50 SCENE | MAY 2017 promote the circus arts. Its stated mission today is “to engage and educate students using unique and innovative learning programs; to measurably improve the quality of life for individuals in care facilities; and to advance the extraordinary legacy and heritage of the circus.” It’s no wonder that they’re a major player in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival! The Circus Arts Conservatory (CAC) appeared on the Smithsonian’s radar in a big way when co-founder Dolly Jacobs — daughter of famed circus clown Lou Jacobs and former New York fashion model-turned-circus-performer Jean Rockwell Jacobs — won both a Florida Folk Heritage Award in 2012 and then a 2015 Folklife Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Jennifer Mitchell, Managing Director of The Circus Arts Conservatory, says, “That pair of awards for Jacobs spurred a lot of opportunities. It was the first NEA ever given to a circus artist!” She notes that the NEA is affiliated with the Smithsonian largely through the cross-programming they do, and that’s largely how this partnership came to be. They’ve been in the planning stages since November 2015. “A lot of circus entities are coming together for this, but no one is working as closely with the Smithsonian as we are,” she adds. They’ll be bringing their own big top — the main venue for the entire festival — to the National Mall. That’s the very same big top you see January through March at Nathan Benderson Park behind the Mall at UTC. They’ll also be bringing along nearly 80 attendees, which include students from the Sailor Circus and other circus artists from southwest Florida. The festival takes place from June 29 to July 4, then it’s dark on July 5 before closing with a final four days from July 6 through 9. It’s a world-class opportunity to bring the circus arts to a national stage, reports Mitchell. “The festival averages 100,000 visitors per day, so that’s a million on-site visitors. They’ll also live stream it and have other media coverage. In total, the expectation is that the festival will have five million spectators.” Why is all of this important? Because it’ll allow a national and international audience as well as
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