Help the Growth of Circus Arts in Lebanon

My name is Judy Salloum, I'm a Lebanese circus artist who was luckily born in Canada because my parents fled Lebanon during the war. I am one of the few privileged who can travel and learn circus in the countries where it is supported and blooming because I can travel freely with my Canadian passport. I founded Levitate to give back to my community what I wished I had when I started circus there and to help grow the level of circus and aerial arts in Lebanon to give the chance to the younger generation to thrive, have the chance in having a career in circus and grow that industry in the country.

Lebanon has been going through some very rough times. Things have always been challenging, but in 2019 it started snowballing. Now our economy is terrible, and plenty of people are suffering.

We live in a place where minorities are discriminated against, and a place where some arts are considered taboo. Circus, arts, and dance aren't supported by our government, hence Lebanese artists take matters into their own hands. Circus is not recognized as much as dance is and is even more discriminated against. We have funding opportunities, grants, and exchanges from institutions but none of them invest in the circus arts. We believe that circus has a huge power to impact people's lives, from the people who practice it to the people who watch and experience it on the other end.

That is why we are reaching out.

We happily could pay and benefit local artists in the first edition and we will continue to do so. However, We need support and funds to do this again on a bigger scale, (bringing in international artists) and to make it sustainable.

What is Levitate?

Levitate is an annual Aerial & Circus Arts Convention/festival, born in August 2022 aiming to provide professional education and development for aspiring & emerging aerial & circus artists in Lebanon, as well as providing community workshops to the public.

It is a platform of growth and creativity for emerging artists in Lebanon.

WHY?

Levitate was born out of necessity. In Lebanon, we have limited resources and no proper circus education, and have been struggling to develop the circus arts without the support of our government. This makes it hard for artists to thrive. Levitate is an initiative to make a change in people’s lives, in our community and the circus industry which we believe is a powerful and impactful art form.

In these times, it is crucial to integrate the circus arts in our communities to give them and especially youth and women a sense of freedom and purpose in their lives. Any physical sport and activity are good for our overall well-being, with the circus arts, there’s the added artistic side of self-expression, community belonging, and cultural exchange.

Our Mission

Our mission is to introduce new disciplines that our community doesn’t have the opportunity to experience nor learn, and develop the level of circus and aerial arts in Lebanon, by bringing in international circus artists to teach at levitate. We want to be at the international skill level and standards, which would help us get more job opportunities and overall recognition in Lebanon and internationally. Our intention is as well to provide the tools for our teachers to keep the level and integrity of the

practises they’re teaching in the country and be able to help facilitate the community’s growth, sustainability and most importantly safety.

At our “Open Stage”, we give the chance for youth, amateurs, and emerging circus artists to be on stage and present a piece of work they are developing, anything they would like to express, a message they would like to send to their audience, or simply portray their skills. This is a chance for everyone to create, shine, be seen, heard, inspire and be inspired.

Circus is not part of our culture. It has been introduced by our local communities not so long ago and we are all doing our part to make it grow and be sustainable for the generations to come. We strongly believe that with our drive and dedication as Lebanese artists, having our culture, background, and hardships, we can create cultural art that would reach the circus world internationally.

Check what happened at Levitate 2022

For the year 2023, we will go deeper into teaching and developing artists, therefore we are planning to have a longer intensive before the weekend. The weekend experience would be for the public and recreational students. Depending on the level and who wants to participate, we will be giving the intensive participants the chance to perform as a group, creating a friendly production curated and choreographed based on their level and needs. This will give them a chance to learn about circus productions, work in a group setting, and experience what it would be like if they wanted to pursue their careers as performing artists.

We will also host the “Gala Night”, where the international and local professional artists/teachers perform, inspiring our participants to want to push their limits to achieve that mastery and entertaining the public and villagers in the area where the event will be held.

AcroLeb aka Raja Sabra, a teacher at Levitate and community member and contributor, is graciously offering his space to us in Shanay, a village in Mount Lebanon situated nearby the town Bhamdoun.

Where will the funds go?

As mentioned above, we have secured our venue, and we are looking to raise 2500$ from the selling of the tickets, with your support we can fill in the missing links to host at least 1 UK artist & organise a Gala & showcase that Lebanon has never seen before.

The funds will be used to cover:

To make it accessible to everyone, the ticket price will cover the rest of the expenses such as electricity, gas, equipment purchases, documentation, promotion, light & sound rental, design and content, and other expenses.

We've had community members support us by offering equipment and services before because they believe in our mission, however, we do wish to help support our local workers, designers and artists in the creation of this event. Having the funds will help us do that.

Summary | Benefits

Why Fund Levitate?

We have been organizing community gatherings/flow arts/circus camps for the past years. What's special about Levitate? What's different?

At levitate 2022, we rented and built a 6meters high truss to accommodate our Lebanese aerialists, as well as had a full schedule with the best teachers in Lebanon in all the circus disciplines present in the country.

Levitate goes beyond just a community gathering and exchange. As mentioned previously, our goal is to bring in international artists, to teach, perform and share their knowledge and experience with our participants to chase their dreams and expand their talent and make the circus scene more prominent and better.

It is the first aerial & circus arts convention/festival that happened in our country, one that brought joy and hope to our aerialists and circus community. It is a self funded not for profit initiative, created by circus artists for circus artists and Lebanon.

We've heard feedback that Levitate changed their lives, and we have personally experienced the change and effect that circus played in our lives, and we wish to provide that to our community and country.

We hope that with your help we will be able to do that. We have made it so far and we know with you by our side we could go above and beyond

Make sure to follow us, and check out our social media.

IG: @levitate.leb

Here's my IG handle if you want to know more about me and my work: @ju.dz