Wise Fool is grateful for this accolade and opportunity to bring a taste of New Mexico's rich arts culture to the world. said Wise Fool New Mexico Artistic Director Amy Christian.
Santa Fe, New Mexico (PRWEB) October 05, 2016
Wise Fool New Mexico is pleased to announce that they’ve been invited to participate in the prestigious 2017 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. "It's an incredible honor to be recognized on a national level for our unique combination of circus, street arts, and social engagement. Wise Fool is grateful for this accolade and opportunity to bring a taste of New Mexico's rich arts culture to the world." said Wise Fool New Mexico Artistic Director Amy Christian.
Wise Fool New Mexico is one of only 15 nationwide circus art companies invited to attend the FolkLife Festival and is currently seeking funding from individual and corporate sponsors to allow the company to represent the Southwest at the nation’s capitol next summer.
In the Smithsonian’s invitation letter, Wise Fool New Mexico’s use of circus arts to promote community engagement, cooperation, social justice and access to the arts were applauded. “We are especially interested in Wise Fool’s innovative and creative use of giant hand-made puppetry and stilt-walking characters, and the ways you combine these worldwide folk art forms with circus performance elements of aerial artistry, acrobatics, clown and equilibristics to engage audiences with fascinating visuals and daring physicality.”
The Circus Arts program is a special focus at the 2017 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which takes place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., from June 29 to July 4, and July 6 to 9, 2017. Each year the Folklife Festival attracts millions of people onsite and online to engage with community-based traditions from around the world. Co-sponsored by the National Park Service, the festival is one of the largest and most popular cultural events in the nation’s capital.
For 17 years, Wise Fool New Mexico has meaningfully engaged diverse audiences and operated a robust circus arts education program for children and adults.
Upcoming events:
- Fall Circus Classes, October 10— November 8
- Winter Break Camp, December 19 – December 22 and/or December 27 – December 30
Registration begins November 1
- Circus Luminous, the annual contemporary circus performance November 25, 26, 27 at the Lensic Performing Arts Center
Wise Fool New Mexico’s social circus program employs circus arts as a vehicle to address trauma, social isolation and violence among young people in the public schools. In 2016, the American Youth Circus Organization (AYCO) recognized national social circus programs; Wise Fool New Mexico was among the first four companies to be recognized.
For more information on fundraising and corporate sponsorship opportunities, contact:
Carol Schrader, Managing Director
505 992 2588
mdirector(@)wisefoolnm.org
For more information about Wise Fool New Mexico, contact:
Amy Christian
505 699 9574
amy(@)wisefoolnm.org
For media inquiries, contact:
Audrey Nadia Rubinstein
505 490 5029
Audrey(@)jlhmedia.com
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ABOUT WISE FOOL NEW MEXICO:
Wise Fool New Mexico is a non-profit theatre arts project whose mission is to ignite imagination, build community, and promote social justice through performances and hands-on experiences in the arts of circus, puppetry and theater. Since 1997, the company has been performing original, multi-disciplinary works incorporating circus arts, physical theater and visual splendor throughout New Mexico and beyond. The group toured their first outdoor spectacle production to 13 states, visiting all major regions of the US and Canada. Wise Fool’s work has been called entrancing, exhilarating and ludicrously gifted… “Calling to mind the best of Bread and Puppet, Mummenschantz and Teatro – with all the political awareness of Guillermo Gomez Peña.” http://www.wisefoolnewmexico.org
Photo credits:
1. Giant handmade puppets, Courtesy of Wise Fool New Mexico
2. Seesaw ©Kate Russell Photography
