Circus Luminous
To purchase tickets, call 505-988-1234, visit TicketsSantaFe.org, or visit the box office at The Lensic!
The Lensic and Wise Fool New Mexico are proud to present the 10th annual Circus Luminous, November 23-25 at The Lensic.
Circus Luminous has been a Thanksgiving Weekend tradition in Santa Fe, playing to sold out audiences at the historic Lensic Performing Arts Center each year since 2002.
Circus Luminous 2012 will again feature acrobats, trapeze artists, stilt-walkers, clowns, and dancers. The production is written and directed by Wise Fool New Mexico’s Sarah-Jane Moody, with original music composed by Jeremy Bleich, and features local performers from Wise Fool New Mexico, Moving Arts Española, and the break-dancing ensemble 3 HC Holy Faith.
This year’s production follows fictional reporter Charlie Sparrow (played by Santa Fe resident Rod Harrison), who is assigned to travel with the Luminous Family Circus and write about its 10th anniversary show. He’s not very happy about the situation.
“He wants the real news, but he’s assigned to cover this thing, so what can he do?” said writer and director Moody.
On the road, Charlie finds himself surrounded by frolicking circus performers who travel by unicycle, do aerial acrobatics while setting up camp, and go tightrope walking on the lines they use for drying laundry. Though he’s grumpy at first, eventually even Charlie discovers the beauty and magic of the circus.
Moody, who performed in all nine previous Circus Luminous productions and wrote and directed one of them, said Wise Fool played with several ideas about what to do for the 10th anniversary show, but ultimately decided a simple story would work best. “It’s a story of the kid inside all of us who can fall in love with a circus over and over again,” she said.
Circus Luminous began as a collaboration of Wise Fool New Mexico, The Lensic, Moving People Dance Theatre, and Bing! and has since grown to include hndereds of collaborators in the Santa Fe community and beyond.
"We have made [Circus Luminous] a Santa Fe tradition at Thanksgiving! We plan our out of town travel around it, and invite grandparents when they are in town. It is the start of our holiday season. Oh yeah, the show is fabulous: magical, creative, daring, and inspiring with laughter and incredible performances by all. We love you Wise Fool!" -Audience Member
"One of the most dazzling performances I’ve ever seen, homegrown or otherwise… (an) intricate, glorious production." -Audience Member letter to the editor, Santa Fe New Mexican
"Entrancing… exhilarating…with its penchant for graceful acrobatics, surreal tricks and subtle drama…like a Santa Fe version of Cirque du Soleil."- SF Reporter
About Rod Harrison
Actor Rod Harrison last performed in Santa Fe in 2011, in Ironweed Productions’ American Buffalo. He’s worked with Theater Grottesco since 1996 and has also worked with Sideshow Physical Theater and Dandelion Dancetheater in San Francisco.
Sponsorship
The Lensic and Wise Fool New Mexico thank Los Alamos National Bank for their generous and long-standing support of Circus Luminous.
About Wise Fool New Mexico
It is Wise Fool New Mexico's mission to ignite imagination, build community, and promote social justice through performances and hands-on experiences in the arts of circus, puppetry, and theatre.
About The Lensic Performing Arts Center
The nonprofit, historic Lensic Performing Arts Center presents more than 200 events year-round, including theater, music, dance, spoken word, film and lectures. Through Lensic Presents, education programs, and community sponsorships, The Lensic is a major partner and supporter of Santa Fe’s nonprofits, artistic organizations and schools. For more information on the many presentations and programs of The Lensic, visit www.lensic.org.
EVENT DETAILS
10th Annual Circus Luminous
November 23-25, 2012
Time: Friday, November 23, 7 pm; Saturday, November 24, 2 pm & 7 pm; and Sunday, November 25, 4 pm.
Tickets: $10-$30 (discounts available for students and Lensic members). Tickets are available by phone at 505-988-1234, online at www.lensic.org or www.TicketsSantaFe.org, or in person at Tickets Santa Fe at The Lensic, 211 W. San Francisco St.
Press Contact: Dianna Delling, Director of PR & Marketing, at 505-988-7050, ext. 1211, or ddelling@lensic.org.
Circus Luminous 2011
Acrobalance Act:
Aerial Fabric Act:
Circus Bike Act:
Circus Luminous returns in 2011 with an uplifting story of inspiration and transformation. One night, Mr. G, a curmudgeon who likes to control things, including the flowers in his yard, finds himself transported to another world by the fuzzy puffs of dandelion seeds. There he discovers that the simplest beings, from bees to caterpillars to dandelions, can be full of magic and beauty. The Circus features aerial fabric acts, acrobatics, trapeze, stilt-walkers, clowns and the break dancing of 3HC Holy Faith. A pair of elk as well as bumble bees, a giant caterpillar, a dog named Chicharron, humming birds and dragonflies all appear on Mr. G’s journey. Ten students from Moving Arts Española, a nonprofit performing arts outreach program will perform this year on stilts as whimsical insects. Furthering this year’s connection with Española, Mr. G is played by Roger Montoya, a former professional dancer, gymnast, visual artist and community activist who started Moving Arts Española in 2008, in response to a number of violent racially motivated acts in the city that same year. Local musician Jeremy Bleich composed the music for the production and will play in and conduct The Luminous Orchestra, a group of local musicians including: JQ Witcomb, Mark Weaver, Scott Barkan and Paul “Feathericci” Groetzinger.
Circus Luminous 2010 in review
Typing canaries descended on the Lensic stage for the 8th Annual Circus Luminous, a high-flying family show that made audiences want to hug their favorite book. The story was a whimsical interpretation of children’s book The Rebellious Alphabet, by the exiled Chilean writer Jorge Diaz.When the nasty generals forbid all reading, words, and letters, one peaceful villager trains her canaries as a printing press, providing hope and humor for the downtrodden villagers. When she is jailed and all the words and letters in town are set aflame, a storm of magnificent proportions prepares to rain down all of the words the generals have been trying to hold back. Wise Fool’s interpretation included an original Latin-inspired musical score by musician, composer and producer Luis Guerra, the beat-boxing heroine played by Albuquerque-based Saywut Moyer, the Hoop-a-Loop Girls from Penasco, the local break-dance group 3HC Holyfaith, and an outstanding cast of Wise Fool aerial fabric artists, trapeze artists and stilt-walking acrobats.
Circus Luminous Video Archives
Montage of the 2007 show:
Other videos of past Circus Luminous performances:
Angel Monlogue from Circus Luminous 2006 - Cynthia Ruffin
Triple Fabric Act from Circus Luminous 2006