Circus training for young people is alive and well in
Middletown, the self-styled circus capital of Connecticut.
Starting September 12, young people ages 12 to 19 will have
the opportunity to receive professional training in circus arts through a
unique program with a nearly thirty-year history. Circophony meets Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30 to 9 pm, from
September 12 through November 16. The program culminates with a “Fall Circus
Showcase” on Friday, November 17, and Circophony
members will then have the chance to audition for Circophony’s Spring Production. All classes take place at
Oddfellows Playhouse at 128 Washington Street in Middletown.
The Fall Training program is open to all teens, regardless
of circus experience, who are willing to commit to the ten-week, five-hour per
week program. Training will include many aspects of circus and performance,
including acrobatics, tumbling, juggling & object manipulation, balancing
& equilibristics, unicycling, stilting, strength & flexibility,
physical comedy, clowning and ensemble performance. The program does not
include aerial training, but Circophony
members are regularly provided with opportunities to enroll in specialized
workshops, take field trips to professional circus performances, and
participate in Regional and National Youth Circus Festivals through the
American Youth Circus Organization.
Circophony is a
collaboration between the Middletown-based Theater Company ARTFARM and
Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater. The program is directed by ARTFARM
Executive Director Dic Wheeler, who started the Children’s Circus of Middletown
in 1988 and has been teaching, directing and performing circus and theater
around the United States, Europe and South Asia since 1980.
“Circus provides incredible opportunities for young people,”
says Wheeler. “It offers the physical training of sports without the
competition, but also is a collaborative art form in which uniqueness and
personal quirks are seen as assets. By working together in circus, kids can do
things that at first seem totally impossible. And once you have performed the
impossible, you can do anything.”
Wheeler leads the program with Assistant Director and Head
Coach Allison McDermott, a life-long circus performer and a graduate of the
Professional Training Program at the New England Center for Circus Arts. The
two will be joined by guest artists throughout the Fall program, and will
create an original Circus Theater performance with the Company which will
premiere in March.
Tuition for the ten-week program is $250. To enroll, go to www.oddfellows.org. For more details about
the training structure and content, contact Dic Wheeler at info@art-farm.org, or visit www.art-farm.org.
