Member Profile: Dreamtime Circus

One balmy night somewhere amidst Indonesia’s 13,000 islands, Fractured Atlas members Chris Dunn and Kfire were touring the country’s rural villages. On a whim, they choreographed a three scene fire dance and performed it for the locals they encountered.

“The response from the communities was so overwhelmingly positive that we immediately started thinking about how we might do this type of thing on a larger scale,” recalls Chris. “And thus the idea for the Dreamtime Circus was born.”

That idea has blossomed into a five month tour of India that will begin in September of 2007. This time, Chris and Kfire will be performing street-theater with over thirty circus artists in villages, refugee camps, and cities. All shows will be free and the tour will be made possible by the donations of individuals, organizations, and the artists involved.
“We felt like our relationship to the local communities changed once we started performing for them,” Chris explains. “The dynamic of ‘American tourist’ broke down a bit, and we started to feel, instead, like we were contributing something to the community. We felt more welcome from that point on.”

“We see Dreamtime Circus as an opportunity to be cultural ambassadors from the United States. We want to show at least part of the world that there’s more to America than just burgers and bombs.”

Dreamtime CircusDreamtime Circus creates its dreamlike atmosphere largely through the use of fire and fire dancing. They also incorporate aerialists, shadow dancers, acrobats, clowns, and other circus archetypes. They also utilize video projections and music to fill the landscape.

“Part of our vision with the India tour,” says Chris, “is to venture into really remote parts of the country and put on full multi-media productions, completely transforming the village for that brief moment in time.”

Chris, Kfire, and their third partner Matt Walker, found Fractured Atlas on the web when they were searching for information on fiscal sponsorship. “The Fractured Atlas staff has been really helpful in offering guidance on how to best focus our energies,” says Chris. “I think they have saved us a lot of time.”

You can learn more about Dreamtime Circus’ tour to India at www.dreamtimecircus.org. Dreamtime Circus is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of Dreamtime Circus may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.