The Association for the Development of Circus Arts in Israel
July 2003 Newsletter

Dear Friends of I.C.S,
The last few months of activities in I.C.S have been very exciting for us. The main news from this time has been the start of our “Children Circus Project” that received funding from the European Union in September. The support of the World Clown Association and Mr. Arthur Pedlar, their current World President, means that we have some basic training equipment that has enabled the children of the project to develop new skills. In addition a strong working relationship with our Arab friends from the Community Center of Mugrah, through the project, has opened new vistas of opportunity for Jewish and Arab co-operation.

The start of the year in our Circus Center in Kefar Yehoshua saw us opening four afternoon groups aged 6 through to 17, training in mainly acrobatics with our two trainers Larissa and Alex. Their classes have been receiving many compliments from parents impressed with their training methods. The other afternoon classes are being run by David “yours truly”, Benny a young Circus man from South America who specializes in juggling and clowning and Tally who is employed as our afternoon administrator but she also has an excellent relationship with the groups and is helping out in our Circus Skills classes. The whole team works with the “Children Circus Project” and is doing an amazing job in training, support and getting the group up to performance level. Oh, and our very good friend Joseph from Mugrah, is the Arab coordinator and Circus struck all round helper and body guard in the group. All our activities have been taking place in the studio and once a week we travel to Mugrah to give classes there in the Community center. (These classes are open to other children free of charge.)

Renovation on our Center started over a month ago with very generous support from the Kefar Yehoshua village management committee. An incredible personal donation from Mr. Pedlar and a very generous donation from members of the W.C.A in the US, means that I.C.S will build a new stage in the Center, buy very expensive training equipment and get a computer for our new office. A big thank you also to Ted Morrell of Southport in England for 205 pounds sterling collected on our behalf. All this support gives us here at I.C.S great opportunity to fulfill our desires in creating the first Circus Center in Israel and you should all feel very proud at being involved in such a noble enterprise.

The part time employment of Tamar and Raya in secretarial/administrative/public relations has seen a 10 fold increase in our efficiency and not misplacing receipts or cheque and getting a bit of sorely needed advertising done. Their help over the next months will prove to add greatly to our overall success in keeping things running smoothly and eliminating many headaches.

Finally, the Children Circus experienced a big success in their performances in the recent Acco Festival, considered one of the main festivals in Israel’s yearly calendar. The performance of “Clowns” dedicated to Mr. A Pedlar, was received with great warmth, bringing together large audiences of Jewish and Arab families. There was really something for every one to look at and to cheer and clap. The V.I.P treatment of the group gave the participants a taste of how highly esteemed our work was for the festival. Artistically the work was entertaining, but spiritually the strength of the work will resound for a long time to come.

Thank you all so much for the great strength you imbue us with, with all your support and well wishes. We are in the beginning of the way and with your continued support we are certain to have a very bright future.

To finish with, below are some pictures from the recent Festivals…

All the best,
David Berry (Artistic Director I.C.S)

On behalf of,
The Association for the Development of Circus Arts in Israel (58-039-562)
P.O.Box 2101, Kiryat Haroshet, Tivon 36091, ISRAEL