Our Mission: Circus Day Foundation teaches the art of life through circus education. We work to build character and expand community for youth of all ages, cultures, abilities and backgrounds. Through the teaching and performance of circus arts, we help people defy gravity, soar with confidence, and leap over social barriers, all at the same time. We also help make circus an accessible and lively performing art form for the whole St. Louis metro area. Circus Day Foundation is an organization focused on Social Circus programs. We use circus arts to inspire individuals and connect communities. We are the only organization in St. Louis active and dedicated to circus arts year 'round. Circus Day has received local and national recognition for its. Learning circus skills improves one’s strength, coordination and flexibility. Learning circus builds character in the individual participants as they develop life skills like goal setting, persistence and focus. Learning circus with others teaches trust, responsibility and teamwork. When the others are from different backgrounds, everyone’s sense of community is expanded.		News from the Circus Day Foundation CIRCUSHARMONY: GLISSANDO Circus Harmony: Glissando is our annual full-length show with live music that serves as our signature fundraising event. This creative confluence of music and circus arts features some of St. Louis’ finest musicians accompanying amazing tumbling, juggling, balancing and aerial artistry performed by the St. Louis Arches and other youth circus performers from the Circus Day Foundation. For this third Circus Harmony production, we have all new acts and have formed the new Circus Harmony band, under the direction of Adam Rugo. The band consists of Farshid Soltanshahi, Sandy Weltman, Xiaoyu Yan, Henry Claude, Shawn Hartung, Matthew Henry, Michelle DeFabio, Tracy Andreotti, Aaron Lehde, and Mike Killian. Captivating choreography for the shows’ acts has been created by Sariya Sabiye Monica Newsam, Carlo Gentile, Jessica Hentoff, Renaldo Williams, and other artists. Circus Harmony: Glissando is a totally unique, incredibly diverse and broadly appealing presentation that will inspire and delight all who witness it. Proceeds go to support the youth circus programs of the Circus Day Foundation. Circus Harmony: Glissando will be presented for three performances only: Friday, Oct. 6 at 7 PM, Saturday Oct. 7 at 1 PM and Sunday October 8 at 1 PM. We have limited seating and urge you to purchase your tickets in advance. You can get more information and procure tickets by calling 314-436-7676 or visiting the Circus Harmony page.

314-436-7676 Circus Day Foundation www.circusday.org

Letter from the Artistic/Executive Director

Step right up!

I have been teaching circus skills to children since 1974. There is something magical about circus that has captivated audiences, artists and writers since the first somersault. There are cave drawings of tumblers in Crete. Egyptian hieroglyphics of jugglers. But more powerful than the excitement of watching circus skills, is the transforming experience of performing them!

It is the end of August as I write this. Fifty-nine children have just taken our Circus in the City Summer Performance Camps and ten other students insisted on a summer session of our Aerial Artistry class. Eighteen of our advanced students spent their summer perfecting new acts in our Act Studio program. All our students have the opportunity to perform in front of a real audience in our circus ring at City Museum.

How do you explain the transformative power of circus? At the Circus Day Foundation, we say that we teach the art of life through circus education. While children learn to flip, fly and juggle, they also learn important life skills like focus, persistence and teamwork. But it goes beyond even that. All summer, I watched our students, new and old, from the five year olds through the adults, walk into the circus ring with poise and composure, secure in their abilities and comfortable in their presentation, regardless of the level of tricks they were performing.

Our mission statement says we “help people defy gravity, soar with confidence and leap over social barriers, all at the same time.” There is a gravity, a self-doubt, in each of us that sometimes keeps us down, holds us back. Each of our students defied that in themselves. Their spirits soared when they stepped into the ring. They knew it. The audience felt it. They transcended whatever labels society would use to define them. They presented their own definition of themselves in the ring. We give our students a rare gift: self-assurance. This powerful experience changes how they look at themselves and how the world looks at them.

Come see for yourself. Watch a show. Take a class. Come to the circus and be transformed!

Jessica Hentoff
August 2006

Circus Day’s Night at Cirque Du Soleil

Circus Day Foundation is honored to announce that, in consideration of our social circus work, Cirque Du Soleil has named us a Benefit Partner. This means that Cirque has given us a block of tickets to sell for their evening performance on Friday October 13. These benefit tickets cost $100— the entire amount will go to support our social circus programs. You can only get these special tickets through us. They can be ordered online at www.circusday.org or by phone at 314-436-7676. We are very grateful for Cirque Du Soleil’s generosity and support. We hope to see you at Circus Day’s Night at Cirque Du Soleil!

Jeane Vogel Photography

Let’s Get This Party Started!

Circus Day Foundation’s sister company, everydaycircus is a multi-talented company that has been dedicated to making every day a Circus Day since 1989! They send entertainers to the location of your event or you can bring your party to their space inside the incredible City Museum.

everydaycircus has a roster of exciting entertainers including clowns, stiltwalkers, jugglers, magicians and acrobats. They can also supply you with caricaturists, face-painters, balloon sculptors, and more. Of course, the most exciting option would be the amazing youth circus performers from the Circus Day Foundation.

For your gatherings of 100 or less, you can rent the circus ring on the third floor of City Museum. Perfect for a business presentation or a festive sitdown dinner, the circus ring can serve as a small amphitheater or a delightful dance floor, depending on your needs. Use of the space also gives you access to the rest of City Museum, St. Louis’ most amazing cultural attraction.

For the really adventurous, everydaycircus can provide classes in a variety of circus arts through Circus Day Foundation. Offerings include juggling, clowning, magic, balloon sculpting and more. These are great team-building and ice-breaking activities.

everydaycircus is happy to work with you on designing an event package to meet your specific needs and budget. They strive to make your special event a reflection of your personal perspective. They offer quality entertainment, a unique venue and unusual educational opportunities.

Call now to book your Holiday Party and make your day a Circus Day! For more information: 314-645-4445 or go to www.everydaycircus.net.

314-436-7676 Circus Day Foundation www.circusday.org

Reg Bolton Memorial Circus Ring Almost Complete

Construction on our new City Museum circus space is almost complete! The new circus ring is located on the third floor, at the top of the stairs, near the train, next to the entrance to Art City. This new space boasts higher ceilings, marble bleachers, and a unique glass wall surrounding half the ring.

The glass wall will allow patrons to view the excitement in the ring as they wait for the train or visit Art City. Our aerialists can’t wait to stop scraping the floor and our acrobats are tired of hitting the ceiling. We may have to stop billing ourselves as the lowest-ceilinged circus school in the world! Bob Cassilly, creative director of City Museum, cut through the cement ceiling and actually jacked it up several feet to gain the additional height. Come see this engineering marvel!

The new space will be dedicated to Social Circus pioneer, Reg Bolton. As the glass wall allows you to see all around the circus ring, Reg traveled all around the world teaching circus arts to everyone from Protestant and Catholic youth in Ireland to aborigines in Australia. He was a leprechaun-like man who carried his pot of gold with him and gave from it freely. We urge you to visit www.regbolton.org and www.circusshop.net to learn more about this remarkable man, circus mentor and dear friend. He is missed.

Exceptional Guest Coaches

Circus Day Foundation strives to offer its students the very best in circus instruction. This summer, we were thrilled to have four gifted circus arts educators come to St. Louis to work with our flying children. All of our guest coaches have extensive circus resumes. Warren Bacon stayed with us for three weeks, introducing our students to advanced tumbling skills—several of our acrobats are now able to do double back somersaults and double twisting somersaults! Warren also rigged a tight rope for us and left us with a new double trapeze. Lynn Polke worked with our students on dance, movement and character development. Performing arts is not just about the skill— it’s also very much about how you present the skill and yourself in the ring. In addition, Lynn taught the fun art of hula hooping, circus-style! Carlo Gentile brought our students his expertise in Chinese circus skills. They mastered a number of new Chinese Pole tricks, made advances in foot juggling, honed their hoop diving and improved their basic handstand techniques. Carrie Heller literally wrote the book on aerial training: The Aerial Circus Training and Safety Manual. So, she worked extensively with our students and staff on their aerial abilities. Carrie is also a licensed clinical social worker. Her most valuable contribution to Circus Day may well have been the work she did with both students and teachers on Conflict Resolution. These talented and generous professionals, alongside our staff instructors, made for a very full circus learning summer for all our students. Thank you to all our circus arts educators!

Carrie Heller, Jessica Hentoff & Carlo Gentile Lynn Polke, Jessica Hentoff, Warren Bacon

314-436-7676 Circus Day Foundation www.circusday.org

Our students have some unrivalled opportunities. Since their school is located inside City Museum, a St. Louis cultural attraction, they get to perform for the general public on a regular basis. Unlike other circus schools, which only hold their shows once or twice a year, the Circus Day students perform regularly year-round. This enables them to not only hone their circus skills but to work on their presentation skills as well. Then, at the beginning of every summer, Circus Day’s advanced youth circus troupe, the St. Louis Arches, have the exciting experience of working with a real circus, alongside some of the best professional performers in the world.

The St. Louis Arches are regular features with the renowned, theatrical, one-ring, Circus Flora. This year, the Arches worked in the show with such circus greats as the Flying Wallendas, Sacha Pavlata, Alexandre Nevidonski, Katja Schuman and Giovanni Zoppe. In this edition of Circus Flora, the Arches presented three acts: a fifteen person tumbling act, a five person bareback riding act and a two person lyra act.

The Arches tumbling act was an exciting combination of power tumbling and partner acrobatics that filled the ring with flying children. The pinnacle of the act (pun intended) was the three-high topped by Daring Darling Little Donald who ended by leaping into the waiting arms of two of his troupe mates.

Five of the troupe made up the Ianna Spirit Riders bareback act—Lemond Carmickle, Rosie Eastman, Elliana Hentoff-Killian, Claire Kuciejczk-Kernan and Renaldo “Junior” Williams. This exciting, new act was created in only eight months, with trainer, Jen Buck, from St. Louis’ Therapeutic Horsemanship. Named after Ian, the horse they trained on who was supposed to retire, these two young men and three young women did a lovely act that included strong and graceful vaulting and partner tricks along with somersaults from the horse. At the last moment, the young horse they were supposed to ride went lame and Ian came out of retirement to serve as their trusty steed during their debut season.

Two of the riders also performed a professional level aerial double lyra act, the Elliaire Duet. The two performers, Elliana Hentoff-Killian and Claire Kuciejczk-Kernan were confident and poised. The act featured double toe hangs and intricate partner work.

The St. Louis Arches also appeared in several other numbers throughout the show including the Big Juggle where 9 year old Kellin Hentoff-Killian sustained a five ball juggling pattern and a number of the Arches passed clubs with ease and precision.

Performing with Circus Flora is one of the highlights of the St. Louis Arches’ each year. And the Arches are always a highlight to Circus Flora’s audience. This year was no exception.

314-436-7676 Circus Day Foundation www.circusday.org

This summer, we presented four sessions of our wildly successful Circus in the City Summer Performance Camps. In this camp, students learn circus skills for one week and then present well-choreographed shows to the public the second week. Students ranged in age from 5 Ð 16 years old and came from as far away as Barain to take our camp!

Acts varied from week to week but included single, double and triple trapeze, rolling globe, rolla bolla, wirewalking, partner acrobatics and clowning. The most important aspect of the camp was not the great circus skills the campers learned but the poise and confidence they gained by presenting theses skills to the public. Circus Day Foundation is very fortunate to be based inside of City Museum, where our students have the unrivalled opportunity to perform in front of a live audience on a regular basis. Come see one of our youth circus shows— whether you are watching beginner, intermediate or our advanced level students, we guarantee you will be amazed, entertained and inspired!

Fall Classes

Your next chance to run away and join the circus without leaving home starts on September 18. Our fall semester is chock full of offerings for all ages and abilities. We have new, separate classes in clowning and magic for children and adults as well as classes in basic circus skills, juggling and aerial artistry. Check out the schedule and even register online. See you in September!

In the past year, Circus Day Foundation has taught circus arts and life skills to over 1200 children and our youth circus performers have inspired audiences at over 400 shows. Some Places We Have Taught Circus Classes College School Discover St Louis Bristol Elementary Carver House Circus Flora Community Circus Camps COCA Urban Arts Epworth Children and Family Services New Hope Baptist Church PAKT Community Center in Kinloch Viva Vox at Lakeside Youth and Family Center Wild Horse Elementary Some Places We Have Performed Twilight Festival in Columbia, MO Charter Health Fair at America’s Center Holiday Inn at Six Flags Kingdom House Laumeier Sculpture Park Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC Circus Flora Flat Branch Park in Columbia, MO Sheldon Concert Hall Ladue Horton Watkins High School Edward Jones Dome Central Reform Congergation Jewish Community Center FLO Valley Community College AG Edwards AON Insurance BoardLink St. Louis Cor Jesu Christ Church Truman Elementary Man Kind Project The City & Smokey Mountain Museum in Salina, KS AND WE CAN COME TO YOU, TOO! Our talented teachers and impressive performers are available to come and teach or perform at your location! Just visit www.circusday.org or call us at 314-436-7676 to see how we can make your day a Circus Day!

Volunteers Welcome! A thank you to the vivacious volunteers from the Missouri Valley Conference. These energetic college students donated a day of their time to help clean things up at our circus school. If you would like to volunteer for the circus, please call 314-436-7676. We are also looking for an intern interested in learning about running a non-profit arts education organization. Come join the circus! St Louis Arches for Kingdom House at Forest Park St Louis Arches at Laumeier Sculpture Park 314-436-7676 Circus Day Foundation www.circusday.org

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314-436-7676 Circus Day Foundation www.circusday.org

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Wonderful Wardrobe What is a circus without the sparkly costumes? One of the challenges you may not have thought of is the one we face trying to find matching costumes for our students who range in size from super small to powerfully large. The costumes need to withstand stretching, being stepped on, rope burning and other general abuse that only active children involved in circus activities can do to clothes. And the kids keep growing! To the rescue we have the Martha Stewart of measuring, the Super Nanny of sewing, the Dear Abby of designing and the Betty Crocker of buying fabric, all rolled into one—the Wonder Woman of Wardrobe: Dorothy Jones. This brave seamstress, with abilities far beyond those of mortal costumers has offered her tremendous talents to keep the St. Louis Arches creatively covered and glamorously gilded in fabulous finery. We welcome you, Dorothy! And if you need a dream dress, a captivating corset or some other alternative to an animal skin loin cloth (although she could do a great loin cloth), you can contact Dorothy at 314-773-9500 or dorothy@other-woman.com. Universoul Circus Hip Hop under the Big Top! Once again, our students were special guests at the Universoul Circus—America's only African-American owned and operated circus. We got a special backstage tour by one of the musicians where we got to meet the elephant trainer, Tyrone Taylor, the ringermaster's sidekick, Zeke, and other performers. Everyone offered inspirational advice to our aspiring circus performers, and one of the aerialists gave them all special kaleidoscopes. The sone of the tiger groom even spent a day with our students at circus camp! Circus Day Foundation is grateful to:

Circus Soiree Circus Day Foundation hosted its first Circus Soiree at the stunning home of Cyndy Rosenbloom on April 18. For a donation of $100, participants got to tour this lovely home, eat delicious hors d'ouvres served by Crabcakes Creative and enjoy select performances by some of Circus Day's talented youth circus artists. On view were also some of the Art Of Life inspirational cards done for Circus Day by photographer, Jeane Vogel. Be a Corporate or Personal Sponsor You can be a Circus Day Foundation corporate or personal sponsor. Support an individual student, a whole troupe, or some of our acclaimed youth circus shows. See insert for more details.

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314-436-7676 Circus Day Foundation www.circusday.org

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Circus Day Cards Looking for the perfect gift or holiday card? Just like to have cards on hand that suit all occasions? Check out Circus Day Foundation’s Art of Life cards by Jeane Vogel. These cards feature our youth circus performer accompanied by an Ôart of life’ term that their pose demonstrates. For example: the Cooperation card is of two boys juggling together, the Teamwork card features a pyramid, the Risk card is a young person riding a unicycle, etc. Proceeds from the purchase of these cards go to support our youth circus programs! To see all of the cards or order go to: www.circusday.org/cards.