Highlighting The Asian Social Circus Association - CircusTalk

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Highlighting The Asian Social Circus Association

The American Circus Educators (part of  AYCO) have made their leap from print to digital final by adopting a website format for ACE Magazine in 2019. In this first issue, they focus on the international reach of social circus, including this look at the Asian Social Circus Association.

The story of the Asian Social Circus Association (ASCA) began in late 2012, when a group of likeminded individuals were introduced at the Chang Mai Circus Festival in Thailand. Travis and Aaron Johnson of the Vancouver Circus School (a coach-directed circus and acrobatic school in Vancouver, Canada) were encouraged to travel to Thailand with a team of instructors to donate circus equipment, lead workshops for at-risk youth and put on local performances by Jerry Snell, a circus artist and artistic director with deep roots within the Canadian and Asian circus communities.

While at the Chang Mai festival, Travis and Aaron were introduced to Dan Roberts, the founder of the Red Nose Foundation, an arts and educational outreach program based in Jakarta. Dan had spent part of his youth in Indonesia, and after working with a variety of youth circus groups in the United States, he organized a 10-week solo circus expedition throughout Indonesia in 2008. It was during this expedition that Dan decided to stay in Indonesia and start the Red Nose Foundation. The Red Nose Foundation provides arts and education classes to over 300 underprivileged children each week and since its inception, has reached over 75,000 people across Indonesia.

Following their initial discussions in Chang Mai, Travis, Aaron, Jerry and Dan continued to discuss their shared goal of expanding social outreach through circus arts and created the Asian Social Circus Association (“ASCA”) in early 2013…

Read the Full Article at ACE Magazine

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