CIRCUS CENTER SHOWCASES STUDENTS' BEST WORK IN END-OF-THE YEAR PRODUCTION AT ARTAUD

"UpDown/OnOff" features Clown Conservatory graduates, children and adult students of the San Francisco School of Circus Arts, and the new San Francisco Youth Circus.

San Francisco, CA, May 29, 2002 -"UpDown/OnOff", an end-of-the-year showcase of student performers and future circus stars who train at the San Francisco School of Circus Arts (SFSCA) and Clown Conservatory, is coming to Artaud at 450 Alabama from June 13 through 16. Showtimes will be: 7:30 p.m, Thursday, June 13 and Friday, June 14; 2:00 p.m.and 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 15, and 7:00 p.m., Sunday, June 16. Members of Circus Center's new student performing company, the San Francisco Youth Circus, will appear in the showcase and will also present a special Fathers Day performance of their first touring production, "Walk/Don't Walk" on Sunday, June 16 at 2:00 p.m. For ticket information, call Circus Center at 415/759-8123, extension 811.

Co-directed by Clown Conservatory director Jeff Raz and aerialist/SFSCA co-founder Wendy Parkman, "UpDown/OnOff" will feature the best and most innovative clown, aerial and acrobatic acts developed by students over the last year. The Conservatory's graduating class of fifteen clowns and more than two dozen acrobats and aerialists coached by Master Trainer Lu Yi will display their talents in clowning, tumbling, teeterboard, poles, contortion, hand-to-hand and chair balancing, juggling, fire twirling, and a variety of aerial acts, including double trapeze, rope, hoops, and tissue. The circus band, composed of former Pickle Circus drummer and band leader Bill Balasco, trumpeter Ara Anderson and Urban School keyboardist Zack Shedd, will accompany the performances and complete the show

In addition to celebrating the end of the school year and the Clown Conservatory's second graduating class, "Up/Down On/Off" marks the debut of the San Francisco Youth Circus, a new project of Circus Center which will tour several cities in the Central Valley in July. The Youth Circus ensemble, comprised of SFSCA¹s advanced students, will be featured in the second half of the two-hour long school showcase. They will also preview their first touring production, "Walk, Don't Walk," directed by Gypsy Snider, at Artaud on Sunday, June 16 at 2:00 p.m. For more information about the San Francisco Youth Circus, log on to the Circus Center Web site at www.circuscenter.org.

Located at 755 Frederick Street in the Haight Ashbury district of San Francisco, Circus Center is non-profit arts organization that encompasses the San Francisco School of Circus Arts, a professional performing company, the New Pickle Circus, and a student performing troupe, the San Francisco Youth Circus. According to SPECTACLE, an international circus journal, "Circus Center is America¹s premiere center for training in circus arts." For more information about Circus Center, log on to their Web site at www.circuscenter.org.

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FOR CALENDAR EDITORS:

CIRCUS CENTER STUDENT SHOWCASE:

WHAT: "UP/DOWN ON/OFF", presented by Circus Center, is an end-of-the- year showcase of the best and most innovative acts by student performers and future circus stars who train at the San Francisco School of Circus Arts and the Clown Conservatory.

WHEN: Thursday-Saturday, June 13-15, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 15, 2:00 p.m. matinee Sunday, June 16, 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: Artaud, 450 Florida Street, San Francisco

ADMISSION: Adults, $20; students and seniors, $15; children 12 and under, $12.

INFO: To make reservations, call Circus Center at 415/759-8123, extension 811.

ALSO:

SAN FRANCISCO YOUTH CIRCUS:

WHAT: Special Father's Day performance of "WALK, DON'T WALK", the first touring production of the San Francisco Youth Circus, Circus Center¹s new performing company featuring the advanced students from the San Francisco School of Circus Arts. Directed by Gypsy Snider, the hour-long show tells the story of two clowns who explore a universe of corporate automatons and discover the vitality and creativity of the people inside the gray flannel suits.

WHEN: Sunday, June 16, at 2:00 p.m.

WHERE: Artaud, 450 Florida Street, San Francisco

ADMISSION: $10.

INFO: To make reservations, call Circus Center at 415/759-8123, extension 811.

Attention Editor: Slides or electronic photographs are available upon request.

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