The following is a republished press release … to submit community announcements to The Voice, contact us at jstein@ithacavoice.com.
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TCAT
Bus To Nature: Route 22
Local circus artists will help celebrate Cornell’s sesquicentennial by recreating the excitement of a nineteenth-century American circus at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 14. From juggling and clowning to “amazing feats of upside downery” and “astonishing feats of prestidigtation,” the ensemble promises to amuse and amaze children of all ages while honoring local circus history.
Sponsored by Cornell’s School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions, the show is free and open to the public.
Ezra’s Circus is produced by Circus Culture, a new circus school in Ithaca founded by Amy Cohen, executive director of the American Youth Circus. Cohen, who has taught circus arts around the U.S. and the U.K., says that Ithaca has a lush history of circus.
“In the 1800s the circus would roll into town, and the yearly parade would begin at the Hotel Ithaca and march down State Street—elephants and all. The Cornell Vet School actually purchased the heart of the most famous circus elephant that ever lived, Jumbo, and Ezra Cornell was a contemporary of the famous showman P. T. Barnum. Cornell itself was founded in the heyday of the American circus.”
Cohen adds that Circus Culture will be offering four weeks of circus summer camp this summer beginning on July 20 at their Press Bay Alley facility. Programming in the fall will include circus classes for all ages, plus parties, performances, and community collaborations.
Cornell’s free summer events run from June 23 to July 31 and include Tuesday performances at the Schwartz Center, Wednesday lectures at Call Auditorium in Kennedy Hall, and Friday concerts on the Arts Quad. For more information, visit summer.cornell.edu/events, e-mail cusce@cornell.edu, or call 607.255.4987.