Summer Drama Activities of the Circus Kind: Circus Juventas Youth Circus

As the nonogenarian Veterinarian, Jacob Jankowski, said in Water for Elephants , "I'm not running away [with the circus], I'm coming home." The circus is where he began his career and where he wanted to end his days about 90 years later. Any why not?

Before the days of Disneyland (opened 1955), where people work after school in the afternoons, take on full-time employment after high school or college, and then retire and go right back to work as Senior Citizens because they cannot get enough of the place, so too is the circus. That is, if it's a good circus. I've seen only two really good circus performances in my life and both occurred when I was just six years old. That leaves a lot of empty time and space to fill.

One of author Ray Bradbury's favorite subjects is the circus of his boyhood and he winds that subject through enough sci-fi and fantasy tales to make you dizzy. At the same time, 21st-century kids can run away with the circus without leaving their own hometown.

JUVENTAS was the goddess of youth in the Roman pantheon back in the alternating days of bread and circuses. Young males offered her a sacrifice of one coin when they donned their first man's toga, a sign of adulthood - or at least puberty.

The Temple of Juventas at the Capitol of Rome was older than even Jupiter's, but she had a second temple at the Circus Maximus. Thus, her name is a great one to use for a youth training circus today.

Such a place exists in St. Paul, Minnesota and is called Circus Juventas Youth Training Circus.

Circus Juventas offers programs for children and youth from ages 2 though 22 and adults throughout the year. These programs are real classes for beginners, advanced students, fitness enthusiasts and professional hopefuls in the world of the performance circus. The classes are instructed by trained, experienced athlete-performers that have a range of solid credentials and adjunct safety training.

Few such programs and organizations like this one exist in the world, with the exception of Ringling's Clown College in Florida, which does not offer the entire menu of various circus act training. This circus performance training menu of activities is of an intensity level that may surpass Space Camp for either children or adults, but builds self confidence and leads to lots of fun on the way to reaching goals.

Parents need not fear wild animal injury to their children, either, because Circus Juventas does not teach lion taming.

Summer camps occur on a full-day week-long basis and sell out pretty quickly.

The full-day Challenge Camp is a day for exploring the full circus and all the acts available. Kiids see what the circus is really all about and what the daily life is like. They can learn about themselves and find what activities they fit their interests and potential abilities. This is a time for dreams.

Teen Adventure Camp is also quite exciting, because this camp includes equipment and activities not available in any other camp in the USA. Teens that participate in these camps will have experiences that no other American teens have.

Prices of all the summer camps are comparable or less expensive than many other camps in the US - including Space Camp. Some people want to go to Space Camp, but some would rather fly on the Triple Trapeze. Besides, circus acrobats, human cannonballs, and trapeze artists were studied in the original preparations for human movement and adjustment to non-earth gravity in the US Space Program. Just ask the folks at Disney - they broadcast this information in the 1960s. Then it was included in the Mercury Astronauts' historical drama The Right Stuff . A child at Circus Juventas today may walk on Mars in the 2020s!

Along with all the fun and classes, extra workshops, and camps, Circus Juventas schedules regular performances, just as youth and teen drama clubs do throughout the year. Tickets to these are very inexpensive and the shows are a real treat to watch. The youngest children are protected by coaches and spotters very close by and the atmosphere is one of non-competitive fun and entertainment in the learning of important life skills. Overall, this is probably one of the best things a child or teen can do with an otherwise vacant summer.

The next time I visit Minnesota - well, I've always wanted to learn to juggle!

Please enjoy the video clips from Circus Juventas below.