Circus Artemis; Women as positive role models

I had the privilege to see in it's entirety, the All Women's Circus, called Circus Artemis, Friday night here in Portland. They held the Circus at the A-WOL warehouse space which was perfect because it is such a HUGE building. The Circus needed that big of a building to be able to HOLD all that talent that these women have!

I was anticipating this event for a few weeks because I was able to see everything come together. I got to help out a bit by putting flyers up ALL over town, and I excitedly talked to everyone I met about the upcoming show. I think I even helped them get a hold of their raffle tickets as well(awesome!). These ladies made something amazing out of of an idea that they had while hanging out at the Oregon Country Fair. Over the past few months they have worked their butts off to make this event happen. It finally happened this weekend and it was such a good show! What a way to show all the little girls (and boys too) out there that women are strong, talented and beautiful. And they don't have to take off their clothes or perform in a "club" to show off their talents! I can say that from what I saw I hope they get to do another Circus of this magnitude again. I don't think I am the only one who thinks that either!

Opening night was Friday night and we arrived early. Thankfully we did too, we got great seats. Front row, right in the middle of all the action! They ended up allowing 'big' and little kids (and their parents) to sit on the floor in the front because there were not enough seats! What a great way to start this off! There were 3 lovely young ladies walking around on stilts selling raffle tickets to the crowd, while a few hilarious clowns cruised the crowd telling jokes, and generally making people laugh. Watching a woman with a pair of OVER stuffed gym pants, and a long (and ugly) fake nose and "nerd" glasses stand on a block barking and howling to the crowd while the crowd barked back at her was funny, for kids and adults. The clowns were not like your "regular" clown either, they were better! As all of this was going on there was also a consessions area and bar (for 21 and up, of course). You could get popcorn, and ALL the fixins' you wanted, or an elephant ear, or even these dainty little cupcakes. They thought of everything! On the other side of the building, there was a lovely ALL WOMEN "old-timey" band called "Pie For Breakfast String Band". They were really good and it was so much better than music coming out of a speaker, it was LIVE!

The first night started off a bit slow due to the seating problem(?). Once we all learned to play a game called "Let's squeeze together" taught to us by one of the Clowns(Jack Stock Lynn), the show was able to start. The kids in the audience got quiet and less jittery when one of the lovely MC's sauntered out onto the stage. She looked beautiful, and played her part well!

The line up included: Trapeze, hand balancing and contortion, aerial fabric,clowning, stilting, acrobatics, aerial straps, poi, and 2 MC's that at times, stole the show!

I truly loved all the acts but there were 2 ladies that I think, are wonderful examples of strong, beautiful, and TALENTED women. Brittany Walsh is a goddess that owns the stage while she is performing her hand-balancing and contortion act. Her hand stands are flawless, and she makes it look easy! She is clearly very strong and is really in touch with her body. I didn't know watching someone doing handstands would be so exciting. Not only could she hold a hand stand for what seemed like FOREVER, she did something else. She shot a bow and arrow with her foot, hitting a target on the side of the stage! This whole act was done on pegs, or sticks, about 2 feet high in the air. 

The second woman who simply amazed me was a lady who does something called "aerial straps". This is often performed by men because of having to be so strong. Well, Shersten Finley completely kicked ass on those straps and it was far more beautiful and dynamic because SHE is a WOMAN! She obviously trains a lot. Her performance was mesmerizing, full of skill and raw power!

My favorite costume was by far that of Shireen Press. She was a "Circus Doll". A very animated, cute, and especially good at Poi (Glow Poi even), Circus Doll.

I could go on and on about the show. There was so much to see, including the great costumes, music choices and the hilarious 'banter' between the two MC's made the show run smooth. There were only a few times where I couldn't hear properly. I guess they maybe yelled too loud into their mikes? Or when both MC's talked at once, over each other.

The line to use the restrooms could have been curtained off, that way it wouldn't have been distracting for the audience. They had to work with what they had. It wasn't their building. They did what they could. I thought they did great!

I am hoping that they can afford to do another show, sometime soon. If not soon, then how about later? It takes big bucks to put on a production, and they even had tons of volunteers! It was kinda like a "homegrown" effort to put the Circus on, That's another reason I liked it so much; All kinds of good people working together to put something out there for the world to see. If this is what life is about, I want my life to be a Circus!

Hope to see the next Circus Artemis soon....