Circus Center's at-risk youth circus project is a natural extension of the SFSCA's long-standing commitment to serving the needs of young people.

Since 1993 Lu Yi and the rest of the SFSCA faculty have worked with hundreds of children and youth to teach them basic circus skills in Chinese acrobatics. Many of these young people are now pre-professional performers who are featured in the school's productions.

In 2001 Circus Center established a new program specifically for at-risk youth. This project, funded by the Louis R. Lurie Foundation and the Bothin Foundation, has been designed to bring young people from widely divergent backgrounds together to learn circus skills, and in the process to help them develop self-confidence, self-esteem, discipline, and teamwork skills. In addition, we want them to learn to respect and value others who are different from themselves.

Because all participants in the program have had no previous exposure to classes in the circus arts, everyone starts at the same skill level. As they progress and achieve success together they find their own strengths and limitations, and in the process they discover their common humanity.