Rigging For Performers
Steven Santos
Are you thinking about adding aerials to your circus program? Is it feasible to do? What do I need to know when thinking about rigging my space? If these are the kind of questions you find yourself asking, then this is a workshop you want to take. During this 90 minute workshop we will cover basic rigging principles, learn a little about tracking forces all the way to the ground, how to do a risk assessment for your apparatus, when to call in expert help, and time allowing, we will cover the basics of rigging single point apparatus (silks, web, dance trapeze, lyra, etc), and double point apparatus (trapeze, cloud swing, etc).
Booking & Touring - a DIY Cirkus perspective
Keith Nelson & Stephanie Monseu
Bindlestiff Family Cirkus co-founders, Keith Nelson (Hampshire F88) and Stephanie Monseu will discuss the trials and tribulations of taking the show on the road. With 15 years of presenting a touring circus in a DIY style, Nelson and Monseu will share ideas in booking, promoting, budgeting, and just getting along.
Social Circus, Youth Intervention and Development with Circus Arts
David Hunt
The term "social circus" means many different things to different people and programs around the world. In this context, Social Circus will be presented as applying circus arts education and coaching as a device for intervention and life-skill development with disenfranchised, or "at risk," youth. In this discussion, we will talk about what social circus is in the context of a few existing programs in the U.S. and abroad. We will also offer information about apprentice/internship opportunities with programs around the country for anyone interested.
Sustainability For Your Group: Passing It On
Steven Santos
College circus clubs are springing up all over the world - but a great many of these programs fail shortly after the founder graduates. This workshop will present participants with a range of suggestions that they can start implementing today to help ensure that your program survives over the long haul.
Skills Pathways and Progression
Steven Santos
If you are like most circus programs, chances are that you don't have a set curriculum. So how do you create one? And more importantly, how do you create one that people of wide backgrounds can agree on? This workshop will take you through how to establish your curriculum and the benefits you will get from doing so.
Insurance Options for Youth Circuses
Steven Santos
Who insures youth circuses? Where can I find information on these companies? What are those applications really asking for - how can I even begin to fill these out? This workshop will answers these questions and many more. A Q&A session at the end of this presentation will give you the opportunity to ask any insurance or liability question you may have.
Style/Discipline Fusion moderated open discussion Nouveau Circus, from re-imagining traditional disciplines in new contexts, to incorporating modern-day art-sports like BMXing, skateboarding, and breakdancing, to working with ‘new’ apparatus like triple hammock and powerizer stilts, to including multiple performance forms such as maskwork, multimedia installation, and burlesque, is all about combination and exploration. As the vanguards of this new movement, the ‘Student Circus Resurgence,’ what have we been doing that’s new and entirely our own? What ideas do we have to share?
Collaborative Creation moderated open discussion How do you develop a show? How can you involve everyone in a group, drawing on the ideas and energy of multiple participants and still put together a cohesive performance that’s enjoyable for both participants and audience? We’ve all done it – let’s share our experiences and strategies.
'Standardizing' Circus?
moderated open discussion
As the circus arts become more popular, some disciplines, techniques, and skills are becoming ‘standardized’ in order to satisfy insurance requirements and so that they can be more easily communicated about. Meanwhile, Circus has a long tradition of innovation and novelty – probably mostly because of the audience’s desire for spectacle - and amateur circus, in building up from scratch, never does anything the same way twice. How can we balance these two approaches?
Where Do We Go From Here?
moderated open discussion
The idea of this conference was to forge connections between far-flung institutions in order to recognize and support the growing interest in college and university students in Circus Arts. Did it work? What else can we do? What about next year?