Sunday, November 7, 2011, Teatro ZinZanni goers put on their swanky attire and gave generously to support the ZinZanni Institute for the Circus Arts (ZICA). It was an evening of auctioning and magic as guests were astounded by performances from Bonsoir Liliane! cast members and former summer camp attendees. Francine Reed had the tent on its feet, dancing in the aisles to “Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues”. Auctioneer Kevin Joyce had attendees in furious bidding wars during the live auction and encouraging guests to dig deep during the raise the paddle. Moving speeches were made, an auction was had, and ZICA raised money. A HUGE thank you to all attendees. We couldn’t do it without your support!
Tag Archives: Camp
Shakespeare’s Fools Mid-Winter Clowning Camp at Teatro ZinZanni (February 21-25, 2011)
SHAKESPEARE’S FOOLS is a five-day winter break camp for students ages 8 to 16 presented by Seattle Shakespeare Company and the ZinZanni Institute for Circus Art in Teatro ZinZanni’s antique Belgian spiegeltent. Through a series of workshops with local artists from the Shakespeare Company and members of the international cast of Teatro ZinZanni, thirty-five campers will learn the basics of clowning in the context of Shakespeare’s characters and plays.
For more information: http://zica.zinzanni.org/camps-seattle/clown-crash-course-ages-5-8-capacity-35-2/
Do You Believe In Magic?
Last Sunday, November 7th was a truly Magical Evening at Teatro ZinZanni as nearly 300 people attended the Second Annual Gala Benefit for the ZinZanni Institute for Circus Arts (ZICA). Board members, parents and camper, vendors, Golden Tassel Club members, friends and family joined the cast of Hearts on Fire as the special evening successfully raised funds for ZICA. Former TZ chef/comedian Kevin Joyce was the ultimate “zingmaster” of ceremonies, guiding us through an incredible evening of song, circus, feasting and merriment. Special guest star blues goddess Duffy Bishop and her husband guitarist Chris Carlson peeled back the tent top with her renditions of “Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom” and “I Put a Spell on You.” Six foot two inch Manuela Horn reprised her role as Gretchen the Yodeling Dominatrix as she assisted El Vez, the Mexican Elvis, with his very special fund-raising effort (if you were there, you’d know exactly what happened 
. Campers Jamal Bakari, Devin Barrett, Sam David, Max Peterson and Ryland Smith stole the show with a high-energy display of some of the artistry and skill they’ve acquired at Camp ZinZanni’s summer sessions. Photos by Korum Bischoff.
Clown Crash-Course Final Performance
What happens when you put 35 kids between the ages of 5 and 8 into a 100 year-old spiegeltent and leave a legendary Quebequois clown in charge? Magic!
Camp ZinZanni, presented by Tree Top, is just hitting the half-way mark for 2010′s summer sessions and we’ve already seen kids clowning, juggling, miming, swinging, singing, balancing, teetering, pratt falling, slapsticking, acting, ribbon dancing, stacking, conjuring and growing. During our second week of Clown Crash-Course we even saw a kid lose his first tooth on stage!
Still want to get in on some circus fun? There are just a couple of remaining spots in our “Objects in Motion + Clowning” workshop which focuses on juggling, object manipulation and sleight-of-hand. The course starts Monday, July 26 and runs through Saturday, July 31. Visit campzinzanni.org for more information and the enrollment form.
Picture of the Day – 6/9/2010
On June 2, Camp ZinZanni instructors Peter Pitofsky and Charly De Dessus Le Moutier talk with guest hosts Marty Riemer and Jodi Brothers at the KIRO 97.3FM studios about this summer’s upcoming six weeks of Circus Camp instruction for kids ages 5 to 16. There’s still room available in Acrobalance + Clowning, Objects in Motion + Clowning, and Mime & Mask + Clowning. For more information, visit campzinzanni.org.
Join Camp ZinZanni for “Kids Rock” Family Day at S.A.M.
Maestro Voronin
Camp ZinZanni will be participating in Seattle Art Museum’s “Kids Rock” Family Festival on Saturday, May 15 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Mark your calendars for a family festival celebrating fame, fun and the opening of SAM’s new shows about Andy Warhol and Kurt Cobain. Check out live music, art making, karaoke, kids tours, photobooths, dancing, face-painting and more. Come dressed as a rock star and win fun prizes!
Live performances by Caspar Babypants and Harmonica Pocket. Plus, sign up to sing in Andy Warhol Organ Karaoke!
Among the activities is Camp ZinZanni’s “Color Me Cool” Warhol-inspired coloring activity in the South Hall. Get started now by downloading the SAM Family Day Coloring Sheets and use the sample above of Voroning as inspiration — or don’t! You’re the artiste!
The event is FREE and open to the public. Museum admission required to tour the galleries. RSVP to communityprograms@seattleartmuseum.org.
Markus Delivers the News
On Monday, March 1, Markus Kunz, Teatro ZinZanni’s Director of Education and Managing Director, took a stroll across Seattle Center to visit our friends in the KOMO Newsroom. After settling into the busy newsroom, he spoke on behalf of Camp ZinZanni with KOMO 1000 reporter Corwin Haeck for a piece to be aired at a later date. Markus entertained Corwin with conversation about clowning and circus, and the latest news about Teatro ZinZanni’s education program.
Camp ZinZanni is now enrolling for Summer 2010 in Seattle, and for the first time, in San Francisco as well!
ZinZanniversary!
As the twilight gathered on Sunday evening, November 1, the exterior of Teatro ZinZanni was aglow in the spangled, twinkling glitter ball light while the sounds of the Hans Teuber combo filled the air. Patrons stepped off the red carpet and inside to our lavishly appointed lobby/boutique to be greeted with warmth, music and laughter and a glass of wine care of our generous wine sponsor, Vinum Wine Importing and Distributing.
Our first ever ZinZanniversary benefit gala celebration was well underway. Over 250 of our closest friends, board members, staffers and performers were on hand to help us raise money for the ZinZanni Institute for Circus Arts. Throughout the night different opportunities were presented as ways to support our education program. We held a silent auction in the lobby and during the entree our emcee extraordinaire, El Vez conducted a raise-the-paddle moment – but not before he did a little fun-raising of his own (those of you who were there know exactly what we mean by that!).
Original cast members Ann Wilson and Dolorèze Léonard joined the cast of Beaumount & Caswell (co-starring original cast member Kevin Kent and comedienne Christine Deaver as well as the awesome Francine Reed) to give the evening an extra special sizzle. Watching Ann Wilson sing in the tent was simply amazing – the girl has some pipes!
All told we raised $75,000 – not bad for our first ever fund raiser event. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who joined us that evening. Thanks too to photographers Michael Doucett, Jonathan Manning and Abara Ijiomafor the lovely photographs.
Acrobalance – Behind the scenes
Here’s a quick look at some team-building work from August’s Acrobalance session of Camp ZinZanni. Check in periodically at http://zica.zinzanni.org to stay up-t0-date with classes for kids and adults as they’re added throughout the year.
Seattle Times features Camp ZinZanni
The Sunday, August 9 edition of the Seattle Times, featured a whopping color photo of Camp ZinZanni’s kids and staff working on a pyramid-building routine on the front page. The article, titled “Seattle Arts Groups Get Creative to Attract Younger Generations,” also included our friends at Seattle Opera, Seattle Art Museum and On The Boards.
