This Summer, Create a Real Live Circus

First, check out the About the Circus page to learn all about what we do.

During the 2011 summer session, Tiny Circus will collaboratively re-think and re-invent the format and structure of our show, "The Other Histories of the World."

Tiny Circus has hours of raw material – over forty lovely, funny, and engaging community-made animations. We’ll spend the summer developing our audience experience. Just what does an hour-long Tiny Circus show look like? In the process of answering this question, we’ll create a real Tiny Circus - complete with a miniature ferris wheel, lion tamer, human cannonball – and then give them voices and animate them. We’ll consider ways to encourage audience participation, a narrative structure for our show, and our fantastic spectacle in general.

This is our starting point – but Tiny Circus is collaborative, and we’ll imagine, make, and animate this world together. Come join us this summer!

What does a summer with Tiny Circus look like?

Summer with Tiny Circus is never predictable.

We'll live together in a large house with 8 bedrooms, a few airstream trailers in the backyard, large common rooms and a studio for animating (that doubles as a dance floor with disco ball). We work, play, cook, eat and imagine together. You'll meet great people from a variety of backgrounds and make lots of new friends. Grinnell is a lovely little town with a great coffee shop, ice cream stand, and swimming pool.

Download the Participant Handbook to see an outline of a typical summer-session day and get a sense of what to expect while living at Tiny Circus. In the Handbook you also will find general information about fees, community work, meal and living arrangements.

When and Where

Our 2011 summer session will run from June 1 to July 15 in Grinnell, Iowa.

How long should you Circus? We are looking for both short and long term participants with varied skills and an interest in collaborative community art creation. No specific experience is necessary. Contact the circus if you have any questions!

If you are interested in circusing this summer, please fill out the Summer Participant Application Form with your availability and anticipated length of stay. Email the form to tinycircus@gmail.com with “Summer Participant Applicant” in subject line.

Please be aware we have limited space, so apply early!