A Special Announcement from Executive Director Barry Kendall:
It’s been almost 15 months since Circus Center first closed its doors due to the pandemic. We all feared for our survival – and we all pulled together to make sure we made it, AND to keep serving as much of our community as we could during this awful time. We showed up for you, you showed up for us, and together, we are emerging from this pandemic smaller (for now), but stronger than ever. THANK YOU.
In our vision for the future, we are laser focused on our core mission as a circus school and training center. Circus Center is a cornerstone for the preservation and advancement of the circus arts in North America, and we will continue to strive for excellence in training, artistic development, and community engagement.
With our eyes set on that vision, a new team is forming. It starts with the program directors, teachers, and staff members who have worked so heroically alongside me throughout this pandemic. We are busy hiring – and in many cases, rehiring – teachers and administrators. And we are building the leadership team that we need for the long-term.
In order to achieve our vision, we have identified two key roles to add to our leadership team: one focused on training, and another focused on performance and artistic development. In the next year, we will be conducting an international search for a new Head of School – a Master-level Instructor with a demonstrated ability to bring vision and coherence to circus training with a high level of excellence. We do not have to look far, however, to find an ideal leader for our performance and artistic development work – which leads me (finally!) to my announcement: it is my joy and privilege to announce here that Felicity Hesed is our new Artistic Director!
As Artistic Director, Felicity has broad leadership opportunities throughout the organization, with special emphasis on creating productions and other artistic development opportunities that directly feed our mission. She is an essential partner to me and the program directors in articulating our shared vision, building programs that realize that vision, and representing us in the community.
Felicity is well known to many of us, so I’m sure you share my delight around this announcement. Please read her message and impressive bio below, and reach out to her to join me in saying, “Welcome, and CONGRATULATIONS!!!” I also encourage you to join Felicity and me for a special "Ask Me Anything" session and happy hour on Friday, July 9. Exact time and details to come – mark your calendar!
Now more than ever, onwards and upwards –
Barry
Dear Circus Center Community,
I am thrilled to be stepping into the role of Artistic Director at Circus Center. I still remember the first day I came to Circus Center. I was visiting from Chicago to see if I wanted to attend the Clown Conservatory. I walked into the big gym and saw a variety of youth and adults training at levels I had never even imagined. I was captivated! To this day, I still walk into the gym and am blown away about the skill, passion, and joy of the people who teach and train at our Center.
I have done a little bit of everything at Circus Center. I came here first to train at the Clown Conservatory. I have tried nearly every class at Circus Center and continue to take trapeze with Elena. I have taught youth and adults, parties and camps, privates and preschoolers. I have performed in student showcases, cabarets, and even developed my solo show as an artist in residence at Circus Center. I have had the true joy of directing both youth and adult showcases as well as professional productions. I was Director of the Youth Program for 4 years and am now the proud parent of a Rising Star.
I have seen Circus Center go through the best of times and the worst of times. We all feared that the Pandemic might mean the end of Circus Center. But in fact, it was much the opposite! The staff, leadership, and board led Circus Center through an incredibly difficult year and a half with the devotion and support of our students and community. We may be smaller, but I believe we are stronger than ever! As Dominique Jando predicted, “Circus Center is a phoenix — it knows how to resurrect itself. Its staff and its community have done it before, and they will do it again.”
I am honored to collaborate with the staff, students, and community as we enter this exciting phase. This coming year, we will bring back much of what we love and miss at Circus Center. We will take this opportunity to improve Circus Center and to bring in fresh ideas and opportunities. I am looking forward to meeting and reconnecting with all of you and learning what Circus Center means to you. Please feel free to reach out to me directly at felicity@circuscenter.org.
With Joy,
Felicity
ABOUT FELICITY HESED
Felicity Hesed is a San Francisco-based performer, director, and educator. Hesed received a BA in Theatre Arts from Kalamazoo College. Following college, she moved to Chicago to work as an actor and improvisor with renowned companies including Redmoon Theatre and the Free Associates. It was in Chicago that Hesed discovered circus when she stumbled upon the Actor’s Gymnasium. She trained circus arts at the Actor’s Gymnasium and flying trapeze with the Flying Gaonas. Hesed began creating and directing shows that combined theater and circus including The Tempest: A Magical Circus, The Tangerine Family Circus, and Ottavio Canestrelli’s A Clown Without a Circus. Meanwhile, Hesed was also working as a full-time theatre teacher for middle schoolers and pursuing her Masters in Teaching from DePaul University.
In 2007, Hesed moved to San Francisco to attend the Clown Conservatory and deepen her circus training. In addition to studying clowning, Hesed trained trapeze with Elena Panova and Helene Turcotte and Acrobatics with Xiaohong Weng and Master Lu Yi. Hesed continued directing circus and physical theater productions in the Bay Area, including The Monkey King: A Circus Journey, Circus Addiction, Emil of Lonneberga, Lyle the Crocodile, and Circus of Light. Hesed also continued performing in the Bay Area and abroad including the 10th National Chrysanthemum Festival in Kaifeng-China, Seattle’s Moisture Festival, the New Pickle Circus, Teatro ZinZanni, Children’s Fairyland, and the San Francisco Aerial Arts Festival.
Hesed served as the Director of the Youth Program at Circus Center from 2014-2018. She stepped down at the end of 2018 in order to focus on creating and performing her solo show, Cara Vita: A Clown Concerto. Cara Vita premiered at the San Francisco International Arts Festival in May 2019. Hesed remounted Cara Vita at Circus Center in early 2020 before taking it on tour to the Asheville Arts Festival and London’s VAULT Festival. Hesed had just returned to the US when the pandemic hit.
During the pandemic, Hesed continued to find innovative ways to create theatre and circus. Hesed led a group of professionals and advanced students in creating a COVID-safe, online, sing-along, dance-along circus version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Hesed began studying video production at Bay Area Video Coalition. She directed and edited a short documentary entitled Women of America which combined circus and history as a celebration of the 19th Amendment Centennial and a call to action before the 2020 election. Women of America was chosen as an Official Selection in the Circus International Film Festival. Hesed’s most recent project has been Circus Pop Ups, site-specific pop up shows that combine live musicians, circus artists, and interactive performers. To learn more visit felicityhesed.com.