Camp for Parents...

Welcome to your Simply Circus Camp Program!

This letter applies to most of our camp programs. You may also receive a letter seperate from this one with information specific to your camp, in which case you will want to follow that letter. Please read this letter through, and if your child is in a camp program with class selections, please make sure to follow the directions about selecting your class preferences.

We have a fun and exciting time ahead of us at camp!

Clothing. Wearing the appropriate clothing for the activities we do is important, both to maintain campers' modesty and for the safety of our staff and campers. For Simply Circus camp programs, kids should come dressed in layers. An appropriately fitted black leotard or biketard as the first layer, with shorts and a tee-shirt as a second layer. For camp programs that take place in colder months, apropreate seasonal clothing should be added as additional layers.

Please note that all aerial arts are done in a leotard, and children without one will not be allowed on the aerial equipment. A bathing suit is not an acceptable alternative to a leotard!

Shoes. For both safety and practicality, students are barefoot for the majority of our program. Shoes are required for moving from one area of camp to another, and for specific activities. While any camp approved shoe may be worn for transitions, closed toe, low-top sneakers are required for some circus activities, and should be with kids each and every day.

Campers should come to camp every day:

• With a positive attitude
• With your camp book and a writing utensil
• With your water bottle (can be filled at camp)
• With your sunscreen
• Wearing your leotard
• With or wearing your sneakers
• With your bathing Suit and towel (for camps with swimming)

Attendance. Our time at camp is always shorter than we want it to be, so we need to make the most of it. This means that we need everyone here every day. Almost all of the acts being taught are group acts. When one child is missing, the whole group suffers the loss.

Photos. We take a lot of photos and videos at circus camp. The primary purpose of most of these is to help students see what they are doing right and what they need to work on with a given skill. These photos also allows families to see a little of what their campers have been up to during the day, and makes it easier for student s to show friends and family what they have been working on. These photos will be made available to campers through the website after camp is over.

Show Day/Week. The schedule for show day or show week (depending on the program) will be fairly fluid, allowing us to meet the needs of the kids and acts of the show. While the day will still start off with conditioning, the order of classes will be determined by the needs of the kids in the show.

Final Show. As a performing arts program, we start with the assumption that every child wants to be in the final performance. We will not force any child to be in the final performance, however to be fair to the other children in the act, we do insist that the choice be made with enough time to allow us to train another child to the act.

If your child does not want to be in the show, they need to speak with an instructor about it as soon as you or they know. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO TALK TO AN INSTRUCTOR, AS THIS HURTS EVERYONE!

With that said, most of the time when a child does not want to be in the show it is due either to an interpersonal issue with another member of the act, or a fear of one kind or another (such as not thinking they can learn the skill in time. If your child is talking to you about not wanting to be in an act, we ask that you call us or send in a note asking for us to talk with your child about this.

Costumes. Costumes for camp shows usually consist of the campers black leotard/biketard, basic black shorts and plain colored T-shirts. The color of the T-shirt(s) your child will need will depend on the acts they are in, but please have a green shirt (as close to Hunter Green as possible), a light blue shirt (as close to baby blue as possible) and a red shirt (as close to Christmas Red as possible) for the day of the show.

Come see the show: We invite all campers, family and friends to the final performances! Please arrive a little before show time to get seats. When you arrive, please understand that your children still have a lot of work to get done before, during and after the show, and may not have time to chat with you until afterwards.

All campers are expected to stay and help put away equipment after the show. No camper will be allowed to leave until all equipment has been put away and our final performers meeting has been completed.