Американская цирковая школа для молодежи

American circus arts school

Circus Juventas (formerly Circus of the Star) is a youth performing arts circus school located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, serving youth throughout the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The organization was founded in 1994 by Dan and Betty Butler, and offers circus arts training to young people ranging from 3 to 21 years old. Emulating the style of Cirque du Soleil, Circus Juventas's first show was at Saint Paul's Highland Fest in 1995. From there, the school's enrollment quickly expanded and the organization initiated a campaign to fund a $2.1 million permanent big top facility, which opened in 2001 on Saint Paul parkland in the Highland Park neighborhood. That year, it began to produce annual summer performances showcasing the work of its most advanced students, each with a distinct theme. Yearly themed December holiday shows were added starting in 2020 after that year's summer show was postponed due to the COVID 19 pandemic. These shows have proven popular with local audiences and have been well received critically, with reviewers praising the professionalism and fearlessness exhibited in the productions, while noting students' occasional missteps during performances. Circus Juventas students have performed and competed both around the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area and abroad. As of 2014, Juventas was the largest youth performing arts circus in North America. The school had tentative plans to add a second facility elsewhere in the region.

The founders of Circus Juventas, Dan and Betty Butler, met as teenagers at the Sailor Circus of Sarasota during the mid 1970s. Dan was a catcher on the flying trapeze, and Betty was an aerialist on the cloud swing. They began dating at age sixteen, Dan became a successful real estate broker in Atlanta, but faced bankruptcy and chemical dependency. The Butlers founded Circus Juventas as a nonprofit corporation in October 1994, citing a desire to give back to the community as one of the reasons for its creation. The Saint Paul Parks and Recreation Department approved the program, and assumed liability for approximately fifty children who enrolled the first year. After this performance, interest in the program increased. In an article published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 1997, the estimated cost of the project was quoted at $700,000, with a groundbreaking planned for April 1998. By August 1999, they had raised $1 million of their expanded $1.6 million goal for the circus expansion, with plans to break ground on the new facility that November. A total of $627,183 was disbursed for the circus through the program, split between three STAR components: $450,000 as part of Neighborhood STAR which sought to fund local initiatives, $122,183 as part of Cultural STAR which funded arts and culture programs, and $55,000 from 3rd Ward City Councilmember Pat Harris's discretionary Neighborhood Investment Initiative budget. The Butlers had found the space for the school through coincidence; after driving along Montreal Avenue in Saint Paul one night, they turned into a parking lot, noticed an area beneath some trees, and realized it was an ideal location for their school's expanded facility. The big top took about a year to complete, during which time the school also changed its name to Circus Juventas, named for Juventas, an ancient Roman goddess of youth and rejuvenation. It was working with various city agencies to resolve the shortfall and faced "no looming threat." and concessions sales. Betty Butler estimated that 90 percent of work on the school's shows is done by parent volunteers. The circus operates with the equivalent of 40 full time employees. In 2010, the circus school enrolled students from ages 6 to 21, with an additional enrollment of about 150 toddlers and other younger participants as young as three years old. By 2013, the enrollment had reached over 800 and the school's annual operating budget exceeded $2 million. Circus Juventas has also held circus arts fitness classes for adults, taught by the school's regular instructors. The school is a member of the Outdoor Amusement Business Association and the Fédération Mondiale du Cirque. A listing on the latter organization's website notes that as of 2014, Juventas is the largest performing arts circus school for youth in the United States; other sources indicate that it is the largest in all of North America.

Circus Juventas's big top is located in the Highland Park neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota. It stands 40 feet (12 m) tall and encompasses of floor space built on concrete slab. The structure is supported by an aluminum frame and covered with flame resistant vinyl coated cloth. The circus school's original bleachers could seat 1,200 audience members. In the ensuing investigation, it came to light that Juventas had not had the bleachers inspected each time they were set up, as required by their lease with the city. They had been issued a permit in 2006 for the bleachers, and had not had them inspected since. and installed new bleachers with molded plastic seats the next March.

In early 2014, the Butlers announced plans to expand their big top facility by an additional In response, the Butlers were considering building a new facility of up to in the western suburbs of Minneapolis–Saint Paul. In the meantime, the school is performing a small expansion to its Highland Park space, on which the Circus has a lease for at least 17 more years, as of 2014. While the earliest shows were focused primarily on technique and the individual acts, by 1997 or 1998 the school began to emphasize the artistic side of performances, including integrating those acts into Cirque du Soleil style narratives. Holiday shows were introduced beginning in 2020 after the planned summer show that year was cancelled on account of the COVID 19 pandemic. The school also hosts an annual gala in late autumn that includes portions of the year's earlier summer performance. Circus Juventas does not utilize animal acts in its shows.

2020: A Hygge Holiday, narrated by Kevin Kling. 2021: Blizzard!, a performance about three elves at the North Pole who cause trouble.

In addition to shows at their Saint Paul big top, Juventas students have performed across the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metro area and at domestic and international shows and competitions. Performers have appeared at local events including the Saint Paul Winter Carnival, Minneapolis mayor R. T. Rybak's 2002 inauguration at the Minneapolis City Hall, and at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts as part of the Flint Hills International Children's Festival. Students have presented their work at a variety of local public, retail, and theater spaces. efn|Venues at which Juventas students have appeared include: bulleted list|the Mall of America | Roy Wilkins Auditorium| RiverCentre| the Minnesota Children's Museum| Ecolab Plaza| Nicollet Mall| the touring Shrine Circus in Minneapolis. the 2005 world premiere of Tin Forest with the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall, the Children's Theatre Company's 2008 stage adaptation of Madeline and the Gypsies, and the 2012 adaptation of Jack Prelutsky's The Dragons Are Singing Tonight at The Southern Theater. In 2010, a cohort of Juventas students traveled to perform in Chattanooga, Tennessee, at the RiverRocks Festival. Outside the United States, performers have traveled to compete, including at the International Circus Festival in Latina, Italy, and at the Circus Ring of Friendship Festival in Norrköping, Sweden, in which the troupe's triple trapeze team garnered the gold medal. In April 2015, a Circus Juventas spinning cube team performed at the Circus Waldoni Festival in Darmstadt, Germany, where they tied for first place. Students from the school will perform at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D. C., in June and July 2017.

Much of the accompaniment for the big top summer shows came from Peter Ostroushko, a local mandolin player. became involved in the youth circus after his daughter saw a show and decided to join. then Grimm, Tracks from the first four shows for which he played, from Dyrnwych to RavensManor, are anthologized on the album Peter Joins the Circus, published by Borderland Productions in 2008. Writing for Minnesota Monthly, Amanda Bankston commended the technical skill and professionalism of the performers in 2012's Showdown: "There is nothing child like about the talent in this show. The budding stars fearlessly swing, flip, and soar through the air like pros." Similarly, writing for BroadwayWorld, Elaina Lenertz stated, "Sometimes their silks routines are a bit out of sync and sometimes the show features dance routines from younger kids who are still mastering stunts. Despite this, the performance is very impressive."