FringeArts' Announces Return To Live Performance With Socially Distanced Circus Festival

After a year-long hiatus due to the pandemic, FringeArts and Circadium School of Contemporary Circus kick off their return to live performance with the third annual Hand to Hand circus festival June 3-13. The two-week-long fest features a mix of socially distanced indoor and outdoor performances and workshops by innovative, local company 3AM Theatre and Philadelphia's most talented up-and-coming circus artists. Performances and interactive workshops include aerial acrobatics, juggling, tightwire, and more!

"The health and safety of our audiences, artists, and staff remain FringeArts' greatest concern, and we continue to watch the situation closely," says FringeArts President Nick Stuccio. "That being said, we've eagerly awaited the time when we could come together again and do what we love-connect with another other through live art. With protective measures in place, we are confident in our ability to safely welcome audiences back into our space and excited to experience the joy of live circus as a community."

The 2021 Hand to Hand lineup both celebrates the return of in-person, communal art and explores how we relate to ourselves and the world around us.

Philadelphia-based multidisciplinary performance company 3AM headlines the festival with Eventide (June 11-13), a tender, multidisciplinary piece that uses expressive movement, object manipulation, and contemporary, surreal scene-setting to expose the challenges we face in relationships with ourselves and others. The piece will be performed live, indoors at FringeArts.

Performed live, indoors at the Circadium School campus, Test Flights (June 3) is a special circus-themed edition of FringeArts' monthly works-in-progress series Scratch Nights hosted by Zak McAllister and featuring the work of emerging Philadelphia circus artists.

Heliopause (June 4-6), a collaboration between the 2021 Circadium School of Contemporary Circus' graduating class and circus veteran Molly Saudek, investigates the relationship between self and community through movement. The show will be performed live, indoors at FringeArts.

Hand to Hand partner Vernon Park hosts Monday is Years Long (June 5) live, outdoors. In the piece, Circadium students blend circus, dance, and theatre to examine the contradictions and overlaps between isolation and virtual closeness.

Circus Midway (June 12) is a day of free outdoor workshops and pop-up performances by the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts at the La Peg Biergarten. Attendees of all ages and abilities can learn basic aerial acrobatics, juggling, tightwire, plate spinning, and more from the school's teachers and performers.

For the duration of the festival, FringeArts and its partners will be adhering to all local and state health and safety guidelines. The following can be expected:

a-? For indoor and outdoor events, FringeArts will adhere to all capacity recommendations set by the City of Philadelphia at the time of the performance. Patrons can expect significant reductions in the maximum number of tickets available, especially for indoor performances in our theater and at the Circadium School campus.

a-? FringeArts will abide by all mask and face covering recommendations set by the City of Philadelphia at the time of the performance. Additional masks will be available for any guest who needs or wants one.

a-? Public restrooms and hand sanitizer will be available to all patrons.

a-? Social distancing will be encouraged during outdoor events. Indoors at FringeArts, seats will be pre-set according to the party's size to ensure social distancing requirements are met. Patrons will be expected to reserve tickets for everyone in their party at the time of purchase.

Tickets are on sale now to FringeArts Members and go on sale to the general public Friday, April 16, 2021.

Tickets are available at FringeArts.com and by calling the FringeArts Box Office at 215.413.1318.

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