In a perfect world, I would've posted a little story or summary of each tour stop from the road. But the world isn't perfect and neither was this tour. My plan to sort photos and tell stories through blog posts from the (dis)comfort of our vehicle simply did not pan out as I had hoped. Internet inconsistencies, inverter blowouts, dead computer batteries, vehicle woes, logistical complications, interpersonal dramas, and the sheer exhaustion of running a tour left me with little time and energy to keep up with any writing.
But ten days after returning to Oakland, I have a moment to catch up and to share a few thoughts and stories from our two week whirlwind tour of the Southern US.
And We're (almost) Off!
Everything seemed to be going so smoothly. Savannah and I picked up the 12-seater Sprinter in the afternoon. Soon after parking it in the lot behind our apartment, we had a crew of people helping load up the cargo space in the back with circus gear and another crew organizing all the food and kitchen equipment and packing it into "Honeycomb" the little camper trailer that our friend let us use for the tour.
Almost everyone crashed at our apartment that night and those who didn't arrived bright and early the next morning. And while we wouldn't quite hit our goal of a 7am departure, we were actually going to leave before 8am! This was an impressive feat for a crew of 12 circus volunteers that all had to wrap up the loose ends of their private lives before boarding the circus bus and heading East.
It was a tight squeeze through our driveway, so I helped guide the driver past the building and out onto the street. All good, we were just about in the clear, until I heard a crushing, crackling, sound of metal and plastic colliding into asphalt. We were all novices with things like trailer hitches, and we forgot to lift up the third wheel, which was now a pile of bent metal and broken plastic pinned down under the weight of the trailer. So a little after 10am, we were off!
Not long into the journey we positioned ourselves in a gas station in such a manner that required us to back out. I jumped out to make sure there weren't any cars behind us and encouraged the driver to keep it coming. What I failed to pay attention to was the angle at which the trailer was turning in relationship to the Sprinter. Another crushing, crackling, sound alerted me to the situation too late. The corner of the trailer collided with the corner of the Sprinter, damaging both. I was thankful I left a substantial buffer in the tour budget for "unexpected costs", and we never backed up with the trailer attached again!
The STAR School and the Gateway Ranch - Flagstaff, AZ
We arrived at the STAR School, a charter school outside of Flagstaff, AZ that primarily serves children from the nearby Navajo reservation. Our host, Kate, gave us a tour of this off the grid school that's mostly powered by solar and wind. She let us know that it had been a tough week for the community as they mourned the passing of a young man that had recently taken his own life. That was heavy news to hear before our first show of the tour, but healing through laughter is a big part of our mission and this motivated us to give our grieving audience as much energy, fun, and laughter as we could muster.
A sparse audience slowly grew into a full gymnasium of people by the end of the show. We followed the performance with free food and circus workshops. And then we closed the event with a fire show in a gorgeous circular outdoor amphitheater lined with mosaics created by the school children. The fire light bounced off the ceramic tiles, twinkles of light under the vast, star swept sky of the Arizona desert.
That night we stayed at the spectacular Gateway Ranch, a community space further out in the desert. Home of the post-Burning Man "Decompression" event of Northern Arizona, this beautiful desert land was speckled with one treasure after another - a geodesic dome, fire art installations, a sacred temple, and even a colorful outhouse well positioned to watch the moon rise or the sun set. Gateway residents Jana and Bill graciously opened their entire home to all 12 members of our circus troupe and thus Dreamtime stumbled upon a slice of magic in a little known part of Arizona.
The Hopi Village of Shungopavi
I felt incredibly grateful for Dreamtime to be welcomed to perform in the Hopi village of Shungopavi in Northern Arizona. This gave us an opportunity to see a place that is within the geographic borders of the US, and yet culturally, economically, and politically outside of those borders. Many of the villages in Hopi territory remain isolated and outsiders must be invited to visit. I was immediately struck at how much the village looked and felt like a different country. It's a place of many extremes. The economic hardships are real, dire, and plainly visible while the people we met were incredibly friendly, eager to help us with anything we needed, and the kids were about as curious and energetic as any I had met around the world. And the land - the view we had from our stage that looked out over the desert mesa - was stunning.
The story we told in our show was that of Lucky McSob, an air salesman that gets swept 40 years into the future to find a toxic wasteland due to decades of environmental neglect. He eventually realizes that he must change his ways in 2013 in order to prevent the catastrophes he witnesses in 2053. It felt a little odd to deliver that message to a community that still regularly practiced rituals passed down from ancestors that have been here longer than any other inhabitants of this land and from well before the industrial revolution. So I said a few words after the show to explain why we had come to Shungopavi with this show.
I said "our show has a very simple message - that our actions today will have an impact on our children and our grandchildren and future generations to come. Many of the audiences we perform for have not given this concept much thought, and for those folks, we hope our show will inspire them to think about it. But some of our audiences already understand this concept in a very real and deep way, and for those folks, we hope our show inspires them to keep fighting for those future generations. We've done shows around the world and I can honestly say, as I look out over this mesa, that this may be the most beautiful place we've ever had the good fortune to perform. I don't want this place, or anywhere else on this planet, to become a toxic wasteland and I know none of you want that either. Thank you so much for inviting us to your home and coming to our show..."
As I spoke, I looked around and saw a lot of smiles, a lot of heads nodding, and even a couple of very tough looking men shedding a few tears. Our little circus show won't do much to stop rampant environmental devastation nor will it heal centuries of pain inflicted on the indigenous people of this land, but I do think there is great value in spreading a message of hope and letting people know that they have allies in unexpected places. Our circus event in Shungopavi was a unique experience for the community, a unique experience for our troupe, and a beautiful opportunity for positive, cross-cultural interaction.
Albuquerque by Fire
As we debated what sort of insane military test might have caused such an eerie sight, I decided to look up wildfires in New Mexico, in case that might be the culprit. Sure enough, there were two massive wildfires consuming vast areas of Northern New Mexico. The one we were likely seeing was raging in or near the state park where we planned to spend our day off. The other one was in the forest less than 20 miles from Santa Fe. I immediately got on the phone to try and cancel our hotel reservation there, but they refused to refund any money. I did a bit more research to make sure there weren't any major evacuations or serious public health risks. There were not, so we essentially drove straight toward one of the biggest wildfires burning in the U.S.
With the state park on fire, we opted instead to arrive in Albuquerque early. I'm glad we did. The owners of a soon to be Bed & Breakfast offered to house the entire troupe for free during out two night stay in town. It was arguably the nicest establishment I've ever stayed in and our hosts were unbelievably kind. We took advantage of their huge grill and lovely patio and indulged in a feast of steak, chicken, and grilled veggies.
The next day we performed for Circo Latino, an awesome sliding scale circus camp for youth, housed at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. We were impressed at how much they accomplished with such limited resources and honored to be the first outside troupe to ever come and perform for the camp. We felt a bit of pressure to put on a really spectacular show. Not only did the kids know a little about circus arts, but all the teachers (essentially our peers) would be watching as well!
Adding to this pressure, we feared for a moment that the lead performer in our show might be too ill to perform. This lead us down a crash course of not very good options for adapting the show on the fly. Fortunately, thanks to a heavy dose of herbal tinctures, he was on his feet and ready to perform with little time to spare.
The young circus enthusiasts made for a stellar audience, crazy loud and wonderfully engaged. They absolutely loved the show and the circus instructors thanked us over and over for giving them an excellent example they can use to inspire the kids learning the different skills we displayed in our show. Elsa, the woman who runs the camp, is hoping to figure out a way to bring some of us back out there to work with them more extensively. I, personally, would love to return to Albuquerque someday...
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