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Less than 24 hours to go - don''t miss the premiere!

NOISE. (To learn to hear you) / SILENCE. (My mind is a tunnel)
Foundation Degree Ensemble 2020 | Friday 17 July, 7.30pm BST

Join us tomorrow for the final Circus Arts Degree performances of the summer. We''ll be screening the never-before-seen Foundation Degree Ensemble films, ''NOISE. (To learn to hear you)'' and ''SILENCE. (My mind is a tunnel)''.

NOISE. (To learn to hear you)
SILENCE. (My mind is a tunnel)
When: Friday 17 July, 7.30pm BST
Where: National Centre for Circus Arts YouTube channel
Running time: NOISE 18 mins | SILENCE 20 mins

Director Neus Gil Cortes and the second year Foundation Degree students at the National Centre for Circus Arts have created two pieces of contrasting work. An enchanting exploration of how noise and silence influence us on a physical and emotional level: our heart rate, the rhythm of our breath, our relationship with ourselves and others. Download the show programme here.

As well as being two visually stunning works, sound has been optimised for NOISE and SILENCE. The use of headphones is encouraged for full enjoyment of this audio visual experience. Once streamed, the production will only be available on our YouTube channel for 6 days.

Not to be missed!

? Stream the performance, Friday 17 July, 7.30pm BST

On with the Show

Join us for the premiere of the BA (Hons) Degree Ensemble and the Foundation Degree Ensemble on YouTube

The National Centre for Circus Arts'' degree ensemble productions will be premiering over the next two Fridays.

Nest | BA (Hons) Degree Ensemble
Friday 10 July, 7.30pm
Tickets: Donation
Runtime: 20 mins

Nest is a collage of video responses to circumstances that don't need explaining. An assembled abstraction of circus, staircases, and hamster-bedding. The graduating ensemble production of the BA (Hons) programme, directed by Arron Sparks.


NOISE. (To learn to hear you) | SILENCE. (My mind is a tunnel) | Foundation Degree Ensemble
Friday 17 July, 7.30pm
Tickets: Donation
Runtime: 40 mins

Director Neus Gil Cortes and the second-year Foundation Degree students have created two pieces of contrasting work, ''NOISE'' and ''SILENCE''. An exploration on how each influences us on a physical and emotional level: our heart rate, the rhythm of our breath, our relationship to ourselves and others.

These short films not only mark the culmination of our students' hard work and training on our Degree programme, but also offer an insight into the creativity and innovation needed to produce an ensemble performance under the unique circumstances of social isolation.

Term 1 suspended for recreational classes & courses
September - December 2020

Thank you for your patience and overwhelming support for us during this period.

As you'll be aware, life has started to reopen across the UK and with that the discussion about how and if we can reopen our doors safely for circus training to continue. We've been working steadily behind the scenes to come up with a plan.

In order to maintain a safe space for staff and users and help mitigate against a closure in case of an outbreak, the following restrictions are being put in place:

. To ensure social distancing is maintained, each space has limited capacity
. Cleaning occurs between classes and throughout the day
. Users will be placed in training bubbles
. No training programmes will share space at the same time

Because of these restrictions, we're unable to run a normal timetable of classes and therefore the National Centre has made the difficult decision to prioritise the following funded programmes during Term 1:

. Higher Education
. Professional Training
. London Youth Circus

This means that we will not be able to offer any courses on our recreational Adult or Youth programmes during Term 1, September - December 2020.

We hope the situation will have evolved enough that we will be able to offer Adult and Youth courses from January 2021, however we will continually revise the situation and if we're able to reinstate courses earlier than this, we will.

If you have any credit amount on your account with us and would like it refunded please email info@nationalcircus.org.uk, otherwise the amount will remain on credit for the foreseeable and can be used on courses when they resume.

The following circus schools in London are running a reduced timetable of classes that you may be able to access:

Aircraft Circus
My Aerial Home
Forgotten Circus School
Flying Fantastic
Skylab
London Dance Academy

We realise this isn't the best news and we'd hoped, like many, that by September we could carry on with some normality. The Arts is in a perilous position at the moment and putting these strict safety measures in place will help against a full closure that could be further devastating for our organisation.

On behalf of all the staff at National Circus, thank you so much for your kind words, donations and ongoing support.

The Participation team and our teachers really can't wait to have you back in the building again soon.

Thank you,

National Centre for Circus Arts

Circus Fitness Online

Organisation Update

After what has felt like a very long six months we have at last been able to reopen our building for limited activities. We have spent huge amounts of time and resource in preparing our building and making it Covid safe and working on new and innovative ways of teaching and practicing circus to ensure we can resume the creation of great circus and support our staff, students and professional members to return to work and training. With the restrictions that have to remain in place in the building to enable social distancing and a renewed cleaning and hygiene regime we are only able to run courses and classes that are part of the following programmes at the moment;

. Foundation and BA (Hons) Degree
. Professional Training
. London Youth Circus

If you do train on any of these programmes and are returning to Coronet Street please read carefully the Re-opening Framework document.

Sadly, this means that during Term 1 (September - December) we will not be able to offer any of the following courses:

. Adult courses: Introduction to Aerial/Acrobatics, Level 1, 2 or 3 courses or short courses.
. Youth: Family Circus, Primary Circus, Junior Circus, Youth Circus and Sensory Circus.

We share the frustration that this causes and we do understand that many people are desperate to get back into training. These programmes represent a significant chunk of activity in a normal week at the National Centre and we know how disappointing this is for our members who cannot train as well as our staff, many of whom cannot yet fully return to work. As you can imagine the impact on our financial situation is significant and we are working hard to plan for our 'new future'. We continue to monitor government guidance and information from Public Health England and the World Health Authority, as well as our own new processes and procedures in the hope that we will be able to reintroduce some of these courses from January 2021. We have a cross organisational working team who will continue to assess the changing situation on a daily basis and we will let everyone know when we can safely make any changes to our programme.

In the meantime, the following circus schools in London are running a timetable of classes that you may be able to access at their studios or remotely; and across the UK various training spaces are beginning to open for training.

Aircraft Circus
My Aerial Home
Forgotten Circus School
Flying Fantastic
SkyLab
London Dance Academy

If you don't already do so please follow us on our social media pages for the latest information and a way to stay in touch with us. We will try to share with you all some snippets about how our new intake of students are settling into a slightly strange new environment and how their creative journeys are starting.

Facebook: NationalCentreforCircusArts
Instagram: nationalcircus
Twitter: nationalcircus
YouTube: National Centre for Circus Arts

We have been installing new hand wash facilities, sanitising stations, one way systems and rigorous cleaning schedules. Programmes have been redesigned and staff and teacher support and training has been put in place. New protocols for managing injury and first aid, as well as mental health first aid, have been developed and put in place. Staff who can work from home are continuing to do so to help us reduce the number of bodies in our building and so reduce contact numbers. Everyone has been challenged in some way over the last few months, and everyone has stepped up to new ways of working and thinking. As always, I am incredibly proud of everyone at the National Centre and everything we have achieved so far, but if I had to pick out one thing that shines through it would be the way everyone has been thoughtful and kind to each other, acknowledging how everyone has had different experiences during lockdown and re-emerging into 'normality'. Mindfulness and taking a moment to consider others feels like a great legacy we can carry forward.

If you have any thoughts about the future for circus and the National Centre we would be delighted to hear from you as we review our business model and set out our strategy for the next five years in this turbulent world. Any support we can get at this point, helps us to stay afloat providing opportunities for circus students and professional circus artists who have all suffered huge negative impacts due to Coronavirus. Please follow and share our activities online and if you would like to make a donation, please do so here.

We do hope we will be able to welcome everyone back, virtually or in 'real life' before too long.

Stay safe and well,

Kate