It Just Happens
We made it onto the cover of our hometown paper, the St Louis Post-Dispatch: http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/st-louis-teens-join-the-circus-to-promote-peace/article_a1fdc301-6aa8-5c02-9e33-3f804048e4af.html . It is a really sweet article that captures what is happening with us here in Israel. I am extremely thankful to Margaret Gillerman for writing it!
However, the title is a little misleading. It is: St. Louis teens join the circus to promote peace. In reality, I don’t think that is why any of them joined. I don’t even think that is why any of them came to Israel. In “CIRCUS KIDS”, the film about our first journey to Israel in 2007, Elliana Hentoff-Killian said “I don’t think we’re ‘ambassadors of peace’. I think we’re just kids with a passion for something sharing it with other kids.” I think that was true then and that is true now.
Students join the circus because they like to tumble, juggle, ride unicycle or perform. When they get here, they rather inadvertently learn other life skills like focus, persistence and teamwork. They meet kids they may not have met otherwise and by working on a common goal (generally, to create an act for a show), they form a strong bond. Circus gives you everything you could get in a gang— a sense of belonging to something larger than yourself, a group of people who will ‘watch your back’ and excitement. The difference is that people applaud you for this kind of gang activity!
While the great media attention we are getting lauds these children for promoting peace, really all the kids are doing is being kids, having fun doing something they love with other kids. They also love going swimming and eating ice cream and they’ve been doing a lot of both of those things together as well. It’s just that when they do circus, they are a lot more interesting to watch. (Well, actually, when they go swimming they are interesting to watch because they are doing circus there, too). But they are not doing circus together because they are Arab or Jewish or rich or poor or anything else. Those labels are coincidental. And the labels are something we, the grown-ups, focus on.
These are ordinary children who do extraordinary things. They do great, high level circus. The Galilee Arches show ends with a 27 person acrobatic act culminating in a trio of three-man high pyramids! They are able to do these skills because they love doing circus and practice a lot. These young people absolutely do show the world that you can work together no matter your background but they don’t work with each other because of their different backgrounds. The kids have it all right. It is the grown ups who have it wrong. Have fun. Love what you are doing. Don’t be afraid. Trust. Be responsible. Find people who share your passion. Communicate. It’s so easy. The kids don’t even have to think about it. It just happens.