Soooo..
Awkwaaaaard. Our laptop went *poof* and we haven’t been able to figure out a new situation until recently but here we are!! So this is going to be a chonky update on the entire first half of 2024!

We continued with Ricochet by taking it to Georgia for the KCACTF theatre convention and were also able to teach workshops to the student body there! It was a great experience overall but my favorite part was definitely being able to hold an affinity space for Asian American artists. We had an incredibly low turn out as expected because we are already such a small part of most populations (particularly in the South) and on top of that in a capacity of pursuing the arts dwindles our numbers down even further but being able to make connections with even one person and create that safe space is everything.

We also were able to participate in the debut of a musical called “Threads” which was about the Loray Mill Strike and the life of union organizer Ella May Wiggins. This site specific work meant a lot to us as we are also incredibly passionate about workers rights so to be able to be a part of it and using the vocabulary of circus was really memorable. They are actually in the process of creating a mini documentary about the process of creating it as well!

We also put on a showing of our usual Day of the Dead tribute show for Julio who was actually the person to commission that show to begin with many many years ago! So it really felt like a full circle moment and doing that show always feels special to me as it’s been around for so long- easily the longest still in our repertoire show.

In other works that fueled us outside of shows we also did really meaningful gigs such as the Childrens Theatre gala fundraiser which is obviously notable to us as advocates for live arts, a gig for a project called the “Living Archives” with the public library system that worked to chronical stories from BIPOC communities regarding our experiences during the pandemic, and we also were blessed to meet friends that got us involved with the Make A Wish foundation where we were able to be a part of multiple galas that raise funds for the wishes to happen! Below are some photos from some of these gigs.

Outside of actual gigs and performances I was happy to have been able to be part of an interview project with a youth circus participant who is currently studying and conducting research into the subject of race and equity within the circus arts and I’m excited to see what comes of that interview and research! We won a small grant from ASC to help support some endeavors in refreshing our marketing materials (they’re now up in our gallery!) as well and we’re very thankful for that. Having the experience of writing and winning a grant for ourselves was very validating and motivating. On the topic of motivating, within Nouveau Sud we had and are currently going through a lot of restructuring that’s very exciting for everyone but is a large and lengthy process. However, we’re all fired up for new things and resources to be able to use our platforms more communally and further our mission statement!

I’m sure I’m forgetting many things in general but that pretty much takes us up to about June and I’ll create new posts for other ventures that I do remember and have more photographic evidence of soon!

We’re super stoked to be able to be back “online” in a CPU capacity LOL because let me tell you, although social media obviously didn’t experience any changes, managing emails, website, and data/files/pics/vids etc was a nightmare! Stoked to continue posting eventually about some of the last half of the year events and more things to come!

Thanks for following along and for your support, engagement, views, etc! It all counts ❤