The expedition spawned from Freelove’s involvement with Clowns Without Borders, an international group dedicated to spreading the irreverence of circus arts to refugee camps, conflict zones and territories with emergency situations.
Freelove began managing the organization’s local chapter in 2005 and since then has performed in South America and Asia. It was on a trip to Singapore that an opportunity to make an independent journey to Africa presented itself.
Upon Freelove’s return from Singapore, he and clowning partner Steven Dimon were making travel arrangements and settling into writing a routine capable of traveling internationally.
“We didn’t know how much (the Kenyans would) understand us if we tried to talk. We later learned that most people speak English and can understand us fairly well. But our goal was to create a show that didn’t need dialogue. That just had interaction with cartoonish creatures that feel pain and can cooperate. The biggest challenge was just figuring what things could travel. We keep it pretty silly,” said Dimon.
With their props—clubs, cigar boxes, balls, chairs and a toy duck—shoved into a traveling case, the duo headed for Kenya.
They performed six shows throughout the Mbaranga parish, took in the sights, experienced plenty of the local flavors and made several stops to the parish’s schools.
“It was really cool to go to the schools since the primary audience was the children. And the teachers really felt that this cultural experience was an important part of their learning,” said Freelove.
The pair’s international expeditions ultimately grew out of Freelove’s founding of the Humboldt Circus in 2000.
“We just met one day a week and we had maybe less than 10 people the first year but after that it started to pick up. We did shows for Humweek and hooked up with the Marching Lumberjacks in 2002, and there’s been much larger classes since then,” says Freelove.
The club takes a hands-on approach to the circus arts, performing such varieties as big top, burlesque (their favorite) and vaudeville, and boasting skills ranging from juggling and poi spinning to acrobatics, clowning and slack-rope walking.
The Freelove Circus is holding auditions on Saturday, Feb. 21 at Redwood Raks Dance Studio in Arcata in the Old Creamery Building. Dancers are asked to arrive at 3 p.m.; clowns at 4 p.m. and musicians at 5 p.m.
The Freelove Circus’ next performance is in the Kate Buchanan Room on Feb. 24. The event is free, however donations will be accepted to help fund another trip abroad. For more information, visit the “Freelove Circus”: http://www.freelovecircus.com/.