BCAM brings diversity to the circus

The BIPOC Circus Alliance Midwest, a thriving performance troupe in Chicago, played to soldout audiences in venues around Chicago in February and March.

A ectionately called BCAM by their members and fans, they are more than just a collective of circus artists. BCAM is an organization that emerged from the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 in order to provide performance opportunities and camaraderie for artists of color. It has since become a model of grassroots community building for other art forms and regions that might be interested in forming a self-empowering network.

One of its founders, Kaitlyn Andrews (a theater and circus artist specializing in rope, partner acrobatics, and clown), says the organization grew organically. Equity and inclusion education increased in arts organizations around the U.S. in 2020, yet demands to inform organizations on inclusivity practices were increasingly placed upon people of color (POC). Circus was not immune to that call to examine its diversity.

After assisting local circus schools with conversations about how to include more POC, the cofounders of BCAM decided to get together on their own to discuss their experiences in the world of circus and what they could do to increase opportunities for BIPOC performers. I spoke to four of the cofounders, and each person emphasized how much joy and relief they found at these gatherings—so much so that they formed an alliance right then, creating the culture of their newfound group as a DIY arts organization that emphasizes fostering the community they need.

I asked Andrews why they chose the midwest label rather than Chicago. Did they foresee the need to expand to other regions? She says expansion is possible, but for now, the focus is the midwest (not simply Chicago) because members quickly joined from surrounding states. Still, she was surprised to discover how strong the circus community was in Chicago, where we have over half a dozen circus organizations. “Chicago is a really awesome place to be for circus. You wouldn’t necessarily know it, but we have so many di erent training spaces here. The community is really thriving, and we’re just going to have di erent needs than in New York or LA,” Andrews says.

Of those circus spaces—the Center for Dynamic Circus, MSA & Circus Arts, CircEsteem, Trapeze School New York in Chicago, Aloft, and The Actors Gymnasium—most include circus schools as well as performance space, making it an ideal environment for circus artists to share their knowledge and artistic expression. Chicago also hosts many touring shows annually (Cirque du Soleil makes it a point to stop by regularly) and is home to multiple circus-themed events and circus-adjacent festivals each year as well as recurring circus shows like Midnight Circus, which has raised close to a million dollars for the Chicago Park District.

In spite of the high number of circus performers in town, their presence doesn’t exactly reflect the diversity of Chicago’s population, which according to 2020 census data is 65 percent nonwhite. Racial diversity in circus is something that BIPOC Circus Alliance Midwest hopes to improve not just by providing performance opportunities but also by encouraging youth with BIPOC representation to join the circus community.

Cofounder Amanda Okolo (who specializes in pole dancing, aerial silks, and aerial hoop) says her experiences in circus were similar to those of many other people of color. “The circus world overall is welcoming, but there are times where I feel like I can’t completely be myself. Sometimes I feel the need to blend in because I know that I stand out without trying. I also put pressure on myself to perform better and try harder than my peers because I feel like there are eyes on me and more judgment towards me.”

Visibility is a key element to increasing awareness, and BCAM is working hard on this by creating opportunities where none have historically existed. They just performed an- other of their themed cabaret shows in March at the Chicago Circus & Performing Arts Festival, where they made their debut live audience performance the previous year. Just weeks before that, they sold out their Black History Month Cabaret at Aloft.

Okolo speaks to the mission. “We want to create spaces for artists of color to be at the forefront, where their ideas are heard and realized so they can feel confident moving through the circus world and beyond. We want these artists to be encouraged to ask for what they are worth and to see their art as worthy to be seen.”

Another cofounder is Eric Robinson, a beloved member of the Chicago circus community with 17 years of performing and teaching under his belt. He is an acrobat and physical theater artist who also juggles. He creates awareness around BCAM by hosting their podcast The Conversation, interviewing people from circus in the midwest and beyond. He says he set the podcast up as a way to “just get more colorful faces in the room. The purpose of BCAM is to create opportunities where there haven’t been any for people who have been doing things in a silo for years. Finding out that there are people of color out there with brilliant ideas that are not being seen in the circus community is really disheartening. And what we would like to see going forward is a spotlight on those individuals.”

Robinson has interviewed over 25 individuals so far, with a focus on artists as well as facilitators in the circus community. He listed some of his favorites: “Jessica Hento from Circus Harmony, Tim Shaw from the Chicago Boyz, and Adrian Danzig [founder of 500 Clown] come to mind as memorable [interviews]. All of these guys created their own circus companies and/or companies in the theater communities. Hearing their stories and how you could just start from a single moment in time to working with the most talented people on the planet is amazing to me.”

Robinson sees the world of circus opening up for BIPOC performers. “Up-and-coming circus artists Alizé Hill and Danny Trinidad come to mind. Alizé is two years away from a doctorate in social work, and Danny Trinidad at a young age has already done a Rick Bayless show [A Recipe for Disaster with Windy City Playhouse] and Cabaret ZaZou in such a short time. It shows you how striking while the iron is hot is everything.”

By starting in 2020, BCAM did just that, recognizing the moment to call out (and in) the circus community for its lack of diversity. When asked if interest in engaging BIPOC circus artists has waned from the circus industry since the original wave in the early days, cofounder Chris Rooney (straps artist and flying trapeze performer/instructor with Trapeze School New York in Chicago) has a practical perspective: “I don’t know if it’s fair to say that the tension has waned. I will say there are other big looming priorities, like . . . a global pandemic . . . I think there’s still positive intent . . . and we acknowledge and respect that re-