Saturday 4:30- 6:00 PM
Tickets Here

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Circus Shorts is a compilation of stand-alone performances ranging from 5-20 minutes, gathered in one dazzling spectacle. Full descriptions follow below. Part 1 starts at 4:30, and features 3 family-friendly acts. After intermission ends at 5:30, Part 2 leads us into the adult portion of the evening. Children are still welcome, but the shows do contain mature themes including memory loss, vaudville style teases, grief, and identity politics. Young children may be bored. 

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Circus Shorts is ticketed as 1 show to lower purchase fees. Use the code KIDSONLY to receive a discount for only attending Part 1.

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Shorts Information:

Part 1

• Show de las Preguntas (Show of Questions) plays with the whimsy of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda's Book of Questions. It rolls from one question to another, gathering color and fun as it goes. Co-creators: Laura Torres & Carmen Kingsley, Puppet construction: Chio Cabrera​

• The Amazing Adventures of 2NBs!!! presents the fantastic adventures (and misadventures) of two ordinary, everyday non-binary bees, Maria and Shelley, as they go through their ordinary, everyday lives and activities. In an excerpt from the show, Maria and Shelley play sports and dress up, go to school, and travel the world while discovering that there are so many ways to be a bee (and an enby!) The Amazing Adventures of 2NBs!!! centers around themes of self-expression, curiosity, confidence, acceptance and queer joy. Modeling inclusion, exploration, play, and individuality (with a little bit of circus magic), we aim to give audience members permission to embrace their uniqueness and bee themselves.​ Co-creators: Shelley Miller (they/them) & Maria Tate (they/them​)

• Danny_The_Acrobat: An Autism-Awareness Performer defies gravity and expectations! This high-flying circus aerialist with autism inspires, dazzles and demonstrates the value of neurodiversity in the performing arts and contemporary culture. Join Danny_The_Acrobat's journey in redefining differing abilities. Principal Aerialist: Danny_The_Acrobat​

Danny_The_Acrobat ends with a Q&A session that all audience members are encouraged to attend. Afterward there will be a brief intermission before resuming with the adult portion of the evening.​

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Part 2

• 5 shows in 1! Ecdysiast is a three part live singing, aerial, and puppetry performance about memory, identity, and aging.  Ecdysiast is a term coined during the vaudeville era that means strip tease artist. The root ecdysis means to molt. During the performance, the singer molts from old to young to moth. Performance: Dante Ingram

  • Music:

    • Ecdysiast Intro - written and recorded by Dante Ingram and Greg Nergaard.

    • Excerpt from Fire at the Library - written and recorded by Kinan Abou-afach - used with permission.

    • This May Not Be Love, I'd Do Anything, and Monsters - written and performed by Dante Ingram's bands: Dante's Voodoo Cabaret and Sideshow Villains.​

• Falling Towards the Impossible: Have you ever wanted to fly? To reach for the impossible things that feel just beyond your grasp but also worlds away? This dance and aerial piece created and performed by Columbia College Chicago students and alumni aims to explore the questions of why we strive for things we know to be impossible and what makes us, in the face of failure, get back up again and keep trying. The triumphs and successes mixed with the hard truths of failure pushes us ever forward in an endless cycle of jumping from the cliff, falling and climbing back up again. Choreography: Kaya Gross in collaboration with dancers. Dancers: Kaya Gross, Vi McMahon, Gabriela Marks, Lizeth Hernandez, Devon Saxman. Creative Support: Maggie Blashill​​​