In the world today, there is intolerance, hatred and war. Racial slurs and stereotypes abound. Racial profiling is commonplace. Many would say the world is in discord. The Circus Day Foundation promotes peace though pyramids, joy though juggling and harmony through handsprings. We believe the path to peace is a path of cooperation and communication. Teaching children from different neighborhoods how to stand on each other’s shoulders may seem like a strange way to take this path. But it’s the technique we use!
Circus Day Foundation is a Social Circus organization that has been recognized as a 501 (c) 3 since 2001. We use circus arts to motivate social change. By inspiring individuals and connecting communities with our circus education and entertainment programs, we have a positive impact on the St. Louis area and beyond. When people hear 'circus' they may think we are fluffy, like cotton candy. But the work we do is really quite profound.
Our programs teach valuable life skills like persistence, focus, tolerance and teamwork. Learning circus with others teaches trust, responsibility and cooperation. Perhaps the most important experience we give our participants is the opportunity to meet and interact with children from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds than their own. We don't just work with "at-risk" kids or just offer classes to "well-off" kids. We purposefully bring all these children together, give them a common language (circus) and a common goal (a show). When the people working together are from different backgrounds, everyone’s sense of community is expanded. In addition, the participants get the powerful experience of presenting themselves in public and being appreciated for their accomplishments.
When they first start working with us, many of these young people cannot even look a grown-up in the eye. Through our circus programs, they can stand in front of a crowd of over 200 people with heads held high. Some of them have never met a Jewish child, or had a friend who was poor or rich or of a different race. Now, they each know a variety of children from diverse backgrounds.
Since 2001, Circus Day Foundation has gone from ten students to over 1200 students and from performing 40 shows a year to over 400 shows a year. We run a year-round circus school at the incredible City Museum. We also offer numerous outreach classes throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area. Over 80% of the population we serve are from low-income families.
Circus Day Foundation was founded to provide circus educational and community opportunities for St. Louis youth. Circus Day Foundation's first project was Circus Salaam Shalom. This ground-breaking project brought together Jewish and Muslim children. Then these children started asking if their Christian and other friends could join. This developed into the Patchwork Circus troupe, which now consists of Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Caucasian, Hispanic, African-American and Chinese children from urban and suburban areas. From 2002 through 2004, Circus Day produced Far East Meets Midwest I and II. These shows combined Asian and Midwestern arts and artists. Asian artists wanted to include Middle Eastern musicians. Circus Harmony became the logical confluence of all these projects, combining diverse children and multicultural music into one expansive project.
Circus Harmony is an innovative union of marvelous music and sensational circus arts. We present four full-length ticketed shows in October and 400 smaller shows throughout the year. This year-round ongoing project includes weekly training and development of the youth circus performers, rehearsals with professional musicians and regular public performances. In these shows, our young performers become the teachers as they demonstrate what they have learned— overcoming fear, prejudice and gravity. Watching them, the audience feels that there is hope, joy and wonder in the world.
Current major contributors for Circus Harmony are: Regional Arts Commission, Missouri Arts Council, Dana Brown Charitable Trust, Trio Foundation of St.Louis, Citigroup, Fox Associates Foundation, Cardinals Care, Ronald McDonald House Charities, DCA Family Foundation, Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus, Arts & Education Council, Sara Lee Bakery Group, Cirque du Soleil, Fox Family Associates and the Boeing Employee Fund.
In a shrinking world where global competition and cultural clashes are increasing, it is important to learn how to cooperate and communicate with people from different backgrounds. The life skills we learn as children are the tools we take with us into adulthood. If we teach children when they are young to overlook differences and focus on similarities, to focus on working together to fix something rather than abdicating responsibility and blaming others, those skills will result in a more peaceful future.
We are crossing cultural boundaries artistically and socially while improving children's physical, mental and emotional well-being as we fulfill our mission to "help people defy gravity, soar with confidence, and leap over social barriers, all at the same time."
We hope you will join us in some way. This is where you can run away and join the circus but still be home in time for dinner!Please support our social circus work:
Come see our flying children!
Circusfully,
Jessica Hentoff
Artistic/Executive Director
