Circus Skills
Performing Arts Class for Ages 5-7
Circus Skills
Performing Arts Class for Ages 5-7
Winter Session:
Saturdays, 9am-10am
February 1 - March 8, 2025 (6 Weeks)
Class Description
This class explores multiple aspects of circus arts, including juggling, clowning, hula-hooping, improv, and tumbling. Students learn skills for teamwork, communication, performance, and self-awareness. Our Circus Skills class also teaches students about the actor’s tools of voice, body, and imagination as students explore the health benefits of laughter through movement, performance, and playful improvisation. This class concludes with a brief performance for friends and family to provide students with an opportunity to share what they have learned. This class is co-instructed by Ava Varszegi and Matthew Bretschneider.
Learning Objectives
Skills for juggling, clowning, and improvisation
Skills for communication and self-awareness
Explore the health benefits of laughter through movement and performing arts
Explore essential elements of circus arts
Pricing & Location
Winter Session: $175 (6 Weeks)
Location: Rhode Island School for the Deaf
Address: 1 Corliss Park, Providence, RI, 02908
Instructors
Ava Varszegi (she/her) is an illustrator and educator based in Providence, Rhode Island. Although she primarily teaches visual arts, she got her start teaching at the Children’s Circus of Middletown, where she taught unicycling, art, and clowning. She started attending the Children’s Circus as a camper at the age of nine and later toured with Circophony traveling circus troupe with Oddfellows Playhouse in Middletown, Connecticut. She earned a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and received certificates from RISD Continuing Education in Graphic Design and Natural Science Illustration.
Matthew Bretschneider (he/him) is Artistic Director of Studio Playground and an Adjunct Professor at Boston University. He has performed with the Huntington Theatre Company, The Flea Theater, Theatre Row, The New Ohio, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Kitchen Theatre Company, and Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. Television Credits include Law & Order: SVU and The Path. Matthew received his MSW from Rhode Island College School of Social Work and received a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Matthew has taught physical theater for Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Trinity Repertory Company, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Rhode Island College, University of Rhode Island, and Suffolk University.
COVID-19 Safey Guidelines - Youth Classes
Please note this policy is subject to change. Here is our protocol as of 11/08/24:
Wearing a mask is optional for staff and students. Class size is limited. Staff keep daily attendance records for contact tracing, provide hand sanitizer, and encourage hand hygiene.
Any student who has a fever or who is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 is advised not attend class.