First of May is when many tented circuses would take to the road, each year. First-of-May is what circus performers would call new people when they started with the circus. Here we are. All grounded, aerialists and jugglers alike.  We are all walking this tightrope, finding our balance even as the rope keeps getting extended. The best way to regain our balance and to get to the other side is to keep taking the next step. There are ancient cave paintings of acrobats and Egyptian hieroglyphics of jugglers. Circus is an ancient art form that has stayed true to its roots and evolved a ..read more

This is how WE build a wall! It is less than a week since Circus Harmony and Escuela Nacional de Circo de Puerto Rico ended their Revolution for Harmony Tour 2 in St Louis. Our Puerto Rican partners went home to crazy political upheaval in Puerto Rico that barely makes the news here. The tragedy at our border and many borders continue as people seek refuge. In the circus, we take care of each other. Those were the moments that touched me the most— tender, small, personal moments of support, teaching, caring that I saw from one young person to another. This is how we want t ..read more

Trifecta- photo credit Peter Wochniak- Iphoto In the first St. Louis Teen Talent Competition held by Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation at the Fabulous Fox theater, Circus Harmony was there. What follows is a list of our finalists, but please note we have had some very talented teens in the opening rounds and semi finals over the years. Our aerial artist, Mei Ling, was a finalist in that first 2011 competition. The next year, 2012, Kellin Quinn took third place with his unique juggling. We didn’t make the finals in 2013, but our Daring Donesha wowed everyone when she took first place wi ..read more

Note: this photo was pre-pandemic. For now and the foreseeable future both performers and audiences will be masked. For the first time, since March 16, 2020, we will be presenting shows in our circus ring at City Museum. The first one is November 22. Our performance troupe, the St. Louis Arches, just finished a sSuccessful run under the big top with Circus Flora. You can see the act here. Our alumni are opening circus shows around the globe. Melvin Diggs opened with Les 7 Doigts de la Main’s Dear San Francisco at Club Fugazi. November 9, Keaton Hentoff-Killian opens Humans 2.0 in Brisbane, Au ..read more

Motivation is hard in the middle of a pandemic. When we asked our students what motivated them, there was a unanimous agreement that food is a great motivator. Also, during the pandemic, all our families have been cooking more. Thus the Circus Harmony Interactive Cookbook was born. Then we started asking, what dish pairs best with contortion, with juggling, or with trapeze? Can a taco ride a unicycle? Who will play the shrimp in the shrimp stir fry recipe? (Can you tell from the photo?)  We’ve never seen anything like this before: a digital cookbook where each delicious dish is paired wi ..read more

What a challenging year 2020 was and what a strange year 2021 is starting to be! When we closed our circus ring at City Museum on March 16 we had no idea how the rest of the year would develop from the spreading of the pandemic, the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement,  the accountability of the presidential election, and the insanity of the insurrection.  Through it all, we kept going. At first, Circus Harmony only offered classes and shows online.  In the summer, we started doing some things outside, masked and socially distanced. We created our most moving show ever, T ..read more

I never felt so taken care of as when I was traveling with the circus. There is a sense of family when you are part of a circus show that you don’t find many places. I honestly believe that those same feelings are felt by our students and that this is why so many of them stay with us for so long and come back to visit whenever they can. Circus Harmony is family. And, like many families, we cannot be together now because of CoVid-19. CoVid has, of course, deeply and negatively impacted our work. We have lost almost all our show and regular teaching income. There is power behind the saying “The ..read more

See the show online HERE On October 10, 2020 at 7pm CT, Circus Harmony premiered The Balancing Act: Walking the Pandemic Tightrope, featuring Circus Harmony students and alumni sharing how they are keeping their balance in this unbalanced time. This is a show unlike any we have ever done before for a time unlike any we have ever been in before. Circus is about humans overcoming challenges. Our entire world is challenged right now. As a nonprofit social circus school, we feel like we are walking a tightrope. Under normal circumstances, we know how to walk a tightrope, however the length k ..read more

Circus Harmony is in the middle of our Spring 2020 Appeal as we walk this pandemic tightrope. We recognize that there are numerous Racial Justice, Pandemic Response, and Environmental non-profits that are dealing with current crises that need support right now. But if you have something to spare and would like to help support us through the pandemic so we can keep doing the work we do using circus to train potential future changemakers, you can donate securely at www.circusharmony.org. We hope you might consider even making a monthly pledge. Here’s why: Dear Friend of Circus Harmony ..read more

T-Roc, Melvin, and Iking as Hummingbirds with Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia!  “Circus didn’t change my life. It saved my life,” says Melvin Diggs, a St. Louis Arches alumni who is currently touring the world with Cirque du Soleil. In addition to Melvin, three other Circus Harmony students are touring with the renowned Cirque du Soleil, Sidney ‘Iking’ Bateman, Terrance ‘T-Roc’ Robinson, and Chauncey Kroner!!! Melvin, Iking, and ‘T-Roc are all touring with Cirque du Soleil’s show, Luzia. Currently in Vancouver, they next go to London and Moscow. Chauncey Kroner is in Montreal rehearsing for Cirq ..read more