After a very smooth transition year, by now you may all be aware that there are changes at ICS. The founder and long term Artistic Director, David Berry has left his position as the guiding force of the work in Kefar Yehoshua. David took early retirement to make way for the next generation to rise up and guide the direction of the community circus work. So another dream of his came true with a second generation stepping in, proving that the circus has a place to stay in Israeli society.

The new team running things are very busy now with all the end of year shows and the reality of being responsible for a large group of the community. By all reports the action in the circus is as strong as ever with new students coming to the work right up to the last possible moments in the year.

The new Artistic Director, Smadar Buyum, one of David’s first students in Israel, takes on the mission with enthusiasm and strong support from her fellow circus mates and also her husband, Yotam. We are all looking forward to what this new young team will create next year in the program.

If you want to know more of what is going on send an email to ilcircus@gmail.com or you can call Smadar direct on (Mobile) 0542313134. Or see you at one of the Saturday at the Circus held on the last Saturday of each month from 11.00 to 13.00 in Kefar Yehoshua..

Come to our great Purim Saturday in the Circus, a whole lot of fun for all the family…see you there. Where? Yes at our center in Kefar Yehoshua, When? from 11.00 to 13.00. What? Performance and workshops…

Finish out the year with us at the Circus. Workshops and student show from 11.00 to 13.00 hrs in Kefar Yehoshua. see you there….

We are very happy to still be here in the 2012-13 season! How easy it is to be glad, when you know that it could all disappear in a moment but you are still here, still able to fill the hearts of the youth with healthy and simple joy of living. It will be a little bit different for beginners this year as we introduce the concept of ‘Circus the whole body‘ which gives our young new students over the course of the year the full range of our activities.

So feel free to contact us about registration with any of our classes throughout the week, for beginners, experienced and advanced classes….our office phone is 077 5030001 or mobile 0542313134 or email: ilcircus@gmail.com , we have an open day on the 30th of August from 16.00 in the afternoon where you can ask us questions in person and get a bit of a workout also.

ICS has had both a very successful  and hard year together. Our hard time has been brought on by the infliction of licensing laws which have recently changed and made it financially impossible to maintain our present training facility. We do hope to overcome this by conversation with the right people but it has been a process that has made us look very deeply on what we are doing here and the way that conflict at any level is so very draining on the good soul of what we do. Of course you find yourself in the position of contracting in on your resources both physically and spiritually.

On the other hand ICS is starting to bear fruits as is evident that this year we started with 150 students in our little hall and drop out this year has been very low, mostly amongst the youngest students of kindergarten age. The air in training is fabulous with the young people having a great time and from all around the area as far as Haifa 20 kilometers away and on our Saturday in the circus from all around the country. Our Arab and Jewish day in the circus program is also very strong this year with schools coming with a group we have associated our work with. This peace group active in the schools brings youth of 9 to 17 years in age in groups of 60 for workshops and a show and is a highly enjoyable experience for ICS and the participants.

The physical needs of this work are clearly defined if you want to work with any great number of students. An adequate space with all the training equipment is equivalent to a sports hall. But circus operating out of a sport hall don’t have the same benefits as a dedicated space has to the community. With out a proper space we would have to abandon our Peace work in circus training, the social circus aspect that circus is able to lend a hand with. We could give juggling and clown workshops but with out proper facility we would not be able to give our challenging subjects of aerial and acrobatics which need a proper space for training. These classes are our most popular classes and if we drop them we would be back to the beginning of our work of 20 years.

So ICS is at a bit of a cross road in its work and we are hoping for another miracle to get us through. We have certainly learn t something about our selves under this pressure and I hope the powers that be in this universe look kindly on what we have done so far and what we would like to still achieve, which is a circus Academy in Israel. We are a long time at this business and are getting a little old for doing street theater all the time this is for our young artists to do  and we have produced the first circus generation in Israel the second generation is about ready to blossom but with out substantial help it will be very hard and very far away and the social revolution of circus will be slowed down in its efforts to encourage culture growth in the region. Our international circus friends are working very hard also with all their own problems but they seem to manage with good facilities and all the support that comes with. Circus has no stable home in Israel because there is no center yet for the modern circus school, but there is defiantly talent here and there is defiantly a place for social circus, we at ICS would like the opportunity to use our work and experience to keep growing and not to be cut off at the vine.

If you are out there we need your help now!

David Berry – Artistic Director and Founder of Israel Circus School

Email: ilcircus@gmail.com

Hello everybody friends of the Circus in Israel. ICS as a member of the Israel circus community is happy to share their facilities for circus enthusiasts. We welcome beginners from the age of 4 and we encourage their families to be a part of the community of creation and dreams come true. Youth of all ages can find a place to grow their skills and confidence with friendly atmosphere and skilled staff and senior students. Young adults also find a community of friends to work out and release the stress of working for the man.

Internationally circus has deep roots in the social fabric today. It is a powerful tool for self empowerment at every level of social strategy, equalizing the humanness of our interactions with each other. Our sensitivities and our strengths. Finding a workable balance between the two. Everyone on this planet needs attention and appreciation and circus is the art where this demand is met. This soul of the circus is seen by the clown and the clown encourages appreciation from us all by laughing at our weaknesses and wounds, and teasing our strengths to come forth. Challenged, encouraged, appreciated and self empowered are qualities encouraged in the circus and being childish for a moment in time we glimpse the eternity of the” child like.” That which is innocent and beautiful in itself, the Art itself in each of us and the ability to create brilliance of presence in our lives.

So come along every day to the circus and grow your wings!

For all you Artists in the heart who want to run away to the circus remember we have our Foundation Year Adult Training starting in the beginning of November 2011.

If you are interested we are interested in hearing from you. Our fees are modest and we defiantly have the best training space in Israel and great further connections to our International Circus friends here and in Europe.

For contact: ilcircus@gmail.com & ask for Hanita, the Directoress of the Circus School.

What ever you decide to do, Do it with all your heart!

WELL, WELL, WELL…YES WE ARE!!

What a roller coaster of summer activity,the highs of the CLIMBING WALLS (now to be an annual event, so don’t miss out if you want to participate next summer in the WALLS OF AKKO. July 15th 2012) & here we are in Berlin doing the second of our Comedy Shake workshop/performance/gala evening finish of two weeks with over 15 countries represented. WOW! We are rock and rolling folks and getting better all the time.

There is not one moment when humor does not present it self to the situation you may find yourself in. When laughter prevails then we are speaking from the heart. For good or bad. The very high sensitivity of the body registers every action of movement feeling and thought and is the great art to be studied. The AT _ ONENESS of our communication with the world is seen when there is genuine good will towards all. Humor and action take us to the place where community can be the WORD! for a short moment in our daily humdrum. I hear all aroud the voices saying “REALITY CHECK”> so there is definatly some energetic effect of this intense study in COMEDY SHAKE.

Come for the Exponential Experience of  “CLIMBING WALLS”:

Contact: ilcircus@gmail.com for registration details-

HELLO! students of circus, performers of Circus and teachers of circus from Israel and around the World.

Welcome to the very first International Youth Circus Festival to be held in Akko Old City on the 19th, 20th and 21st of July 2011.

The theme of our action is many fold as we endeavor to embrace the total spectrum of human potential. We mean to be “CLIMBING WALLS” for three days and nights in the 5,000 year old port city. Showing that Circus people have the vision to see beyond the “CLIMBING WALLS” that separate us from a more enlightened and egalitarian society as a whole.

We choose ART to express the deep and rich emotional experience of existence. With this tool we encounter friendships of the most profound sort and dissolve the “CLIMBING WALLS” of fear and anger with the power of finding our LOVING HUMANITY with all, the place with out “CLIMBING WALLS” in our hearts.

Come and join us for the laughter and admiration as we join our community in Old Akko and do it right when working and playing together. The new Circus in Israel with and for the people….

Only the self transforming experience of “CLIMBING WALLS” can change the condition of our perception and just actions to one based on love…

so come one and all and join this experience with us

WORKSHOPS & PERFORMANCES:

We are gifted with an amazing array of assistance from every possible cultural direction. Every one involved to make this event happen believe strongly in the need to see creative community response to finding solutions and forgiving mistakes of growing understanding.

Performances will be given for free from Artists in order to ignite a significant impulse in action of the heart. There is an emergence to address in finding perfect moments that nourish and sustain our intent of good will with each other. Our effort to do this is group based where all bring their best to the city to be shared by all. Performances will be both in the Old City garden and on the sea front at the port of Akko old city.

Workshops are given at various levels of ability to personally integrate. Sessions are for beginners in the ART, people who are studying the ART and those who are practicing the ART and those who understand the use of the ART. Workshops take place in the magnificent “Knights Halls”, newly renovated from Crusade times and will present an interesting additive for tourists when they pass the activity.

Street theater is an important element in our 3 days where we will be in the market showing our wares like all the other vendors in form of workshop – performance.Youth and adult performers go to the Market and create an atmosphere with street life, children and their family’s, tourists and the market people in a synergy experience of lifting the spirit.

Followed by…..

Special Over Seas guest Artists:

We are privileged to receive the professional circus artists that have given their time to this festival. With them we will be inspired and magically transported to a place with in ourselves that is free to move and express like true ARTISTS of  the craft. The apparent ease of doing the impossible shows that we can aspire, nobly to our limits and beyond. Evening shows  highlight circus reaching its best potential and showing the way for young Israeli artists to seek the dedication to perfect their own talent.

The street artists Market group will lead the people of Akko to the water front where our professional guests both from abroad and in Israel will open the spectacular of the Old Akko Artists Party on the 20th of July from 17.00 hrs.

Israel youth groups, artists, teachers and vendors…

We are inviting all youth groups from around Israel to come join the three days as workshop participants, street performers, spectators and community of friends in the art. Professional Israeli Artists are invited to come and offer your assistance and performance to Akko old city, teachers from around the country are invited to come to meet with your colleagues and gift youth with your circus knowledge, and vendors are invited to add your assistance by bringing your stuff to play with and offer to the public.

The Workshops & Accommodation & Meals..

The outline for workshops is based on experience level. Three groups are distinctly recognized for the intention of the “CLIMBING WALLS”morning and afternoon sessions. Beginners are people with a year or less training, students of Circus Arts with up to 4 years experience fall into the next group, and then Master classes are offered to senior students and professionals. 9 teachers will guide 9 groups in the morning and afternoon, covering the pillars of circus, Clown, Acrobat, Juggler and Dancer. At our morning Circle on the lawn of the garden students go with their trainers to the working area in the Knights Halls and around the garden. Each group will be no more than 15 participants and the Council of Circus Elders will look for balance in the groups. In the afternoon after lunch a shorter meeting on the lawn will decide afternoon activity in the same way.

Food will be provided by the local community & as such we must pay the cost of eating.

We are camping in a secure area inside the the garden complex so this will mean we must bring there, tents and sleeping bags and mats.

time-table:

Arrive 18th July at 18.00 hrs for registration and accomadation

Daily: Breakfast from 7.30 to 8.45 hrs

Daily Circle: 9.00 to 10.00 hrs (announcements, warmup and break into groups for morning session)

Morning Class: 10.15 to 12.45 hrs in the designated areas (visitors may pass and watch the activity)

Lunch Break: 13.00 to 14.45 hrs (eat and rest)

Afternoon Meeting for all: 14.45 to 15.00 hrs ( select groups and go with trainer and short announcements)

Afternoon Class: 15.00 to 17.00 hrs (In the Knights Halls)

Happy Hour: (New Circus style) 17.30 to 18.30 (Social games to meet the participants of the Festival and create new friendships)

Dinner: 18.45 to 20.00 hrs

EVENING ACTION..

Every night from 20.00 to 23.00 hrs the Circus Party will be full with high level performance for participant involvement and the people of Akko and beyond. Full details of this will be given in the Festival….but to show you some of the Artists from over seas it is possible to follow the links below and see their style….

Le Lido http://photolosa.free.fr/dispophoto/lidoep2/

camilla theresa karlsen, norway: http://www.acrobamilla.no/ (Master Classes)

heather boothe, u.s.a: www.miraasaerial.com (Master Classes)

KENTON OWSLEY – USA

We are very proud to announce our sponsors and supporters for our first International Youth Circus Convention: