December 2007
Ladeez and Gentlemen,
We inspire individuals and we connect communities. We are St. Louis’ only circus school and social circus organization. Circus school means we teach a wide variety of circus arts. Social circus means we use circus arts to motivate social change. We defy gravity. We defy labels put on us because of our backgrounds. We basically defy expectations. And we ask you to watch.
We build pyramids of people and bridges between people. We need your help to continue to “help children defy gravity, leap over social barriers and soar with confidence, all at the same time.” We teach circus skills to over 1,300 people a year in our classes at City Museum and numerous outreach programs. Through Circus Harmony and over 400 shows a year, we entertain and inspire over 100,000 people throughout the St. Louis area and beyond. . Over 80 percent of our students are from low income families. The donations from this annual appeal go towards our Circus Harmony Scholarship Fund.
We promote peace though pyramids and harmony through handsprings. This past summer, we did it in the Middle East. We took a troupe of our students to Israel where they joined forces with a Jewish/Arab youth circus. Eleven American and thirteen Israeli young people demonstrated, in a breath-taking way, what can happen when people of different nationalities and backgrounds build something together. This is a great example of social circus in action. Next summer, we hope the Israeli Jewish and Arab children can come to America. These are only children--- but they have a lot to teach the rest of the world.
In the words of Rabbi Marc Rosenstein, who invited us to Israel: “I think many who saw the shows felt the same tears in their eyes, maybe out of the feeling one is seeing a vision of something that we all long for... the total obliteration of barriers, whether social, economic or gravitational.”
Circus truly has the power to transform individuals and communities. Please read the quotes from some our grateful students on the reverse side of this letter. Then, make your generous gift to help a child fly physically, emotionally and socially. Thank you in advance for your support of this important work.
For Harmony,
Jessica Hentoff
Artistic/Executive Director
P.S. If you contribute $100 or more to our Circus Harmony Scholarship Fund, we would like to recognize you during a special donor appreciation reception at City Museum on February 23, 2008.
December, 2006
Ladeez and Gentlemen!
Circus Day Foundation is St. Louis’ only social circus program and year-round circus school. We use circus arts to inspire individuals and connect communities. We teach children circus skills AND life skills. While they learn to juggle, flip and fly, they also learn focus, confidence and teamwork. Our children come from throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area. They perform over 400 shows a year at our City Museum location, throughout the St. Louis area and beyond.
Circus Day Foundation is in the middle of our Annual Appeal. Although we fund a majority of our programs through fees charged for our shows and classes, we do need more than this brings in. We have never turned anyone away a student because they could not pay. Your contribution to our program would be greatly appreciated.
We were trying to get coverage for our Circus Harmony show, this fall. This annual show is a confluence of music and circus arts featuring youth circus performers from different neighborhoods performing to live music from different countries. Circus Harmony is meant to inspire hope. Hope that people from different backgrounds and cultures can work and live and perform together in a constructive, cooperative way to create harmony. What we were told by different newspaper and TV reporters was: “You’re not Black enough,” “You’re not Jewish enough,” and “You’re not bloody enough.” We got hardly any media coverage.
The media was right. We are not focused on any one religion or race. The circus has always featured people from different backgrounds working together. We are not about conflict. Quite the opposite. Our youth circus performers transcend whatever labels society would use to define them. They present their own definition of themselves in the ring. They also learn that when they stand on each others’ shoulders, they ALL stand taller. It doesn’t matter what neighborhood they live in or what their parents do. It is what these young people accomplish on their own that matters. This powerful experience changes how they look at themselves and how the world looks at them. Their spirits and their bodies soar when they step into the ring.
All children need and deserve the opportunity to fly physically, emotionally and socially. Come see our youth circus performers in one of their weekly shows at City Museum in downtown St. Louis. YOU will be inspired by witnessing the strength, the confidence, the poise, the union of these young people as they transform from ordinary children to extraordinary circus performers.
In Harmony,
Jessica Hentoff
Artistic/Executive Director Circus Day Foundation
P.S. Please make your donation today to give a child a chance to go beyond stereotyped limits and labels! Please, help us to help children defy gravity, soar with confidence and leap over social barriers, all at the same time. You can send it to the address below or use our secure donation form. Thank you.
Circus Day Foundation
3340 Oxford Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63143
November, 2005
Ladeez and Gentlemen!
Childhood is a time when we learn about the world around us and our place in it. Childhood is a time for play and exploration. We learn about friendship and trust. Perhaps the most important task adults are charged with is raising children in the world today.
How do we teach our children to be confident, focused, well-balanced and tolerant? How can we encourage them to make the world a better place? How do we help them to have fun and safely expand their personal limits? How? Take them to the circus! Let them watch aerialists face fear and triumph with flight. Let them watch jugglers challenge gravity and succeed. Let them watch clowns collide with failure and emerge victorious.
Better yet, let them BE the circus! Let them learn to tumble and land on their feet. Let them learn to fly through the air with the greatest of ease. Most importantly, let them learn that by working with others they can accomplish wondrous things. Let them learn it is not where you are from, what you look like or who your parents are that matters: it is what you do. Let them learn how capable they are and that they matter.
At the Circus Day Foundation, we use circus arts to inspire individuals and to connect communities. We are the only year-round circus arts program in St. Louis and one of a handful in the nation that use circus as a tool for social change. We don’t just work with “at-risk” kids or “well-off” kids. We bring all these children together, give them a common language (circus) and a common goal (a show). We seek out music and performing arts from different cultures and integrate them into our shows.
With your support, we can teach children important life lessons they can pass on to their communities. Learning circus skills teaches children how to deal with frustration and failure. It teaches them how to conquer fear and doubt. Circus is a healthy place for children to take manageable risks and master self-control. They learn to take responsibility for others and to trust one another.
Our youth circus performers share what they have learned— overcoming fear, prejudice and gravity— in over 400 shows a year at City Museum, throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area and beyond. Our children become teachers. Watching them, the audience feels that there is hope, joy and wonder in the world. As they see ordinary children do extraordinary things, they believe that anything is possible.
Only at Circus Day Foundation in St. Louis, can you run away and join the circus and still be home in time for dinner. Come see our shows at City Museum. Hire youth circus performers for your special event. Take circus classes. And, please, become a donor. Your contribution will help a child learn important life skills as they grow physically, emotionally and socially. Help us promote peace through pyramids, joy through juggling and harmony through handsprings.
Your donation will help a child to defy gravity, soar with confidence and leap over social boundaries. Support us as we teach the art of life through circus education.
Thank you.
Circusfully,
Jessica Hentoff
Artistic/Executive Director Circus Day Foundation/Circus Harmony
November, 2004
Ladeez and Gentlemen!
There’s an unusual way that you can help make the world a better place: encourage harmony by uniting children from different backgrounds to tumble, juggle and fly together! Unfortunately, diminished funding means we must rely on your donation if we are to continue this center-ring, important work. We are asking you to help the Circus Day Foundation continue to use circus arts to inspire individuals and connect communities. No other local group concentrates on Social Circus—using circus arts as a tool for social change. We teach the art of life through circus education. Our young circus artists prove that it’s not how you look or where you’re from—it’s what you do that truly matters! Circus teaches focus, goal setting and responsibility. Circus teaches you how to work with others in harmony. Circus also teaches you how to fly!
Home to the nationally-renowned St. Louis Arches youth circus troupe, the Circus Day Foundation—soon to be known as Circus Harmony—expands appreciation and awareness of children’s abilities—both physical and social! Our youth circus programs offer children the opportunity to meet and interact with others from different backgrounds as they test, push and surpass their own expectations. Each year, we work with hundreds of young performers such as:
Each year, we present over 200 youth circus shows to thousands of people at City Museum and over 100 shows outside the Museum. These inspirational shows are proof that people from different cultures can work and live and perform together, creating harmony in constructive, cooperative and creative ways. Our youth circus troupes embody our mission statement as they “defy gravity, soar with confidence and leap over social barriers all at the same time!” With ever-dwindling grant and foundation funding, your tax-deductible donation is crucial to keep this important work going. Please give your support today and provide a child with the opportunity to broaden their personal, social and cultural horizons—and to fly.
Circusfully,
Jessica Hentoff
Artistic/Executive Director Circus Day Foundation/Circus Harmony
November, 2003
Ladeeeeez and Gentlemen!
On his last day in space, David Brown, one of the Columbia shuttle astronauts, sent an email to friends and family. He wrote about how incredibly beautiful the earth looked from space; how there were no boundaries from up high. Years before David Brown became an astronaut, he was part of a youth circus called The Circus Kingdom which was comprised of high school and college students from throughout the country. Years ago, I was with that same youth circus. When David applied to NASA to become an astronaut, having been a youth circus performer was a prominent part of his application. He maintained that what he learned in the circus about teamwork, safety and focus, helped him as an astronaut.
I am writing to ask for your help in teaching other children to fly. I donÃÂÃÂt expect them to become astronauts (though you never know!) To quote our mission statement: “The 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 teaching and performance of circus skills, we help people defy gravity, soar with confidence, and leap over social barriers, all at the same time.”
Circus Day has truly soared over numerous barriers with its people-inspiring, boundary crossing, community-linking programs. Circus Salaam Shalom (with Jewish and Muslim children), Far East Meets Midwest (with Asian and Midwestern arts and artists), the St. Louis Community Circus Band (with multigenerational musicians from different backgrounds) and the St. Louis Arches (our advanced youth circus troupe) are some of our achievements. This year, we have added the Patchwork Circus (our new, multi-background youth circus troupe). In 2003, we taught “the art of life through circus education” for:
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Private donations are a large part of what makes this possible. We ask for your support. Your gift helps fund our circus education programs throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area. Your gift will give a child a chance to grow physically, emotionally and socially. Your gift will help us expand the new Patchwork Circus, get instruments for the Band and aid the Arches’ collaborations for Far East Meets Midwest II.
Circus may seem like an unusual way to eradicate boundaries and barriers. Astronaut David Brown found what I was quoted as noticing in our circus students, “When you can fly, it changes you and it changes your perception of the world, as well other people's perception of you.” Please help the Circus Day Foundation continue to use circus arts to help children fly over barriers and boundaries of all kinds!
Circusfully,
Jessica Hentoff
Artistic/ Executive Director
Circus Day Foundation