Intro to EdCon : Embracing the Circus Paradox
BY ALTHEA YOUNG
My doubles partner and I just started our very first circus company . We started with the idea that we ’ d slowly build material , maybe make a show and if we failed — that would be okay — because it was a learning experience , and really who ’ d buy tickets to see two kids put on an hour and twenty minute show ?
We kept it casual , but in reality we wanted our own company badly , although neither of us wanted to admit it . At the ages of 14 and 18 , we were already used to being turned down by festivals and cabarets . In rejection letters , they would use the words age and experience as if they were interchangeable :
“ Dear Applicant , we regret to inform you that you have not been selected to participate in this year ’ s festival . You were one of our most talented applicants , and it is clear that the future of circus is in good hands . We hope you apply again , once you ’ ve matured .” So I was simultaneously filled with panic and elation when our company The Brave Little Circus was invited to perform at this American
Circus Educators Conference ( aka EdCon , aka a building full of my circus heroes ).
As the first day of the conference rolled around , I entered Circus Center in San Francisco delighted to see many of my old friends . I was with my people ; circus people . At EdCon the work / study youth are called ‘ bandanas ’, because we wear bandanas to signify that we are volunteers . We bandanas spent the day packing goody bags , setting up food and moving mats . In the afternoon , as attendees slowly trickled in , we circled up to get to know one another . After meeting these young people , all of whom had such great work ethic and compassionate communication skills , it became clear to me that the high level of maturity , not uncommon amongst young people from the circus , was especially alive in my fellow volunteers .
After all the attendees had signed in and made their name tags , we headed downstairs for dinner . At every table , there was a conversation about circus . My muggle friends usually get irritated when I talk about my crazy circus theories , so being in a room full of circus people talking about circus stuff ; I felt like a kid in a candy store . But as the urge to share my crazy circus philosophies built up ; the realization of who I was among hit me . I wanted to share my theory that the only thing that defines circus is the fact that it is undefined , which is why it has limitless possibilities and the potential to become the ultimate , integrated art form . So we should do our best to never define it , but the act of setting a rule of never setting rules is a paradox and therefor circus is a paradox . Instead of saying that , I sat and ate my dinner , eavesdropping on someone else ’ s conversation , too afraid to chime in . They were everyone I grew up wanting to be .
During dinner , my partner Ellie arrived , so we headed upstairs to the theater to get ready . Beautiful performers donned their perfectly bedazzled leos , and we scavenged through bags of clothes we had thrown together last minute , just trying to find two t-shirts that were the same shade of white . Once we settled on this makeshift
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