Tag Archives: SANCA

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Meet Cirrus Circus at the library as they conduct research, hunt for a good read, and find all the books they can about the physics and mathematics of juggling. Along the way they discover that books are portals to new and different worlds.

When their bumbling professor stops by, he struggles to keep himself rooted in reality rather than follow his imagination. Can they convince their professor that these other worlds are wonderful places to visit, full of amazing adventures and artistic expression?

Acro-Biographies features contortion, Geman wheel, teeterboard, duo trapeze, and more. Join Cirrus Circus as they crawl up, balance on, and flip through the pages, using their imagination and circus skill to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

WHEN
November 10-18th, 2017
Friday 7pm
Saturday 3pm or 7pm

WHERE
Broadway Performance Hall
1625 Broadway
Seattle, WA 98122

MORE INFO
206-652-4433
www.sancaseattle.org

TICKETS
IN ADVANCE: Adults $20, Youth 16 & under $12 https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3091187
1-800-838-3006
AT THE DOOR: Adults $25, Youth 16 & under $15

Brought to you in part with support from Seattle Credit Union and Choice Tea.

SANCA’s Annual Spring Showcase

February 27, 2017

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4 Unique Circus Variety Shows!

Every year SANCA presents a showcase of unique circus performances featuring students, alumni, staff, and friends. For one weekend only, we hold four shows, each featuring a different line up of spectacular local and internationally renowned circus performers alongside SANCA’s tremendously talented student performers. The SASS shows are the capstone performances for students and staff who have workshopped new performances and are ready to take to the stage in displays of pure awesomeness! Among the featured performers are Seattle favorites, the youth circus troupes Cirrus Circus, the Magnificent 7, and the Amazing Circus 1-ders. Audiences will be treated to daring displays of acrobatics, high-flying aerials, juggling, and much more!

Friday Night features Leslie Rosen and Mary Gargett – “Hottie Long Legs.” This stilt walking dynamic duo is comprised of performing powerhouses Leslie Rosen and Mary Gargett. Both having backgrounds in Hula Hoop, Belly Dance, and Fire Manipulation, they are sure to set the seats on fire opening night!

Saturday Matinee features Emma Curtiss – Cyr Wheel Extraordinaire. A swirling, twirling, dizzying blur of beauty and strength, Emma has been captivating audiences up and down the West Coast for over 5 years performing Cyr Wheel, Silks, and Clowning. Try to keep up as she spins around the stage at our Saturday Matinee!

Saturday Night features La Famiglia Gentile – Foot Juggling Family Troupe. We are delighted to have the internationally acclaimed La Famiglia Gentile as SANCA’s current Artists in Residence! This fantastic flipping family will have you on the edge of your seats as they juggling not only objects with their feet but themselves too!

Sunday Matinee features Saffi Watson – Contortion. Cirrus Circus student, Saffi Watson started her performing career at the ripe age of 6, performing with SANCA, Teatro Zinzani, as well as other various venues. Under the careful direction of such elite artists as Vita Radionova and Jacob Skeffington, Saffi has blossomed into the embodiment of grace, style, power, and control.

Hosted by The Amazing Juan! After discovering a natural talent for magic while living under the stairs at his Aunt and Uncle’s house, he decided to share his passion with the world. After making stops in Cairo, Greece, Cleveland and brief run in Tijuana that resulted in some interesting and slightly embarrassing photos, The Amazing Juan will be taking Seattle by SASSy storm, hosting all four shows. Prepare yourselves for a magical display of awesomeness as The Amazing Juan makes his SANCA debut!

Tickets at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2886600

Meet Julaine – Cirrus Circus Student Spotlight

April 29, 2016

Interview by Amber Parker,
Every Body’s Circus Coach

In March our youth performance company, Cirrus Circus, held try outs for students to display their skills and earn a coveted spot in the dynamic ensemble. Cirrus welcomed several new students to the troupe, one of whom is 12 year old Julaine Hall. I sat down with Julaine to talk about her experience at SANCA, her devotion to circus, and this exciting next step in her career as a performer.

Julaine (center) basing a pyramid of Cirrus Circus acrobats.

Julaine (center) basing a pyramid of acrobats.

Amber: How long have you been at SANCA?

Julaine: I’ve being doing circus since I was about two-and-a-half years old and I’m 12 now. I’ve been performing since I was five, and I’ve never taken a quarter off. Not even summer.

Amber: Wow! You’ve been coming here since you were a toddler. Can you remember a time when you didn’t have circus in your life?

Julaine: No!

Amber: You’re having the coolest childhood! So, after you began at age two, what happened next?

Juliane: I started with general circus classes and then I went on to the Amazing Circus 1-ders, then on to the Magnificent 7, and I just got into Cirrus Circus on March 4th.

Amber: Congratulations! That’s a great achievement. So, what do you love about circus?

Julaine: Well, when I was little, before I began at SANCA, my mom tried putting me in gymnastics but they had too many rules. Circus is much more about of the box, it’s more fun. I’ve always loved doing tricks but when I got to perform and make acts it was even cooler!

Amber: What was the first circus skill you ever felt really good at?

Julaine (bottom left) performing with other members of Cirrus Circus.

Julaine: Forward rolls probably, when I was really little. Now I can do front flips, back flips on the trampoline, and if I warm up enough, I can do a back flip off the edge of the tumble track. I also do Chinese pole, tumbling, and juggling. Those are some of my strongest skills. Now I’m learning a sequence – round-off/back handspring/back layout/half twist on the tumble-trak, and new tricks on Chinese pole.

Amber: What do you think is challenging about circus arts?

Julaine: Well, I’ve never gotten seriously hurt, but if something seems new and scary, sometimes you just have to power through and keep on doing it. That’s a challenge when you’re scared, it’s hard to just do it again.

Amber: What do you imagine for your future in the circus?

Julaine: I think it would be fun to go all the way through Cirrus Circus and then become a circus coach. I really want to be a coach in my 20’s and maybe in my 30’s. I think it might be fun to be in something like Acrobatic Conundrum as an adult. But mostly I want to be a coach and work with kids. It’ll remind me of the good ole days!

When speaking with Julaine, her passion and excitement for circus and her career at SANCA was palpable. It was amazing to meet a young person with so much commitment, discipline, and vision for the future. Julaine was a scholarship student for a period of time while her family dealt with expensive medical bills on a tight income. Because of SANCA’s scholarship program, Juliane did not have to give up with her passion for circus. Her commitment and achievements speak to how vital SANCA’s scholarship programs are in our community.

Meet the Harveys – SANCA’s Landlords

April 19, 2016

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Orcas Business Park, owned and managed by the Harvey Family – John, JW, and Michelle – is the largest family-owned property management company in the Seattle Design District. They have leased commercial office, retail, and warehouse space in the Georgetown neighborhood for more than 18 years. John and his son JW are the property managers, and John’s daughter Michelle is OBP’s Director of Finance. They are joined by Shannon Archer, the Office Manager for the business.

The Harvey Family (right to left) – John, JW, and Michelle, along with Orcas Business Park office manager Shannon Archer, celebrate with SANCA at LEAP with a Twist! on Leap Day, Feb. 29, 2016.

When SANCA’s Founders, Jo & Chuck, first approached the Harveys in 2005 about leasing warehouse space for a non-profit circus school, their response was “Are you sure about this?”

SANCA didn’t fit any demographic of renters or business owners the Harveys had ever worked with before, but they were really intrigued by the idea, so they visited SANCA’s original location on 6th Avenue & Lander Street to better understand the kind of organization they might be leasing space to.

When Jo shared her inspiration for starting SANCA – providing healthy, creative activities and access for children with health issues – the Harveys saw an opportunity to become partners in bettering the community, and become part of something bigger than just being a business partner. Jo and Chuck’s passion for SANCA’s mission, and their determination and fire for their cause made a big impression on the Harveys, so they took a leap of faith that a circus school would be a good tenant.

The Harveys’ faith in SANCA paid off. Since first moving in to the building in April 2005, SANCA has expanded from the smallest to the largest of their tenants – taking over two more bays in the building, and expanding to more than 22,000 square feet. In 2009, when Chuck approached the Harveys about building a flying trapeze tent in the next-door parking lot, once again, they asked, “Are you sure?”

Again the Harveys took a chance on SANCA, helping by resurfacing the parking lot to repair the damage of years of semi-trucks being parked there. The Harveys found that it wasn’t too much longer before they were giving flying trapeze a try themselves! Michelle says, “I’d never heard of flying trapeze being so accessible! I tried it out the first year it got started at SANCA. It was thrilling, exhilarating to get caught!”

Michelle’s daughter Emma also started taking SANCA’s summer circus camps when she was six years old. She met one of her best friends at circus camp, and now they coordinate to go to circus camp together every year. Michelle says it’s the highlight of the summer and that they really enjoy sharing in the diversity available at SANCA. Emma also got hooked on flying trapeze and she’s had her birthday party at SANCA these past two years. JW and his wife Sara and both their kids have also tried the flying trapeze, and they’ve brought their cousins from France to try it also.

“Seeing so many kids have such a great experience at SANCA drove home how
important it was to have SANCA in the community,” says JW.

JW says he views the property management business as a partnership with the tenants. He wants his leasers to succeed at their businesses. In the beginning, JW says, it helped that Chuck and Jo were always very reassuring and a pleasure to do business with. The Harveys extended discounts to SANCA because they really believed in what SANCA was doing and wanted to be part of that. They also knew that in the early years Jo and Chuck took no pay as SANCA was getting started. They both had fulltime jobs: Jo at the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, and Chuck worked with a decorating contractor for trade shows and special events while also coaching gymnastics and acrobatics. It really showed their commitment to SANCA.

“Taking on a first-time business can be risky,” JW observes. “I rely a lot on personal feeling about the person running the business. SANCA really helped us to rethink the possibilities of who could be a good leasing partner. Now we’re more willing to take risks. We have tenants who aren’t traditional commercial clients, including arts and non-profit organizations like Unexpected Productions Improv School and the EnFuego Baseball Academy, as well as massage, counseling, and therapeutic providers. Over time, we’ve put more money into facility improvements for SANCA than we have any other tenant. It feels more personal – we love having SANCA as a tenant.”

Michelle says, “It’s really nice to know that we can help the community by supporting SANCA at the business level. SANCA reaches a huge part of our community – even touching our own employees and other tenants. Many of our families have taken classes at SANCA.”

“SANCA has also been a big part of the revitalization of Georgetown,” says JW. “The school’s clientele has brought younger families into the neighborhood and given a boost to local businesses. I’ve seen Airport Way become a bustling neighborhood, and motivated young entrepreneurs and startups have set up shop since SANCA became part of the neighborhood.”

The Harveys haven’t just been great landlords for SANCA – they’ve become valued partners, supporters, and donors for the circus school. Orcas Business Park has sponsored SANCAthon, and the Harveys are mainstays at SANCA’s annual gala – Up, with a Twist!

“The Twist gala was a real eye opener,” says Michelle, “It’s very moving to learn about all that SANCA does for the community, and how much it grows year after year. We want to see that success continue and help support it.”

SANCA is very thankful of The Harvey’s support of the school – we couldn’t ask for better landlords!

Gala Preparations Afoot!

February 14, 2016

By Amber Parker

There’s a simmering excitement around SANCA lately that’s greater than the usual magic you feel when you walk into the building. The entire gym feels more alive- children running from annex to annex, parents and volunteers crouched in corners sewing costumes, coaches, directors and administrators bustling all around us. It’s not just that it’s been more busy at SANCA, it’s that Leap with a Twist is approaching us fast, and everywhere you can feel the creative energy that is manifested when a community comes together around a common cause- to produce an original and inspired stage show.

SANCA’s annual fundraising gala, Up with a Twist (re-named Leap with a Twist since it falls on Leap Day in 2016), is a mere three weeks away. This is SANCA’s 7th year producing this show, and it’s become a highly anticipated and integral part of the SANCA community. Not only is Twist the largest show of the year, the fundraising at the gala supports SANCA’s Circus Arts Program for Youth, which makes the benefits of circus arts available to all families, independent of their ability to pay. Considering this mission to make circus arts more accessible, the theme of the show this year feels particularly apt- Creating a World Inspired by Circus. The show explores the question, “What would the world look without circus?” and what’s more, “What would our community look like without SANCA?” In many ways, the artistic direction of the show is an answer to these questions.

David Crellin, also known as Armitage Shanks, The Carney Preacher, has been directing Up with a Twist for the last six years and is working with young performers he’s seen advance through all three youth performance troupes, from the Circus-1ders to Magnificent 7 and on to Cirrus Circus. Here, David speaks to the both the concept behind this year’s show and how it explores a world created by circus:

I had the privilege of observing David in rehearsal with all three troupes featured in Leap with a Twist for their first stumble through rehearsal. With a total of 39 children ranging from ages 5-18, David worked with the young performers for hours choreographing their opening scenes and fine tuning their upcoming performances. It’s truly amazing to see the show come together, not only for the visually stunning art direction, but for the level of commitment and discipline required from everyone involved to bring the show to life.

Please stay tuned to the SANCA blog for more upcoming features on the creation of this year’s Leap with a Twist!

Meet SANCA’s P3s! (Part 2)

October 29, 2015

SANCA is very excited to welcome the latest group of young circus artists to the third year of our Professional Preparatory Program (P3)!

The P3 program, now in its third year, offers training for young adults seeking professional careers in the circus arts. The 9-month program provides 30 hours per week of coursework designed to prepare artists for auditions and entry into multi-year circus programs. Training includes four areas of focus:

Acrobatics (handstands, tumbling, trampoline, partner acrobatics)
Aerial (static trapeze, rope, fabric, hoop, Chinese pole)
Dance (ballet, modern, choreography)
Theater and Act Creation (improvisation, physical storytelling, acting, mask and clown)

The 9-month academic year is divided into five sessions, during which students first learn a baseline of skills, and then create two acts in the specialties of their choice. In the final session, the students create and perform an ensemble show. Throughout the year, students have the opportunity to assist in the production aspects of other SANCA productions and present works in progress in informal settings for development and constructive feedback.

SANCA’s 2015-16 P3 students get to work on their first day at SANCA!

Coming Blog Posts will introduce SANCA’s P3 students. Today, please welcome Chris Bess and Aleasha Lynn Rosette Holtby to SANCA and the P3 Program!

Chris Bess hails from Raleigh, North Carolina. He began his is career in physical arts as gymnast, later branching out into parkour, free-running, dance, and tricking. Tricking is a multi-disciplinary art that combines tumbling, martial arts, breakdancing, and strong sense of aesthetics.

Chris says that in Circus Arts, he’s found a way to put all these disciplines and skills together as a performance art that has diversity and creativity that’s not always available in other disciples.

He wants to communicate with movement, and feels most expressive through circus as a medium for making art and putting it into the world. Chris is interested in pushing boundaries, innovating, and creating things that people have never seen before.

Chris discovered SANCA when a physical theater teacher at UNC Charolette, Carlos Cruz, told him about circus and SANCA. Carlos is a circus and aerial straps artist originally from Do Jump! Dance Theatre and Imago Theatre in Portland, Oregon.

Of SANCA, Chris says the first few weeks have been really good and that it’s great to be in a regular training schedule. He wants to focus on Circus Arts at SANCA, with a vision of performing circus and making a living performing. He’s been primarily a soloist, but is interested in doing more partner and ensemble work.

He plans to take what he learns at SANCA back to Raleigh, where he’s involved with Raleigh Culture Project – a group dedicated to bringing all the movement disciplines together and fostering connections with musicians, visual artists, media, video, and the Internet.

Aleasha Lynn Rosette Holtby is 26. She was looking for new challenges after practicing yoga for five years, and discovered contortion. Shortly after that she started taking aerial classes and fell in love with all of it. She is specializing in Lyra (aerial hoop).

Aleasha wants to master the Lyra and learn intense tricks like elbow rolls and the one-foot toe hang. She’s very excited to expand her acrobatic and dance skills to create a captivating acro-dance. She also is excited to develop more skills all aspects of circus arts so that she can bring her knowledge home to teach it to others. One of her professional goals is to open her own aerials/yoga studio.

She chose to study at SANCA because it offered a full time program, and she wants to spend a full year immersed in circus! Aleasha looks forward to becoming proficient in each discipline, mastering the Lyra, and discovering passions in the circus arts.

Aleasha performing a Lyra and contortion act.

SANCAthon: it’s back, and bigger and better than ever!

October 17, 2015

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Thank You to everyone who made SANCAthon a success!

Here’s the annotated Catch-athon video by Kristen Petersen

SANCAthon_2013_meghan_cornicello_01med SANCAthon is a super fun community celebration! We’ve got exciting plans for this year’s SANCAthon and you don’t want to miss it!

Four hours of excitement including:
· Catchathon!
· The Buskers’ Challenge!
· Team Events!
· Circus Performances and Drawings

Participants can register today, join a team, and learn more at www.sancaseattle.org/sancathon! (must preregister by Friday, October 30th)

MEET THE SANCATHON TEAMS!

Read about all our exciting team events at the SANCAthon Team Page. You can make contributions in support of teams or individual participants from their team and personal pages.

Team Catchathon:

Our goal is to make as many catches in one hour as we can! Join us in the SANCA School of Flight Tent to kick off SANCAthon at 12 p.m. on Sunday, November 1st.

Team Aerial:

We’re taking on the challenge of climbing the height of the Space Needle as many times as possible in one hour! Are you a climber? We’ve got your apparatus– rope, fabric, trapeze, or Chinese Pole, this event’s for you!

Team CANYONATHON:

Wire Walkers and Unicyclists: We’re going to cross the width of the Grand Canyon in a relay-style event especially for tightwire walkers and unicyclists!

Team Handstand:

We will attempt a wave of handstands around the whole gym where everyone will hold a handstand for 15 seconds before the next person goes up in a relay fashion!

Team Juggler:

The SANCAthon juggling team is all about three things: Throwing, catching & raising funds for the SANCA Youth Scholarship Fund. We are setting our sights on achieving the group goal of 2,015 catches in any juggling pattern and with any juggling prop, be it bean-bags, balls, rings, or clubs. It is as the old juggling saying that we just made up goes: You gotta throw ’em if you wanna catch ’em.

Team Tumbling:

SANCA’s tumblers are going perform a demonstration of the awesome skills we’ve learned for everyone to see! We’ll dazzle you with rolls, handstands, cartwheels, or crazy tumbling passes.

Turbo Tots:

SANCA’s 2 – 4 year-old tots are going to tear it up at the TURBO TOT OBSTACLE COURSE! This incredible, super fun obstacle course will include Wacky Wall Walkers, Balancing Feathers, Juggling, Monkey Jumps and More!

MEET THE SANCATHON PERFORMERS!

Contribute in support of performers at their team & personal pages from the SANCAthon Team Page.

The Amazing Circus 1-ders and the Magnificent 7 – accompanied by the SANCApators Band — will close out the day by with some amazing new performances. You may be witness to the debut of AcroVengers: Origins, as well as an amazing aerial ladder act, a tumbling and springboard act, and a new ring juggling act.

The Buskers’ Challenge:

Cirrus Circus and our staff performers will give it their all for you! Challenge our performers to achieve amazing feats of daring do by putting down a donation for a trick. Want to see an acrobatic three-high? Juggling 7 balls? A dueling unicycle challenge? Show us the $$, we’ll show you the tricks!

Random Acts of Circus will happen throughout the day, and you’ll have opportunities to enter drawings for fabulous prizes. See you Sunday, November 1st for SANCAthon!

SANCAthon header 1

Meet SANCA’s P3s! (Part 1)

October 15, 2015

SANCA is very excited to welcome the latest group of young circus artists to the third year of our Professional Preparatory Program (P3)!

Acrobatics (handstands, tumbling, trampoline, partner acrobatics)
Aerial (static trapeze, rope, fabric, hoop, Chinese pole)
Dance (ballet, modern, choreography)
Theater and Act Creation (improvisation, physical storytelling, acting, mask and clown)

SANCA’s 2015-16 P3 students get to work on their first day at SANCA!

Coming Blog Posts will introduce SANCA’s P3 students. Today, please welcome Cameron Clarke and Katheryn Reed to SANCA and the P3 Program!

Cameron Clarke is 19 and hopes to become a circus generalist and expand on every discipline that he can while at SANCA because there is so much variety and so much to learn. Cameron says:

“I became involved in circus when my family moved to Belgium for three years. I joined an afterschool circus program called Circus Avanco in Aalbeke, Belgium. I hope to audition at École de cirque de Québec in 2016 and attend their three-year professional training program. I chose SANCA for my preparatory study because the facility is excellent and it will be a good way to accomplish all of the training I seek in one place. The circus community in Seattle has been very welcoming and I am excited to live here.”

Katheryn Reed is 28 and has been a dancer all her life, but she says it didn’t always feel like it was a viable career, that something was missing, and that her body felt disconnected.

“About 5 years ago” Katheryn says, “I started training in partner acrobatics focused in L-basing with the Seattle Acro group. My whole world opened up, and with the increase of strength in my core and upper body, I finally felt like one piece when I danced.”

Katheryn has been involved with the circus community in Seattle for some time now, working closely with The Acrobatic Conundrum, stage managing for their show The Way Out, and choreographing their show Secret Passages.

“Through continuing to meet new people I became the Captain for the Seattle Chapter of Circus Now, and over the past year we have produced over 10 fantastic and free circus-related events supporting Seattle’s amazing circus community.”

“I chose to train with SANCA because it has always been my circus home, says Katheryn, “It’s welcoming and friendly with amazing facilities and talented teachers. I love ground acrobatics, hand to hand, and Cyr wheel. I just felt like I could not take enough classes to see the progress I wanted, so the full-time P3 Program seemed like the perfect fit!”

Katheryn hopes to continue to perform in Seattle and tour in the longer term. She loves choreographing for circus and hopes collaborate and produce circus in the future. You can also find her dancing and performing professionally with Cafe Nordo and Marxiano Productions.

What I did at Camp this summer

August 13, 2015