THE BALLOON MAN

Circus Kids & The Parents Who Love Them
Brave kids join Circus Smirkus – and braver parents let them.

From thehollywood patch.com
Circus Smirkus, the award-winning, traveling youth circus, is scheduled to perform in Richmond on July 25 and 26 to benefit the Meadowbrook Waldorf School.Credit Circus Smirkus
By Johanna Corcoran
From hollywood patch.com
July 21, 2011
Running away to join the Circus may sound like a cliche, but for the kids of Circus Smirkus, it's the stuff dreams are made of.

Circus Smirkus, the nationally acclaimed youth circus, visits Rhode Island on July 25 and 26 at Washington County Fairgrounds to benefit the Meadowbrook Waldorf School in West Kingston.

What began as a small Vermont show 20 years ago has grown into a two-month summer tour throughout New England. And this circus is run almost entirely on kid power. Kids ages 10 to 18 are the stars of the show, as well as the crew and concessions staff. Their summer with the Circus teaches responsibility, teamwork and valuable performance skills; but since the troupe hails from all over the county and as far as New Zealand, it also means a summer of travel, away from their families.

Talk about an exercise in "letting go" for parents!

As a parent and someone who works with families, I'm fascinated by the kids in the show. They go through a rigorous audition process to secure one of the coveted troupe member spots. Once a part of the show, they perform in their area of expertise, which may be juggling, acrobatics, trapeze, wire walking, clowning — anything that you'd expect to see in a full-length professional circus show.

Parents: Would you let your child run away to join the circus for the summer? I had a chance to chat with three of the performers about how their parents support this circus passion. The kids are brave, but I'd say that the parents are, too.
read more:
http://northkingstown.patch.com/articles/circus-kids-the-parents-who-love-them#photo-6113384