I never felt so taken care of as when I was traveling with the circus. There is a sense of family when you are part of a circus show that you don’t find many places. I honestly believe that those same feelings are felt by our students and that this is why so many of them stay with us for so long and come back to visit whenever they can. Circus Harmony is family. And, like many families, we cannot be together now because of CoVid-19. CoVid has, of course, deeply and negatively impacted our work. We have lost almost all our show and regular teaching income.
There is power behind the saying “The show must go on!” We have been doing just that! We hope you saw our first online show, The Balancing Act: Walking the Pandemic Tightrope. It gave the pandemic perspective of some of our students and alumni on how they have been keeping their balance in this unbalanced time. We also created Sister City Circus with Circus Circuli in Germany as a celebration of the 60th Anniversary of St. Louis and Stuttgart being sister cites.
The circus is nimble and we continue to err on the side of extreme caution in how we offer our classes. Our teaching artists are strong and flexible and have been incredibly innovative with online programming. Our students are working hard from their bedrooms, living rooms, and even their basements! Even now, we are creating and posting some captivating shows as mentioned above. When we emerge from this covid cocoon, you will see the most amazing young butterflies take flight.
You can help Circus Harmony continue by donating, signing up for classes, buying merchandise (like our Defy Gravity Coffee), or booking one of our online shows or workshops for your family, pod, School, or group!
Your one-time donation of any amount or your monthly pledge to our Big Top Society will help us be able to keep our circus family going online and to come together again when it is safe to do so. We know times are very tough for many of you. If you can’t give, we truly understand. When we say every little bit helps, we mean it. Like all families, it is our love and caring about each other that will see us through this crisis.
For Health and Harmony,
Jessica Hentoff