THE BALLOON MAN

CIRCUS OF THE SENSES ‘Dance On’ reaches out to audience

PHOTO: BERTRAND GUAY/BIG APPLE CIRCUS

From America, the beautiful Jenny Vidbel fills the ring with a playful chorus line of 12 white mini-horses in “Dance On!” the 33rd season show of the Big Apple Circus! By R. Scott Reedy, correspondent GateHouse News Service Mar 31, 2011 Boston — For the 12th consecutive year, local children with sensory impairments – including students from North Easton’s Carroll Center for the Blind, Brockton’s Downey Elementary School, Franklin’s Education Cooperative, Hanson’s Maquan School, Pembroke’s New England Village, Plymouth’s Pilgrim Area Collaborative, Middleboro’s Reads Collaborative, and families from Braintree, Canton, Milton, Quincy, Sharon, Taunton, Wareham, and Weymouth – will be among those gathering under the Big Apple Circus Big Top on Boston’s City Hall Plaza to experience the magic of “Circus of the Senses” on April 7.The free performance is accomplished by providing headsets to children with vision impairments to hear a lively, running description of the action in the ring narrated by Big Apple Circus founders Paul Binder and Michael Christensen. Spotlighted American Sign Language interpreters will narrate the show for the hearing–impaired. Large-print and Braille programs are available for the vision-impaired and scripts are sent to groups in advance of the performance to help them prepare for the experience. Prior to the performance, volunteers will bring costume fabrics and other materials and props for sight–impaired children in the audience to feel, to help them better understand the show as it is being audio described. Following the hour-long performance, a group of sight–impaired children will be invited into the Circus ring for a “touch session.” They will be able to feel the sawdust, touch the fabric of the elegant costumes and meet some of the two-legged and four-legged performers up close and personal. According to Artistic Director Guillaume Dufresnoy, the Big Apple Circus “allows children and adults with significant challenges to experience the performing arts in a meaningful and compelling way. Circus of the Senses exemplifies the circus’s commitment to the community and its capacity to transcend the boundaries represented by language, age, culture and physical ability.” Founders Binder and Christensen say they believe that, “Circus of the Senses is at the core of the Big Apple Circus’s mission to reconnect people with positive emotions. Circus of the Senses makes the wondrous sights and sounds of the ring accessible to a broader audience.” Now in its 33rd season, the Big Apple Circus is currently presenting “Dance On!” which features a troupe of Chinese monocyclists and lasso twirlers, Mongolian contortionists, gravity-defying Kenyan athletes, 12 miniature horses in an equine chorus line, an Ethiopian juggler, ringmaster Kevin Venardos, and clowns Rob Torres and the legendary Barry Lubin as the irrepressible Grandma. “Dance On!” will be under the big top at City Hall Plaza, Government Center, Boston, Saturday, April 2 to May 15. For tickets and information, call 888-541-3750 or go online at bigapplecircus.org.Read more: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/archive/x1306272895/CIRCUS-OF-THE-SENSES-Dance-On-reaches-out-to-audience#ixzz1IDfw4Xy0