

The circus idea came from an adult gymnastics class Montgomery started taking in 1999 that, she says, was “feeding my soul like crazy.” In that class she met members of Circus Contraption, a Seattle troupe that ran from 1998 to 2010. Their brand of “new circus” offered theatrical shows focusing on human skills, without any animals involved. Until then Montgomery had only been familiar with traditional Ringling Brothers-style three-ring circuses.

Her instructor Chuck Johnson, a 50-year-old former high-school gymnast and lifelong circus enthusiast, impressed her so deeply that, four years later, she invited him to be SANCA’s co-founder.

One thing they agreed on: No kids would be turned away from SANCA’s doors for lack of funds.

“If kids can’t pay,” Montgomery remembers thinking, “we’ll have a scholarship fund.”

To make that possible, the two of them took no salary for the first years of the school’s existence, relying instead on income from other jobs.

“I was so naive, but I was determined,” Montgomery says, adding, “We balance each other. Chuck has great vision, and I’m a tightwad.”

It was never their goal, Johnson says, to be the biggest circus school in the country. Instead, it expanded as demand for classes dictated.

SANCA’s new professional-track program evolved naturally from that expansion, Crellin says. While the school was grounding its students thoroughly in “the athletics of circus,” it wasn’t providing them with instruction on stagecraft, character development and other theatrical essentials. The task of Crellin, a co-founder of Circus Contraption, was to work with students on “actually making shows.”

Aiding in that effort are Acrobatic Conundrum and IMPulse. Most members of these two performance-troupes-in-residence are coaches at SANCA. Some are former SANCA students who literally joined the circus.

Case in point: IMPulse co-founder Arne Bystrom, who started taking classes at SANCA at age 16, went to circus school in Quebec City and now is a dazzling professional juggler.

Given the students’ passion for circus, Crellin notes, it made sense to create a program where they could do “intensive training with an eye towards performing.”

The festival is part of that performance agenda, and Crellin hopes it sets the template for “an in-earnest circus festival” featuring local and itinerant talents.

Johnson and Montgomery’s commitment to younger students remains firm. SANCA’s student body is roughly 75 percent kids and 25 percent adults. It has 10 full-time staff and 40 part-time coaches.

Perhaps the most unusual thing about SANCA is the way it accommodates special-needs kids.

“It wasn’t in my thoughts at the beginning,” Montgomery says. “Then I was approached by someone who said, ‘My son has spinal bifida. Will you work with him?’”

Another of her students is a young man who’s blind. “He came to me for a physical. I asked the parents, ‘What are you doing for exercise?’ And they looked at me like I was crazy. I was like: ‘What? There’s nothing wrong with him except that he can’t see.’ And he’s very good.”

Safety is the number-one priority, Johnson says. “All of our staff believes in a philosophy of safety — emotional safety — and in cooperation. And we have key words that we never use.”

Among those words are “can’t,” “don’t,” “bad” and “wrong.”

If a child says, “I can’t,” the response will be: “Well, you can’t yet.”

“Circus,” Montgomery concludes with a smile, “is very adaptable.”

Michael Upchurch: [email protected]

Lauren Herley

Lauren 3

My name is Lauren Herley, and I am a corde lisse (vertical rope) artist, contortionist, handbalancer, acrobat . . . in short, a circus artist.

SANCA welcomed me into their doors when I was 18, when I decided to pursue the art of circus. Their kind, humble, and knowledgeable staff helped me and guided me to find a training program that suited me best. I was a young former competitive artistic gymnast, swimmer, and musician, and naive still to the world of art and contemporary circus. But SANCA took me and introduced me to the world of circus art. I had the privilege to train with Kari Podgorski and Terry Crane as my first teachers and to train in the same atmosphere as Duo Madrona (Ben Wendel and Rachel Nehmer), who at that time were preparing for the 29th Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain, and later performed two seasons with Teatro ZinZanni.

Lauren 1 I began to learn and see the great and superior potential within this beautiful work. I became more driven and filled with fortitude than ever. What an honor it was to be in a school where kindness, humility, discipline and hard work were all strongly encouraged. Shortly after I began training at SANCA I began teaching as well, SANCA became my second home and now as I am always many, many miles away I still feel that closeness.

I spent only about ten months at SANCA before I left to further my training and my career, but I still look back at SANCA, and the more circus schools and companies I experience the more I realize how SANCA is one-of-kind. There is no place like it. I feel blessed to have it be in the city of my birth, Seattle. Every time I return home to visit, SANCA re-welcomes me ever so warmly, offering me a beautiful space to train and to teach. Chuck and Jo are such knowledgeable people whom I feel blessed to have had as guides in the beginning. I feel as if I am a better person because of SANCA.

Lauren 2 Now I am finishing my time at l’ecole nationale de cirque de Montreal. I have had experience with Cirque du Soleil, and have performed at international performances such as the 2010 Olympics Opening Ceremony in Vancouver, B.C. I am now preparing for the 32nd Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain opening spectacle. I credit SANCA for starting my career. I would not be who I am today, or experienced the success I have if it were not for those welcoming doors and the people at SANCA who accepted me into their space. SANCA will always have a special place in my heart, and because of SANCA, I will never stop dreaming.

Duo Madrona

Duo Madrona 3 We are Ben Wendel and Rachel Nehmer, trapeze artists known professionally as Duo Madrona. We have performed our trapeze number locally at a variety of venues including the Moisture Festival, nationally with Circus Flora and Teatro Zinzanni, and internationally at Le Cirque de Demain. We have been proud members of the SANCA community since 2004. Over the years we have filled the role of student, instructor, camp counselor, volunteer, office personnel, van driver, tarp stretcher and birthday-cake baker at SANCA.

When we first walked into SANCA in July of 2004, we were not planning for a career in the circus. We had recently graduated from Haverford College with Biology degrees and moved from Philadelphia to Seattle to take research jobs at the University of Washington. We came to check out the newly-opened circus school with recreational interest—Rachel had attended a summer camp with a circus program in New York as a teen and was interested in pursuing her old hobby; Ben gamely went along to try it out.

Duo Madrona 1 Fast-forward to January 2008, Paris. We waited anxiously behind the curtain, poised to present our act at the 29th Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain. The festival is one of the top venues for new artists to show their work to the entire global circus community, and only 25 acts are chosen worldwide from thousands of applicants. Nervous, dizzy and disoriented, we struggled to hear the emcee above the pounding of our hearts. Such a mixture of terror and thrill, nausea and elation can make one feel quite alone. However out there in the audience, somewhere in that vast 3,000-seat circus tent was our SANCA family, including founders Chuck Johnson and Jo Montgomery, who had flown from Seattle to Paris in the winter to support us. In fact, this same family had been there for us at every single step, from our first days at the school as disaffected scientists discovering the joy of circus arts, through all the long hours in rehearsal, to representing SANCA as professional artists on an international stage.

Duo Madrona 2 For the entirety of our career, SANCA has been our most important resource, the center of our artistic community, and our home. SANCA nurtured us as we made a great leap of faith to follow our dreams and become trapeze artists, and they continue to be a vital force in the community and in our lives personally. Without SANCA we would certainly not be the successful artists we are today.

Mick Holsbeke

My name is Mick Holsbeke, and among other things I’m a clown.

When I tell people that I perform as a clown for a living, there is usually a small mix of reactions that I receive: surprise, confusion, or disbelief; or sometimes distress or even disapproval.

And of course the rare “wowed face” where they are sincerely intrigued, think it’s quirkily impressive, and want to know more. I’ve grown accustomed to all of these possibilities, and I often ask myself, “How would I have reacted, if someday in a Back to the Future movie I had met my future self, and he told me he is, and I was to be, a clown? Honestly, I have no idea how I would respond, but in a weird sort of way I don’t think it would surprise me.

Two days after graduating from high school in Naples, Florida, my bags were packed, and I was leaving to join the circus. In the year before I had learned to juggle from my high school economics teacher, and I was immediately swept off my feet by the creative potential of this oddball activity. It was the only thing I wanted to do, and I was ready to dive in as far as possible. There was no particular circus in my sights, but I had circus dreams in my blood, and I was following a hunch. Someone had told me that if I wanted to find circus, and vaudeville, then I should head to the Pacific Northwest. So with no further delay the engine was ignited, and I hit the road.

My path took many turns in years to come, but it wasn’t until four years later, while eating pizza in Portland, Oregon that I met Chuck Johnson, and my circus dreams finally took root. At this time Chuck was just beginning his new nonprofit venture with Jo Montgomery. The name of the venture was SANCA, and their goal was to build a safe community and gathering space for people of all ages, sizes, and abilities. Their medium—circus!

Chuck invited me to come see the place, and take a class. They had roughly 50 students at this time, and the school was housed in a small warehouse on the south side of Seattle. If you didn’t know it was there you might never have found it. There were no signs, no logos, little heating, and the bathrooms were separate from the space. The only sign of life was a big yellow door, beaming outwards like a ray of light. I fell instantly in love with the ambience that surrounded SANCA, and I offered to help in any way I could.

As luck would have it they were looking for someone to help them teach classes, and they were willing to train me to be one of their circus instructors. It was the perfect opportunity, and I gave 100% of myself to SANCA.

Mick Holsbeke 3 During my time with SANCA I was a student, instructor, and outreach coordinator. I taught circus classes to students ranging from toddlers to adults, helped to organize and orchestrate their blooming school outreach program, turned screws and bolts where needed, and constantly continued my own personal acrobatic training under the tutelage of Chuck and Jo. I loved my job, and my new circus community. My students were amazing, and the training I received as an instructor was invaluable.

After spending a year at SANCA I was completely transformed, and decided to audition for one of the largest professional circus schools in the world, École Nationale de Cirque (ENC), the National Circus School in Montréal, Canada.

ENC, is the leading school for aspiring circus artists, and my next six months were dedicated to preparing for this audition. The chances of a small-town, recreational circus hobbyist such as myself being accepted were slim, but SANCA pulled upon their greatest resources to help me align myself in the right direction, and on February 1st, 2006, the day of my 23^rd birthday, a door creaked open.

I spent the following three years running around the Montréal school soaking up as many hidden circus secrets as I possibly could. I learned to flip, dive, tumble, jump, hang, fall, sing, dance, and most definitely flop.

Then in June of 2009, I graduated from the professional program at ENC, with a specialty in Clown. Why clown? Because I have been taught by people like Chuck and Jo that giving from the heart can change lives. A smile can make someone’s day. A laugh can change a perception, and love is a gift!

At SANCA I was surrounded by love, and welcomed for who I am. I was given a helping hand by total strangers, and my life has been forever changed because of it. Since leaving SANCA I’ve performed in more countries than there are fingers on my hands, learned to speak French, made several appearances on TV, and built a life out of circus. Some of my accomplishments include performing for such companies as the 7 Fingers circus company, the Palazzo Colombino dinner show in Frieburg, Germany, the GOP variety shows of Germany, and being an artistic coach for Cirque du Soleil’s 2010 show Banana Shpeel. Festival appearances include the Festival Juste Pour Rire in Montréal, the Beunos Aires Polo Circo Festival in Argentina, Piste de Lancement in Belgium, Montréal Completement Cirque, and most recently being a prize winner at both the Sol Y Circo Festival in Mick Holsbeke 1

Germany, also the 31^st Festival Mondial du Circque De Demain in Paris in January 2010, where I received the prestigious Prix du CIRQUE ELOIZE and Prix TELMONDIS along with an artistic grant for clown performance.

I would have never guessed that I would be where I am today, and there is something about it that just isn’t normal. It just isn’t normal to bend in half, stand on your hands, soar through the air or want to be a “clown.” It just isn’t normal, but that’s exactly why I love it. My name is Mick Holsbeke, and ladies and gentleman, thanks to SANCA I’m a clown.

SANCA’s Summer Circus Festival opens August 15th

by Maia LeDoux — last modified Sep 04, 2014 10:44 PM

History

Join us for our first Summer Circus Festival, August 15-24, 2014, including the SANCA Staff Show, “Everyday Miracles” and SANCA Goes Late Nite Variety Shows, curated and directed by David Crellin aka Armitage Shanks.

SANCA’s staff show, “Everyday Miracles”, transforms everyday actions through the beauty of circus, elevating the mundane into the marvelous. Circus artists are superheroes performing these little miracles every day, affecting other people, spreading mystery and joy.

Audiences will be treated to the beauty and athleticism of contemporary circus arts. Festival performers include: Tanya Brno, Kari Hunter, Acrobatic Conundrum, Adrienne Jack-Sands, Oliver Parkinson, Armitage Shanks, IMPulse Circus Collective , Sara Sparrow, Vivian Tam, Jill Marissa, Scotty Walsh, Lara Paxton, Mick Holsbeke and many more talented artists.

STAFF SHOW Everyday Miracles
August 15th – 17th with Acrobatic Conundrum
Friday 8pm, Sat. 8pm, Sat.y 10:30pm, Sun. 6pm
Tickets: www.Brownpapertickets.com/event/772395

August 22st – 24th with IMPulse Circus Collective
Friday 8pm, Sat. 8pm, Sat.y 10:30pm, Sun. 6pm
Tickets: www.Brownpapertickets.com/event/772395
WHERE: SANCA 674 South Orcas St. Seattle, WA 98108

SANCA goes Late Nite, an evening of raucous thrills with live music & special guests, including: Vivian Tam, Adra Boo, Duo Finelli, Marta Brown, Esther deMonteflores-Webner/Laura Burch, Bridget Gunning, Tanya Brno, Professor Scotty Walsh, Jenny Penny, Caela Bailey, Nash Fung, Florial, with music by Bucharest Drinking Team on August 15th and by Chaotic Noise Brigade on August 22nd.

WHEN: Friday 10:30pm, August 15th & August 22nd
WHERE: SANCA, 674 South Orcas St., Seattle, WA 98108
TICKETS & MORE INFO
www.Brownpapertickets.com/event/772405
1-800-838-3006

SANCA Summer Circus Festival is August 15th – 24th, 2014.

www.sancaseattle.org/about/sanca-is-ten

https://www.facebook.com/events/1441844909415093/

SPONSORS These shows are supported by grants from 4Culture and the Office of Arts & Culture | Seattle.

SANCA’s Summer Circus Festival

SANCA is honored to present our talented staff in their own show. Everyday Miracles, transforms everyday actions through the beauty of circus, elevating the mundane into the marvelous. Circus artists are superheroes performing these little miracles every day, affecting other people, spreading mystery and joy.

Artists performing in the SANCA Staff Show include: Rachel Randall & Nick Lowery, Bridget Gunning, Professor Scotty Walsh, Noa Schnitzer, Leslie Rosen, Mick Holsbeke, Zach Holmbergh, Orville Zharoff & Lauren Kettner.

SANCA resident collective Acrobatic Conundrum will be appearing as the second half for the weekend of August 15-17.

IMPulse Circus Collective will be appearing as the second half for the weekend of August 22-24.

Also part of the Festival: SANCA is proud to produce it’s first late night variety show directed by David Crellin aka Armitage Shanks. An evening of raucous thrills with live music & special guests.

Our Friday August 15th Show includes: Armitage Shanks, Marta Brown, Esther de Monteflores & Laura Burch, Nash Fung, Duo Finelli, Jenny Penny, Miss Adra Boo, Professor Scotty Walsh, Bridget Gunning with live music by Bucharest Drinking Team.

Our Friday August 22nd Show includes:
Professor Scotty Walsh, Bridget Gunning, Tanya Brno, Duo Finelli, Vivian Tam & Gunnar Field, Esther de Monteflores & Laura Burch, Jenny Penny, Armitage Shanks, Marta Brown, with live music by Chaotic Noise Brigade.