Circus Harmony’s “Nocturne” at City Museum just might make your dreams come true!

Tucked away on the third floor of City Museum near the pinball arcade and across from the Hall of Guinness World Records is a miniature circus tent that is the home of Circus Harmony. At the core, Circus Harmony is a school for circus performing arts beginning with students as young as three years old. But I would say Circus Harmony is a platform for teaching life skills to children from all sorts of different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Their motto “Circus Harmony promotes peace through pyramids, joy through juggling, and harmony through handsprings!” says it all. Once a year they produce a full-length circus as a goal for the students to work toward. This show is solid gold.

It seems with any contemporary circus there is some sort of premise around which the show is based. “Nocturne” is this year’s annual show about a young girl struggling with sleepless nights filled with anxious dreams. We begin the story with her mother reassuring our Dreamer that there are no monsters under her bed and that her Teddy Bear will take good care of her. Her Teddy Bear does his best to thwart the Nightmares by encouraging Dreamer to take control of her thoughts and think about things that make her happy. The struggle between Nightmares and Dreams is the plot of the show throughout and, spoiler alert, Dreams win in the end.

Writer and Director Briland Schack-Farnell has done a lovely job weaving 12 breathtaking circus acts into Dreamer’s sleepless night. The cast of 14, ranging in age from 9 to nineteen, is spectacular. While this may be the school’s annual show this is by no means your typical recital or something just for family and friends. These are skilled artists in their own right.

Using every precious (and extremely limited) inch of the space to their advantage, these accomplished performers can defy gravity and amaze the audience with breathtaking feats of floor and aerial spectacle. The first act includes mini trampoline acrobatics, towering chairs balancing player upon player to the ceiling, juggling, and suspended hoop acrobatics.

In the second half of the show, the struggle between Nightmares and Dreams continues with a giant pole in the center of the stage with Dreamer and Teddy Bear climbing up to the top and almost crashing to the floor to escape from Monster and his Nightmares. Suspended ladders are used to highlight even more aerial proficiency. The final battle among Dreamer, Teddy Bear, and Monster is an intimate acrobatic dance where the three players climb on top of, weave in and out of, and topple into each other in perfect harmony ultimately converting Monster into a Good Dream. In the end, Dreamer and Teddy Bear soar high atop a pyramid of Dreams in partner acrobatics worthy of any professional circus.

One of the many things that makes this show so delightful is the spirit of camaraderie. Whenever there is a stumble or mis-timed move they seamlessly start over. In these moments there is so much love and support for one another the strength is palpable.

Artistic Director, Jessica Hentoff, founded the company in 2001 after starting the youth circus troupe St. Louis Arches in 1988 as an offshoot of Circus Flora (of which she is also a founding member).  Circus Harmony is not just a school for circus arts but also a social circus organization that uses circus arts to motivate social change. Watching these children, from different neighborhoods and walks of life, work together and literally stand on each other’s shoulders, gives me hope for the future.

Circus Harmony’s “Nocturne” is at City Museum and runs through February 4th. Tickets include admission to City Museum. For tickets and information go to the Circus Harmony website.