The New Vic’s Circus Summer School, in partnership with Upswing, returned last week. This year the theatre took the summer school on the road to work with children aged 5 – 13 years of age at Restoke’s base in Fenton Town Hall. The week-long series of workshops provided children with the opportunity to learn acro and ground-based circus skills with two of Upswing’s professional performers and teachers – one of them being a familiar face to the theatre, Nathan Johnston, who recently starred in the New Vic’s production of classic fairy tale, The Princess and The Pea, soon to be on Broadway.
During the free sessions, children tried their hand at somersaults, cartwheels, shoulder stands, juggling and much more and presented their new skills to parents and carers in a short performance at the end of the week.
The circus summer school forms part of the New Vic and Upswing’s circus-theatre partnership, which sees the two companies working together to push the boundaries of circus and theatre as a combined artform and to bring interactive workshops and immersive experiences to members of the local community and young people at risk of exclusion from local schools.
Take a look at some of the circus skills the participants learnt below!