The Association for the Development of Circus Arts in Israel
January 2004 Newsletter
by David Berry

Dear friends of I.C.S,

The last couple of months have mostly been dedicated to the slow mixing and applying and drying of cement on the walls, floors and ceilings of our Circus Center in Kefar Yehoshua. The first stage of the structural work nears completion and I.C.S expects to have the keys to the building on the 1st. February 2004. The Association management signed a contract with the management of Kefar Yehoshua under the watchful eyes of lawyers from both sides giving Israel Circus School a nine year lease on the whole building. Well done to the people in Kefar Yehoshua responsible for their decision to trust our endeavor and give I.C.S the support and backing by giving us a building that is full of good memories of former times, when it was the main community hall and cinema for all the local area. I.C.S hopes to transform the derelict energy of the last 10 years and make the historic 1949 Bauhaus design building, a thriving center of activity in the times to come.

In other news our 3 day workshop in December 2003, sponsored by the European Union grant for the Children Circus project, attracted other children from the area to participate in Circus Skills training. Participants of the Children Circus project where given the responsibility to look after young members of the workshop and guide them in various activities such as stilt walking, acrobatics and juggling skills. The European Union grant has allowed I.C.S to implement many ideas in youth education using Circus Skills as the basis. This on going work over the last months has equipped our young friends with technical abilities in the various fields of training as well as allowing all the members to see themselves as people at work and at play with each other. "Not Arab, not Jewish, Just Kids" together with all the quirks that young people have. In some ways we have already achieved 90% of the original proposal in bringing young people together and building firm foundations of trust. We now get ready to test the strength of this relationship in taking our young friends as a group to Cyprus in a few months time.

Finally the afternoon classes for ages 5 to 17 years old in the studio have seen a slight increase in numbers and a good level in stability. The air of anticipation as to when the activities will extend to the main hall upstairs acts as a background motivation for us all.

Realistically the program will not change that much for the rest of the school year. As we install our new equipment current students who now have strong foundations in technical abilities will be given a chance to develop new skills. This will be done slowly in order to get used to the new settings and in preparation for a much stronger push in the summer workshops, July-August 2004.

All the best for the New Year of 2004,

David.