SANCA’s Social Circus programs take students and our community on a journey. Fueled by the lionhearted impulse that you can use “circus arts for social change and personal transformation,” this spring, two of our newer Social Circus programs manifested this vision in innovative and new ways for the SANCA community. Let’s take a look at what happened.
We are now in our second year of running the RODA program. In partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Rainier Valley and the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative, this work-readiness program uses circus arts as the vehicle to develop important skills for teens to improve their circus vocabulary, AND practice responsibility, accountability, collaboration, and even project management.
In addition to the skills developed during the course of the programs, the culminating project for every session has evolved to have a different format. Our first RODA performance, Beautiful Chaos, started with a standard proscenium-style performance. We quickly began to push the boundaries of performance in our second show, The Breakout, which was designed with elements of immersive performance when students literally broke through a wall to a thrust of space in the center of the audience during the climax of the show. Our third project, Untitled, saw a flash-mob format, where participants spontaneously swarmed areas of the SANCA gym and put on short group acts. This spring, a new impulse guided the fourth and most recent project, “The Goonies’ Carnival.”
The impulse was: How can we move beyond traditional performance to more actively engage the audience in a community-building event?
After many discussions with the participants, the idea of combining performance with a public community celebration was a natural fit. This time, not only were the participants working to put together a performance to demonstrate their new-found circus skills, but we also planned a parade and carnival to take us outside the SANCA building entirely and bring circus into the streets! After the parade to Georgetown Playfield, RODA participants hosted a free community carnival open to the public, complete with DJ music, food, circus, games, and dancing. During the entire event, RODA participants were acting as hosts and true community leaders, generously sharing a good time with any and all who attended.
Speaking of, the entire Boys & Girls Club Teen Program students and staff — more than 30 individuals— shuttled over to SANCA to join us for this major event. It was truly a special moment to have our two communities togethery. This still feels like only the beginning of our partnering potential and we are incredibly lucky to be able to grow our communities together.
This is circus arts for social change!
Now for the personal transformation…
Another new SANCA program is Transformational Women’s Circus (TWC), which marked the expansion into exciting new territory for us by offering Social Circus programming dedicated to adults. The women participants all came to this program because they believed, like Amber Parker, TWC lead coach and designer of the program, that circus arts can be used to help heal and offer pathways to self-revelation.
Over the course of six months, these women came together once a week to combine circus arts with drama and group therapy practices, all culminating in a spectacular performance that followed the structure of the hero(ine)’s journey. Blending narrative with circus arts, the participants designed self-revelatory performances both as solos and in groups that explored themes of pain, transition, strength, loss, love, overcoming challenges, friendship, and many more.
During the talk-back that followed the performance, multiple audience members reported that these deeply personal pieces resonated strongly, moving many to tears and a healing catharsis for not only those performing but the audience as well.
This is circus arts for personal transformation!
This is only the beginning for TWC. RODA continues to evolve as well, but what is striking to me is how tangibly these programs manifest that vision of “circus arts for social change and personal transformation.” These programs are specially designed to at times go deep in the inner landscape and at other times to bust out of the box, to fill the streets, to expand out into the world bringing vibrant vitality and joy.
By simultaneously stretching outwards and inwards, a massive space is opened up for everyone: for children of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to experience the joyous creativity of acrobatics and new circus arts.
What will happen in the years to come?
For more information on SANCA’s Outreach and RODA programs, visit our page here.
For more information on the Transformational Women’s Circus Program, click here.
Note: Applications for the 2019 cycle of TWC will open this fall, check back in September for more information.
