{{Short description|Circus school in San Francisco, California}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{more citations needed|date=June 2019}} {{Infobox institute | name = Circus Center | image = Circus center logo.jpg | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | latin_name = | motto = | founder = Wendy Parkman<br>Judy Finelli | established = {{Start date and age|1984||}} | mission = | focus = | president = | ceo = | chairman = | head_label = | head = | faculty = | adjunct_faculty = | staff = | key_people = | budget = | endowment = | debt = | num_members = | subsidiaries = | owner = | non-profit_slogan = | former_name = | location = | city = [[San Francisco]] | state = [[California]] | province = | country = [[United States|U.S.]] | coor = {{coord|37|45|57|N|122|27|25|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | address = 755 Frederick Street, San Francisco, California, United States | website = {{URL|http://circuscenter.org}} | dissolved = | footnotes = }}
[[File:Circus_Center_in_San_Francisco_2013-07-14_14-17.jpg|thumbnail|Circus Center in San Francisco]]
'''Circus Center''' is a [[circus school]] in [[San Francisco]], [[California]]. It was founded in 1984 by Wendy Parkman and Judy Finelli as the San Francisco School of Circus Arts.
== History == In 1974 the [[Pickle Family Circus]] was founded by Peggy Snider and Larry Pisoni. Ten years later, the San Francisco School of Circus Arts was founded by Wendy Parkman and Judy Finelli as a project of the Pickle Family Circus.<ref name=SF>{{cite web| url=https://www.kalw.org/post/i-left-my-clown-nose-san-francisco | title=I left my clown nose in San Francisco | work=Crosscurrents | publisher=[[KALW]] | first=Sara | last=Bernard | date=May 14, 2012 | accessdate= June 14, 2019}}</ref> The school was then located at the Pickle headquarters in an old church on San Francisco's [[Potrero Hill]]. Two years later, Hannah Kahn assumed control of the school, directing it over the next 10 years. In 1990, master instructor Lu Yi was hired<ref>{{cite web|url=https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/cirque-du-soleil-star-gives-back-to-san-francisco-kids-aspiring-to-join-circus|title=Cirque du Soleil star gives back to San Francisco kids aspiring to join circus| newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] | first=Brandon | last=Yu | date=November 14, 2018 | accessdate=June 14, 2019}}</ref> with the mandate of developing the most comprehensive [[Chinese acrobatics]] program outside of China. Three years later, the school was incorporated as a separate [[nonprofit organization]], and moved into a vacant Polytech high school gymnasium in the [[Haight-Ashbury]] district. In 1996, the San Francisco Circus was established, and later that year the school staged its first student production, ''Zoppo!'', a show that played to a sold-out house at the [[Cowell Theater]] at [[Fort Mason]].
Four years passed before the San Francisco School of Circus Arts purchased the New Pickle Circus from the [[Santa Cruz, California|Santa Cruz]]-based nonprofit organization that had produced the company's shows since 1993. All of the purchase price was raised from contributed sources, and staged professional productions under the banner of the New Pickle Circus. The [[Clown Conservatory]] program was then started with a grant from the [[National Endowment for the Arts]] as the only year-long professional circus [[clown]] training program in the United States. In 2001, the board of directors changed the corporation's name to Circus Center, reflecting the fact that the organization now encompassed more than a school.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.circuscenter.org/what-we-do|title = What We do | Our History | Circus Center, San Francisco}}</ref>
== Major programs == The school currently offers classes and private instruction in numerous [[circus skills]], including Chinese [[acrobatics]], [[contortion]], [[Chinese pole]], [[juggling]], [[teeterboard]], [[trampoline]], [[static trapeze]], [[flying trapeze]], [[aerial hoop]], [[aerial silk]] and [[aerial straps]]. It also offers various workshops. <ref>[http://circuscenter.org Circus Center website]</ref>
== References == {{reflist}} * Terry Lorant, Jon Carroll. ''The Pickle Family Circus''. Chronicle Books, 1986. ({{ISBN|0-87701-377-2}}) * {{cite web | url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Circus-school-wants-to-soar-even-higher-2743205.php | title=Circus school wants to soar even higher | website=sfgate.com | first=Ken | last=Garcia | date=December 27, 2002 | accessdate=June 14, 2019}}
==External links== * [http://circuscenter.org Circus Center website]
[[Category:Circus schools]] [[Category:Schools in San Francisco]] [[Category:Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco]] [[Category:1984 establishments in California]]