JULY 1, 2020

A New Assemblage of Cinder Blocks

Dearest Warehouse friends,

Our Great Pause is now a pivot. We have deepened our bond of community through mutual disaster management of planet Earth and sustained remote practice, but our warehouse space has been rented out from under us. Our expensive real estate is an albatross. It’s unsustainable by any metrics, much complicated by the Covid-19 mandatory closure and unknown outcome and viability of partial reopening. I want us to fight the correct fight. I’ve made the choice to stay closed for this summer, as it is prudent to train outdoors or online, then reinvent in a new location, exact Queens digs and dates TBD but in the works. Most CW equipment will be stored in the interim. Our current assemblage of cinder blocks is just a space. Circus Warehouse is so much more than that. We will create magic indoors again.

It’s right to mourn that which we have lost. I have cried on all of my furniture in stinging disappointment. But I am soothed by students and colleagues taking on the ills of our society with their disciplined, laser-sharp selves, pushing with all of their collective might for a better world. A generous artist’s soul aimed gracefully, has the power to make lasting social change. I couldn’t possibly be more proud of how our Warehouse crowd has carried themselves during this precarious and frightening time. Activist spirits rising from ashes. The physical and emotional strength we have cultivated is our center. From there, we can build.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed towards making us a home for 10 years on Vernon Boulevard. We are still in business, just relocating after a pause. Please continue to consult the website for updates and details about memberships, equipment, evolving policies and new safety procedures, will start to post after this weekend. We will vacate at July’s end.

The Warehouse Renaissance will include our diverse faculty, popular Intensive pro-program, classes for the highest level of athletic practitioners, and a dance-based aesthetic combined with rigorous circus skill training. Having some unexpected time to rethink and reimagine has its rewards. Artistic spaces must reflect ultimate awareness and accountability in issues of race, ethnicity and gender. Circus Warehouse has made a notable dent in the status-quo but there is so much more to do. I’d like to create another positive, progressive, professional, sane, warm, industrious and pointedly multi-cultural environment to inform the changing landscape of dance and circus arts. Circus Warehouse will continue to need support to make us a new home. Who’s in?

With all love and humble gratitude,

Suzi