The Circus Is in Town

What do you get when you mix together a balloon sculptor, a magician, an aerial dancer/stiltwalker and a juggler who calls himself a “visionary circus artist”? If all goes right tonight, you get an intriguing, open-ended conversation at the Atomic Circus Salon Series: The Tao of Oddball Arts.

“I have this idea that different artists will see the world in different ways,” says Marj Hahne, the series organizer. “A painter would see a sailboat as triangle, color, line, whereas a poet would see metaphor. I got to thinking that if that was interesting, how does a magician see and render the world? It’s about people inquiring into things that I take for granted.”

Although the series is not typically performance-based, Hahne says this batch of presenters will spend part of the evening demonstrating their particular and peculiar modes of creativity. But the center ring of the circus is the back-and-forth discussion between the artists and the attendees.

“The audience dives right in; it’s really a more conversational thing,” Hahne continues. “I wanted to create a community event the way those events should be, and that’s how it’s turning out. It’s really turning out to be a respectful inquiry. People are having fun — it stays open-ended.”

The fun starts at 7 p.m. at the Boulder Center for Conscious Living, 1637 28th Street in Boulder, and the only cost is whatever “atomic love donation” you want to make. For more information, visit www.atomiccircus.net or call 303-476-8543.
Thu., March 18, 7-9 p.m., 2010