Today we’d like to introduce you to Alanna’ Gibson-Rex, HBiC at The People’s Circus
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Despite the joy we give and receive in our work the Circus Arts, like many other parts of the entertainment industry can be incredibly dangerous emotionally, mentally, physically, and financially.
The ethos of The People’s Circus’s principles of Community, Empowerment, Inclusion. and Kindness lies in its origins as an idea for a union for cirque artists and supporters. We believe in the Power of collaboration and that working together, we can make everything better for everyone.
But before we got that far, a number of performers unexpectedly progressed from a company that holds a different set values. And thus we went where artists ar valued and honored and The People’s Circus was born.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It had not at all been a smooth road. From its origins and through growing pains and transitions, the path of The People Circus has been full of reroutes, halts for construction, and complete reimaginings.
Once we were officially an organization, the plan was to become a non-profit benefiting artists in a similar way that a union might have.
However, there were discrepancies on how quickly the organization should be progressing. I grew up with community organizers and some of my earliest memories are of community oriented non-profits going from a conversation to nationally recognized organizations; I and other affiliates understand that creating a sustainable pathway to something completely new with so many moving parts but without directions takes time; not everyone understood nor did they agree.
It was a painful process but The People’s Circus continues to grow onwards and upwards.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Alanna Gibson-Rex is the founder of The People’s Circus. She loves that she can work with international, formally-trained artists one day and then be at a community festival goofing off with kids the next. She is well-known throughout Columbus for dancing on her stilts, strolling down an occasional runway as a model, and for the rare presentation of ideas via her art, writing, and casual lectures. She has performed and presented at numerous arts and academic institutions across the United States, including an invitational engagement at Drew University. Alanna has practiced since she was two years old and most recently studied classical and traditional Okinawan dance and was a soloist with the Aharen Honryu Wa No Kai under Grand Master Kazuku Chibana Volkmar. She is a member of the Lincoln Theatre Exansion Incubation program’s 2024 cohort and her art has been supported by the Greater Columbus Arts Council. Alanna’s commitment to community has been recognized by the University of Dayton Alumni Association by the way of RWH Press, the City of Columbus, and the Ohio House of Representatives. She is an alumna of the International Baccalaureate, Alfred University, and the University of Dayton.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My advice: Take care of yourself first, emotionally, mentally, physically, and financially. It can be difficult for us big-hearted people to do that, but you can’t keep your hopes, goals, and dreams alive without a pulse.
Trust your Inner Voice, but do have a variety of folks around you to keep you accountable and to do temperature checks in situations of which you’re uncertain.
What I wish I knew? I wish that I wholly understood that though your vision is beneficial to everyone, not everybody wants better for everyone. And those folks are often the people you would least expect.
Pricing:
- Juggling and Flow Arts start at $75/hr
- Stiltwalkers start at $300
- Aerial Arts start at $500
- Fire Arts start at $300
- Contortion starts at $300
Contact Info:
- Website: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSczzFjrf_yP5j4f5C3-4xpuefjnArHjEuU2GJNYy6KHipMYWQ/viewform
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepeoplescircusofficial
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thepeoplescircusofficial
- Other: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSecBdkOnAXL5HJ6FF79EdCies5e_IckZnsGq0TqSkYEeI4GKQ/viewform
