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2018 Summer Show | STEAM:

Embark on an epic sci-fi adventure in Circus Juventas’ 2018 summer show STEAM: Grab your goggles and fly!

(Saint Paul, MN) Circus Juventas will take audiences on an epic sci-fi adventure in the 2018 summer show, STEAM: Grab your goggles and fly! Set in 1890’s Paris, from the moment a young H.G. Wells is summoned to meet the iconic and beloved science fiction writer Jules Verne, Circus Juventas audiences will be taken on an unforgettable trip, plunging 20,000 leagues under the sea, flying through time, racing to the moon and back, and soaring around the world in a hot air balloon. Breathless yet? Mark your calendars for June 25 when tickets go on sale. STEAM premieres at 7 p.m., Friday, July 27 and runs through Sunday, Aug. 12. Tickets may be purchased through the Circus Juventas box office (https://circusjuventas.org/summer-show-2018 for more information) or through TicketWorks. Ticket prices range from $18.50 for children 10 and under and seniors 65 years of age and older to $45 for VIP seating. All shows are held at the Circus Juventas big top, 1270 Montreal Avenue, Saint Paul, Minnesota.

“The athleticism and artistry in STEAM has pushed our advanced students to a new level. We brought in Bello Nock, named by TIME magazine as “one of America’s best artists and entertainers,” to train our student performers for a full week. He’s a comedic daredevil on the wheel-of-steel,” said Dan Butler, co-founder and executive director of Circus Juventas. “This massive 20-foot revolving steel arm with rotating wheel frames will be just one of the exceptional acts holding our audiences spellbound.”

Since 1995, the Circus Juventas summer show has been a Twin Cities favorite. With only 1,000 seats in the big top, tickets for the 17 performances sell out quickly. The show features the most advanced and highly committed young artists, trained by elite coaches from around the world, who themselves have performed with Cirque du Soleil, the Great Moscow Circus, Mongolian State Circus, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, to name a few.

About the signature Circus Juventas style

Audiences have compared Circus Juventas to Cirque du Soleil, and they have widely been credited with revolutioning the circus arts. In summer 2017, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival invited Circus Juventas to be the featured performers for their 50^th anniversary celebration. On the heels of performing on the national mall, Circopedia honored the Saint Paul youth circus with the International Circopedia Award, the first American circus to be named to the international list. Their brand of cirque noveau features full-blown theatrical productions which spotlight the athleticism of aerial, acrobatic, and balancing acts, combined with elaborate sets, lavish costumes, music, and story narration.

How STEAM came to be the 2018 summer production

Each year, Elizabeth “Betty” Betty Butler, co-founder and artistic director of Circus Juventas, develops a theme, often from classic tales, and collaborates with Katy McEwen, a Circus Juventas theater coach, summer show script writer, and co-artistic director of The Brave New Workshop.

“It’s always an original production,” said Betty Butler. “My inspiration is drawn from a wide range of concepts: art, legend and lore, movies, books, and other aesthetic genres like steampunk. Our students have been immersed in the science fiction genre inspired by the 19^th century steam-powered machines, and the idealistic H.G. Wells and enigmatic Jules Verne. And it all begins on a train platform in Paris with the gears grinding and the steam engines hissing.”

STEAM Synopsis

Prepare for time travel in this year’s summer production of STEAM: When a young, idealistic H.G. Wells has a chance encounter with the enigmatic Jules Verne, they embark on a mind-blowing, time-traveling, steam-punking, fan-fiction fantasy that will take you from the earth to the moon and back. This summer, join Circus Juventas for a retro-futuristic trip into the brilliant minds of the fathers of sci-fi. Team up with a trio of adventurers, clash with sky pirates, flee from dystopian Morlocks, and join forces with Dr. Moreau and Captain Nemo. Mysterious islands and magnificent creatures, airships and aristocrats, hot air balloons and a mad scientist, plus a few leagues under the sea (20,000 to be exact) are just a few wonders waiting to be imagined. It’s a fourth-dimension adventure you won’t want to miss, so wind your watches, and we’ll see you in the future … or was it the past?”

Stay in touch with Circus Juventas as students rehearse for STEAM.

https://www.facebook.com/CircusJuventas

https://www.instagram.com/circusjuventas/

Mini Circus Glossary terms for a few key acts in STEAM:

Wheel of Steel: A large rotating apparatus on which performers carry out synchronized acrobatic skills. The “wheel” is a large space frame beam with hooped tracks at either end, within which the performers can stand. As the performers run around on either the inside or outside of the hoops, the whole apparatus rotates. Performers also perform balancing skills with the wheel in a stationary position.

Russian Cradle: The cradle, a swinging platform which sways overhead with the help of four pumpers, has two catchers on opposite ends who hang by their knees and swing, throw, and catch the flyers on their team.

Wall Trampoline: A combination of gymnastics and parkour-like moves using a vertical one- or two-sided trampoline.

Spanish Web: A cloth-covered rope with a hand loop that is suspended from the overhead rigging and upon which artists perform a series of graceful maneuvers, usually within a larger aerial display or production number.

Teeter Board: A high-energy display of strength, balance, and agility in which acrobats are catapulted from a teeterboard (see-saw-like apparatus) into the air and onto the shoulders of team members to form a human column or pyramid.

About Circus Juventas

Circus Juventas is a 501(c)3 non-profit and the largest youth performing arts circus school in North America. Over the past 24 years, co-founders Dan and Betty Butler have seen their dream grow into a year-round program that serves more than 2,500 children and youth up to age 21 with a diverse array of circus arts training and performance opportunities in a noncompetitive setting. Circus Juventas’ mission is to inspire artistry and self-confidence through a multicultural circus arts experience that encourages leadership and life skills, teamwork, athleticism, artistry, pursuit of excellence, and community service. For more information, visit http://circusjuventas.org.

Right click and save hi-res, print worthy, stills below. If you require a larger file size, please contact us at the information to the right. Photo credits must be used as listed.

©2017 Photographer: Dan Norman

©2017 Photographer: Dan Norman

©2017 Photographer: Dan Norman

©2017 Photographer: Dan Norman

Right click and save hi-res, print worthy, stills below. If you require a larger file size, please contact us at the information to the right. Photo credits must be used as listed.

IMAGE #1: Fire Dance – Piper Gibbs, Libby Ulm and Rachel Wilson  |  ©2015 Photographer: Dan Norman

IMAGE #2: Spinning Cube – Jenna Ober, Charlotte Richardson-Deppe, Shayna Rutledge and Rabiya Sehgal-LaRocque  |  ©2015 Photographer: Dan Norman

IMAGE #3: Russian Swing – Connor Houlihan and Shena Tschofen |  ©2015 Photographer: Dan Norman

IMAGE #4: Teeterboard – Nick Dahlen, Maika Isogawa, Iain Knopp-Schwynn, Dominic Lemeiux, Lineas Meyer-Grimberg and Paul Weisman |  ©2015 Photographer: Dan Norman