Issue:
651 Date: 02/13/2003 
Far East Meets Midwest
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by Jessica Hentoff
I would like to explain the history of Far East Meets Midwest. My name is Jessica Hentoff and I am the Artistic and Executive Director of the Circus Day Foundation. The Circus Day Foundation is a local non-profit organization whose mission is to 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.
In 2001, I met Master Lu Yi the head teacher of the premier circus training facility in the United States, the Circus Center of San Francisco. I talked with him about having some of my students learn Chinese Hoop Diving. Part one of Far East Meets Midwest was bringing Chinese master acrobatic teacher
Xiao Hong Weng from the Circus Center to St. Louis to teach the classical Chinese circus art of Hoop Diving to the St. Louis Arches. The Arches are the youth circus troupe that consists of the star students of the Circus Day Foundation.
 
St.
Louis Circus Day Foundation founder Jessica Hentoff
and Master Chinese Acrobatic teacher Xiao Hong Weng
The second phase of Far East Meets Midwest was the production of a show bringing together Asian and Midwestern arts and artists. I talked with Francis Yueh, editor of the St. Louis Chinese American News. He connected me with the St. Louis Chinese Association. They invited me to the December show performed by students from the St. Louis Modern Chinese School. There, I was introduced to the school's principal, Yimin Zhu.
I explained the concept of Far East Meets Midwest. The Circus Day Foundation uses Circus Arts to connect communities. We want to expand the concept of community here in St. Louis. We hoped to expose Asian cultural arts to a wider audience and expose the St. Louis Arches to a wider audience. Our method to do this was to produce this show. Yimin Zhu approved of his students being part of this bridge-building project.
Far East Meets Midwest had the St. Louis Arches performing the Chinese circus skills of Hoop Diving, Diablo (otherwise known as Chinese Yoyo) and Group Bicycling. In addition to the Arches acts, the show consisted of Lion Dancers and Waist Drummers from the St. Louis Modern Chinese School, the St. Louis Osuwa Taiko Drummers, Team Respect from Amanat's Karate Center and master Japanese top spinner, Hiroshi Tada. The show was performed on the evenings of Feb. 7 & 8 in the everydaycircus ring on the third floor at City Museum in downtown St. Louis to sold out crowds. The show was a tremendous success. The acts blended together in a unique combination of cultural and performance arts that made for a very interesting and entertaining evening. The moment in the show that most symbolizes Far East meeting Midwest was the Arches' somersaults over one of the big lions from the St. Louis Modern Chinese School!
The show was dedicated to the lives and memories of Ngoot Lee and David Brown. Ngoot Lee was a Chinese American artist originally from Canton. Ngoot was a close friend of my family's while I was growing up. He lived and worked as an artist in New York City and died recently from throat cancer. David Brown was one of the astronauts on the doomed space shuttle, Columbia. Before he was an astronaut or a Navy pilot or a flight surgeon, David Brown was a member of a youth circus that myself, my assistant, April Zink, and another show performer, Donald Hughes, were also a part of. Both Ngoot Lee and David Brown did what they loved and loved what they did. They both viewed the world as a place without boundaries. They both helped expand people's sense of community.
Far East Meets Midwest was also a fundraiser for the Circus Day Foundation. After the Saturday show, there was a silent auction reception with Asian cuisine provided by the China Star and Midwestern cuisine from Pasta House and Supersmokers.
The St. Louis Arches were also honored by being asked to be part of the St. Louis Chinese Association's Chinese New Year Celebration on Feb. 1 at Forest Park Community College. The Arches performed their Chinese Hoop Diving and mini-trampoline acts ---including the sensational somersaults over the Chinese Lion. It was a great experience for the Arches and the audience seemed to really enjoy their performance. For the Washington University Chinese New Year Celebration, the Circus Day Foundation provided the father and daughter team of Dangerous Donald (assistant coach of the Arches) and the Sensational Shaina (one of the Arches) performing tumbling, rolla bolla, rolling globe and elevated hoop diving--- including a dive through a hoop of fire.
The Circus Day Foundation hopes to have Far East Meets Midwest II. For this production we are planning for the Arches to learn Chinese Vertical Poles. We would also like to collaborate more closely with the students from the St. Louis Modern Chinese School. Most Chinese Lion Dancers work on large balls called rolling globes. The Arches are quite proficient at rolling globes. Our hope is for the two groups to do an act combining their performers and including tumbling, Lion Dancers and rolling globes!
Until then, the Arches can be seen performing regularly with everydaycircus at City Museum. You can get more information about the Arches at
www.circusday.org and about their performance schedule at
www.everydaycircus.net.
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Far East Meets Midwest - Circus Show Presented by Circus Day Foundation
by Jenny Zhang, Scanews Reporter
On the evenings of February 7th and 8th, Circus Day Foundation sponsored two circus shows titled "Far East Meets Midwest." Before a supportive crowd of more than 100 at the City Museum, children and adults from different cultures performed Japanese Taiko drums, Chinese hoop diving, unicycles, mini-trampoline, etc. After the show on the 8th, audiences also attended a reception with the performers, tasting delicious foods from China Star and participating in a silent auction that aimed at benefiting the Circus Day Foundation.
According to Jessica Hentoff, the Foundation's artistic and executive director, this program was dedicated to the memories of Ngoot Lee and David Brown. Lee was a Chinese American artist who came from Canton and died recently of cancer at the age of seventy. Despite the pressure that racial prejudices exerted upon his life, Lee maintained his positive and cheerful outlook. He made friends with people of all nationalities and backgrounds. David Brown was one of the seven people on board the space shuttle Columbia. He had also been a tumbler, juggler, unicyclist and stilt walker when he was young. He had traveled with young people across the country, using circus to bring a message of brotherhood and joy. Hentoff meaningfully stated that our earth seen from the space had no boundaries, and the purpose of the Circus Day Foundation was to use Circus arts to break barriers and connect communities.
 
"Far East Meets Midwest" was a program to bring together Asian and Midwestern arts and artists. The program started with the performance of Taiko drums, an indigenous part of the Japanese culture dating back more than 1,400 years. During this year's Chinese Spring Festival, which was around February 1st, performers from the Foundation were invited to join local Chinese community to celebrate the coming of the Year of Sheep. On the nights of the 7th and 8th, Lion Dancers and Waist Drummers from the St. Louis Chinese Modern School also participated in the Circus Show. Their presentation combined elements of dance, music, martial art, and traditional Chinese costuming and choreography, creating a wonderful festival atmosphere.
The most acclaimed performers of the two evening shows were St. Louis Arches, members of the sensational youth circus troupe established in 1989. Ten youth aged six to twenty-three years old presented Chinese hoop diving, Diablo, unicycles, and mini-trampoline. During the performance, people worked toward a common goal, that was, to challenge the limits of bodies, to demonstrate the most beautiful aspects of human beings, and, in the end, to receive thunderous applause. Circus was a crossing barriers kind of language.
 
Donald Hughes, assistant coach with the Arches, also presented his various skills, such as juggling, mini-trampoline, and rolla bolla. His daughter Shaina, a young member of the St. Louis Arches, performed gracefully "Lyra" with another Arch Elliana. Both girls managed to pose beautiful ballet gestures within a small trampoline hung in the air.
Other performance included Team Respect from Amanat's Karate Center and top spinning by Hiroshi Tada. Gail Noblot, 39, assistant coach of Team Respect, had been practicing for nine years. She was happy that she had the opportunity of teaching children and adults not only about self-defense but also about team-working spirit. Hiroshi Tada, affiliate professor of mechanical engineering at Washington University, manipulated a plain, primitive toy top with a rope using some elements of juggling and yo-yo. He demonstrated the art of Koma-Mawashi (Top Spinning) with scientific accuracy and received huge applause.
 
The Circus Day Foundation is a local non-profit organization whose mission is to teach the art of life through circus education. After the "Far East Meets Midwest" program on February 8th, there was a silent auction to benefit future activities sponsored by the Foundation. Besides enjoying delicious Chinese foods from China Star, audiences also had the opportunity to talk with performers and interact with other audiences.
When I approached a young audience of the circus show, an eight-year-old boy, asking which program he liked best, he replied, "The unicyclists, of course!" He said he wanted to be the one who sat in the front of the unicycle.
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