Submitted by Dic Wheeler.
Oddfellows Playhouse is excited to announce its first ever, completely digital circus! “From the BIG TOP to the LAPTOP”, the 32nd annual Children’s Circus of Middletown will offer young people ages 5 to 15 opportunities to explore not only circus arts, but also dance, capoeira, fitness, digital animation, visual art, and more.
The program’s goal is to provide children with a variety of arts-based activities that will keep them active and independently engaged and connected to others in the community through project-based fun and dynamic, virtual instruction from our international team of incredible teaching artists.
The program will run from July 6 to August 7, 2020 with unique online content and instruction available from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Children ages 5-15 will be able to choose up to 4 classes a day from an exciting list of choices. The program is free, but registration is required.
The Children’s Circus of Middletown is run in partnership with the City of Middletown’s Kids Arts program, but this year’s virtual programming is available for free to all young people anywhere. Funding to support the Children’s Circus is provided by the Middletown Commission on the Arts, the Middlesex United Way, Oddfellows Playhouse, and the Evan Boyd Knoll Memorial Circus Fund.
Each day there will be 4 blocks of classes available, and young people can sign up for as much or as little as they want. Each class will meet at the same time every day for an entire week. Class registration will happen on a week-by-week basis, and every class session will feature an option for the “Teeny Tiny Troupe” of kids ages 5 – 7.
The 9:30 – 10:30 am block will focus on MOVEMENT, including dance, capoeira, fitness training and flexibility. The theme for the 10:45 – 11:45 am block is MUSIC AND MEDIA, featuring classes in drumming, body rhythms, singing and stop-motion animation. After “Lunch with Friends” (an option to eat lunch together online), MANIPULATION is the theme for the 1:00 – 1:50 pm session, which will include juggling, balancing, plate spinning and other eccentric arts. The final daily session, MAKING AND MANIA, runs 2:00 – 2:50 pm and will include drawing, painting, costume creation, storytelling, clowning, puppetry, games and more zany and unpredictable activities.
Every day, in keeping with long-held traditions of the “live” Children’s Circus, will also include an “Opening Circle” at 9 am, and a “Closing Circle” at 3 pm. Class offerings will change from week to week, and each Wednesday registration will open for the next week’s classes.
Registration for the first week will go live at www.oddfellows.org on Wednesday, June 24.
For more information, or to register for the 32nd Annual Children’s Circus of Middletown, go to www.oddfellows.org or email circus@oddfellows.org.
