US Artists Promote Education in Indonesian Slum through Circus - CircusTalk

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US Artists Promote Education in Indonesian Slum through Circus

JAKARTA – A group of young American trapeze artists are using their art to promote education and religious tolerance in an Indonesian slum, an epa journalist reported on Wednesday.

The 10 American artists from the organization Chicago CircEsteem rehearsed and lived for three weeks with artists of the local Red Nose Foundation – children aged 4-18 from the Cilincing slum area in the north of Jakarta – to perform in front of their families and neighbors.

“They have a different skin color, a different religion, they speak a different language, they have a different bank account, but they are people and they are circus artists,” Dan Roberts, director of Chicago CircEsteem, who had founded Red Nose Foundation in 2008, told EFE.

The performance of the two groups, that comprise acrobatics, juggling and clown acts, brings joy and laughter among the children and their mothers in the slum, where the nonprofit built an educational center in 2016.

“Social circus is the best type of circus in my mind, it not only brings together people, who usually wouldn’t be together but also uses circus as a platform to address larger issues,” said Lois Inez Plascencia, one of the US artists.

Outside the colorful and tidy building in Cilincing, where the performance took place, however, there is a different reality.

Link to Full Article at Latin American Herald Tribune

 

Main Image Courtesy: CircEsteem website

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