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St.
Louis City Museum children have a lot of fun to learn
Chinese Acrobatic from Xiao Hong Weng
Circus is an art form that crosses boundaries of race, religion, age and culture. Circus is one of the most appealing art forms in the world. Circus has a deeply rooted history in China and is also popular in the United States. A group called the Circus Day Foundation is bringing ancient Chinese circus arts to St. Louis.
The Circus Day Foundation's mission statement is: "We teach the art of life through circus education. We work to build character and expand community for youth of all ages, cultures, abilities and backgrounds. Through teaching and performance of circus skills, we help people defy gravity, soar with confidence, and leap over social barriers, all at the same time." Circus Day Foundation brings multicultural organizations, teams and individuals together -- and helps keep circus as a performing art alive for the whole St. Louis metro area. The Circus Day Foundation is fulfilling its mission to "expand community" by bringing Master Chinese Acrobatic Teacher Xiao Hong Weng to St. Louis to work with the St. Louis Arches. Xiao Hong Weng has taught circus arts for 16 years in China and in the United States. He specializes in many unique, traditional Chinese acts, such as hoop diving, chair balancing and the Lion dance. The St. Louis Arches are a sensational youth circus troupe. These advanced students of the Foundation are currently comprised of youth aged 5 - 23 years old from throughout the St. Louis area. They perform a wide variety of circus skills including tumbling, trapeze, juggling, stilt walking, tight-rope walking, unicycling, rolling globe, mini-trampoline and partner acrobatics. Previously, the only way to study the ancient art of Chinese circus skills was to have been born in China and chosen to go to a circus training facility. Only recently, did Xiao Hong Weng come to American and start teaching in San Francisco at the Circus Center there. It is very unusual for American circus artists to be seen performing the typical Chinese circus skills such as hoop diving and vertical poles. A majority of St. Louisans have not seen these exceptional skills performed live. The St. Louis Arches are local youth who would most certainly not be exposed to these skills without this program. 
This is the first chapter in a project that will culminate in a gala fundraiser for the Circus Arts Foundation to be held at the City Museum in February 2003 and to include the St. Louis Arches performing Chinese circus acts along with Chinese cultural groups presenting other traditional acts. Watch in this newspaper for more information on Far East Meets Midwest!
In today's society, it is necessary to learn, from a young age, the importance of cooperation and communication. No matter who we are and where we are from, we can find a common place, where our individual boundaries touch, overlap or - better yet - disappear in the face of what connects us.
The Circus Day Foundation uses circus arts to address this issue. Far East Meets Midwest tangibly demonstrates that by focusing on a goal together we concentrate on what unites us instead of what divides us. Especially because our country is now at war, we, as a nation, as a world, yearn for peace. The path to peace is a path of cooperation and communication. Bringing in a teacher from a foreign country to teach a St. Louis City youth how to dive through stacks of hoops may seem like a strange way to take this path. But it is the path used by the Circus Day Foundation! 
St.
Louis Circus Day Foundation founder Jessica Hentoff
and Master Chinese Acrobatic teacher Xiao Hong Weng
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