School Of Acrobatics & New Circus Arts

Performing Artists and Professional Performances:SANCA has enthusiastically embraced the performance venue at its Sodo location by producing shows and showcases throughout 2024 featuring SANCA staff and students as well as professional touring circus artists and local performing companies. SANCA performances included a series of Cabarets featuring staff and local performers, up and coming new artists in Protg, a Halloween extravaganza Carnivolar and SANCAs Youth Company performances (see below). SANCAs annual fundraising performance events Up With a Twist gala was joined by Carnival Umbra, an escape room with circus performers and an opportunity to try flying trapeze. SANCAs Sodo location was also the venue for Teatro Zinzannis four-month long run of Sizzle, an exceptional dinner/circus/cabaret theatre experience supported both organizations financially and operationally as well as bringing new audience and public awareness to SANCA. This arrangement is also planned for 2025. Besides in-door performances, SANCA also participates in outdoor community events such as Seattles PRIDE parade and the Georgetown Carnival.In addition to the performance events listed above, SANCA strives to provide opportunities for its student base to experience the magic of being onstage and sharing art with the community. This essential aspect of the organization creates goals and opportunities for the performers as well as offering the general public the chance to see local high quality circus shows. SANCAs largest community production of the year is SASS the annual showcase of staff and student performances featuring the skills and disciplines developed through SANCAs classes and workshops. A Youth Performance Show in spring features our eldest group of youth performers, Cirrus Circus (see additional information below). All four youth performing arts troupes are also contracted for public and private performances throughout the year.SANCA's Youth Performance Program is an immersive, multi-year curriculum that gives youth a unique and progressive track to develop performance skills based on traditional and modern circus arts as well as develop strong social bonds with peers. Participants receive training in performance, movement, and character development. Two out of five youth companies produce their own show each year along with creating and performing original acts at major festivals in Seattle including Moisture Festival and Seattle Center's Winterfest. The program includes five troupes: Stratus Circus (ages 5 to 7), Nimbus Circus ages 8 to 11), Cirrus Circus (ages 12 to 18), Synapse Circus (all ages, considered an intro to the other youth companies) and Celestial Circus (11-17, scholarship-based; see more information below). Many students who have completed the program have gone on to be coaches at SANCA or professionals working nationally and internationally.SANCA's Artist-in-Residence Program provides professional artists space grants to generate exciting new works through mutual exchange. 2024 artists include: Danny the Acrobat /Daniel Franzen, an artist with a disabling form of autism, received 2 months (87 hours) of free training and rehearsal space. During his residency, he developed his solo act and performed for SANCA's camp students; sharing education about autism and disability in circus; Faeble Kievman received 6 hours of rehearsal time to develop his solo clown show, "Get a Grip." This production was performed for one evening at 12th Avenue Arts Theatre venue, Seattle; Oroki Productions received 15.5 hours of rehearsal time to develop their circus/shadow puppet hybrid, "Alice in Shadowland," which was presented for a two week run at 12th Avenue Arts and Quatrefoil Cirque received 17.5 hours of group rehearsal time and 139.5 hours of independent training time to create a circus production featuring live music. "Shall We Dance?" which ran for one weekend at the Meydenbauer Center Theater, Bellevue, WA. Directly Served: 20,970 Artists Served: 202 Indirectly Served: 47,500

Social Circus:SSANCA's Social Circus is a mission-driven program that uses circus arts as a means of positive intervention for individuals and communities. It is founded on the core values of the social circus movement (community, empowerment, and play) and works to establish relationships with underserved people and communities. The program is committed to cultivating powerful personal and social transformation through education and performance.One of SANCAs signature, life-changing programs is the now 20 year-old Every Body's Circus. This program uses circus arts to provide socio-emotional, cognitive and physical growth and serves those with intellectual and physical disabilities as well as neuro-divergence. Classes are generally one on one with coaches trained specifically for those with different abilities or for student cohorts with similar needs working with two coaches. The program includes an EBC summer camp, session classes with closed cohorts, private lessons with individually trained coaches and class aides working within the recreational program.Every Bodys Circus Camp for youth with neurological differences introduces students to the joys of circus arts, while building strength, body awareness, confidence, and agency. Past students have included those with ADHD, ASD and Down Syndrome. Directly served: 23, Coaches: 16Every Bodys Circus Camp for youth with mobility differences is a half-day adaptive camp with SANCA's EBC coaches who are trained in adaptive coaching. This camp introduces students with differing abilities that affect their mobility to circus arts, while building strength, body awareness, confidence and agency. This camp is for students needing more muscular support and heavy spotting than sensory or neuro support. Past students have had spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, and cerebral palsy. Amputees are also welcome in this group. Directly served: 8In 2024 SANCA partnered with a social circus organization in Japan serving students with similar disabilities called the Slow Circus Project. Slow Circus sent five members of their staff (coaches and administrators) to Seattle between 2023 and 2024 to study SANCA's Every Body's Circus program, gaining insights into coaching strategies as well as management practices in a nonprofit environment. Following that, SANCA staff provided 15 hours of video feedback on classes as well as sent three staff members (Mercury Bergren, Naomi Marteeni, and Jo Montgomery) to Japan to coach classes alongside Slow Circus and discuss the benefits of social circus projects with local news sources. Directly served (Japan): 22, Coaches: 3 Celestial Circus, mentioned above, is a performance troupe that was founded in 2019 and serves teens with marginalized identities within the SANCA community. Celestial Circus meets weekly and aims to instill resilience, self-esteem, and community building into its participants. Celestial Circus also seeks to broaden the scope of SANCAs programming by offering an accessible, collaborative approach to performance for youth who may not otherwise be able to access performance arts. Coaches encourage students to be self-leading, express their creativity, and exercise autonomy to build performances that are inspiring, meaningful and representative of the groups ideas and values. SANCAs scholarship program removes the economic barriers to performance arts for the members of this group. Celestial Circuss motto is Creating art through community. Directly served: 6, Coaches: 2Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services (ADWAS) empowers deaf survivors of domestic violence, providing comprehensive services for individuals and families. The 2024 joint camp programming between ADWAS and SANCA provided SANCA coaches with trainings in ASL for circus, trauma-informed care, and an introduction to deaf communities and culture; the partnership in turn provided children from ADWAS who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or children of deaf parents aged 6-12 with three 6-hour days of circus and movement programming that would normally not be accessible. Directly served: 21 students, 3 coachesSANCA collaborated with mission aligned partner organization MUST (Mentoring Urban Students and Teens) to provide a flying trapeze and object manipulation workshop for 20 participants free of charge. Directly Served: 20, 2 coachesNeuro-support circus is a slower paced class focused on cross-body stabilization and strength. Students who have benefited from the class have had Parkinsons, stroke, hemiparesis, or other neurological and or neurodivergent needs. In this class students have the opportunity to try a range of circus arts including trampoline, tightwire, unicycle, tumbling, aerial, and juggling. Support from coaches and fellow students encourages participants to reach beyond physical limitations. Directly served: 5, 1 coachCircus for Nontraditional Athletes: This class is for adults who have never thought of themselves as athletic or who want to do more movement but feel that beginner classes will be too difficult. This is a non-skill based class; the goal is to create a safe space to explore what circus arts can offer with no pressure to meet any external expectations. Directly served: 9, 2 coachesThe Gender Affirming Circus Program is an affinity program in which the coach and students of the class are gender diverse. The class offers opportunities for these individuals to explore circus arts within a safe and accepting environment. The program currently has two classes, a youth class and a drop in adult class. Directly served: 10 Postpartum Circus: Using a circus lens and coached by a retired midwife, this class focuses on whole-body strengthening and mobilization specifically designed for the postpartum period. The aim is to share struggles and receive support while working to regain physical fitness . Directly served: 9, 1 coachThe Recovery Circus Arts Project was a peer support group for those recovering from the disease of addiction led by internationally recognized clown, Faeble Kievman, to bring people together to learn circus skills, providing alternate ways to connect and engage socially in a sober environment. Directly served: 18 students, 1 coachIn summation, SANCA continued to fulfill its mission through service to its community.

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