Our Mission
The Young Adult Circus Arts Mentorship Program will prepare young adults ages 18-26 for careers as circus performing artists by providing artistic and professional guidance, enabling participants to build the tools needed to present themselves as professionals in the field, and fostering a community of collaboration for young adults building their art and career.
Our Program
The Young Adult Circus Arts Mentorship Program is a twelve-month long group mentoring partnership. Different topics of professional development will be addressed each month and artistic goals will be set and evaluated throughout the year. Each month there will be one guest expert on a development topic, a check in for mentor and mentees, a review of progress in act development, and a review of the material created in response to that month’s topic of lecture. The yearlong program would culminate in the coming together of participants to present their work to the community.
We invite young adults ages 18-26 based anywhere in the United States to apply to join the Young Adult Circus Arts Mentorship Program. Starting September 15th Participants will meet every Tuesday 8:00-10:00pm Eastern via online video chat and will have help in finding the circus coaching that best meets their needs. Mentees will film and upload their act progress monthly to receive feedback from their peers, their mentor, coaches, and professionals in the circus field. In August of 2021 our rising circus professionals will present their work to the community in a public performance.
Bridging the Gap
In the United States there are hundreds of youth circus programs with thousands of students. For many who grow up participating in youth circus programs in this country, there is no accessible option to continue learning their craft or to develop the tools necessary to turn their childhood passion into a career in the circus arts. Once the youth in our community become young adults, far too frequently they are left asking, “What now? What about me?” The Young Adult Circus Arts Mentorship Program seeks to be an answer; to bridge the gap between youth circus participants and professional circus practitioners in America.
YACAMP Founder Polly Solomon
Polly Solomon is a teaching and performing circus artists based in NYC. She teaches circus in school, after-school, camp, studio, and theatrical and circus production settings. Polly has directed shows nationally for the American Youth Circus Organization including shows presented in the Chicago Contemporary Circus Festival and the Worldwide Circus Summit, created Common Ground; a Circus Adaptation of Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman, and is co-project founder of Urban Acrobatics: A Circus and Graffiti Spectacular!, and created Surround Circus, an immersive circus experience in the spring of 2018. Polly formed the Young Adult Circus Arts Mentorship Program to remove the barriers to becoming a professional that have dissuaded some of our most skilled young performers from making a career in the circus by providing the tools and support they need for success.
