Circus Foundry performers cultivate love for the arts at Golden festival

Art is creation.

It is the act of bringing to life something that likely didn’t exist before and may never exist again.

And while some works of art are tangible pieces that one can take home and hang on a wall or set on a shelf, in the case of the performing arts, the artists themselves are the art.

That special connection between artists and audience was tangible June 19 at the Golden Mill, as 16 Circus Foundry aerialists, acrobats and other performers showcased their athletic and artistic talents during the Foothills Art Center’s sixth annual ARTSWEEK GOLDEN.

The June 17-23 festival featured dozens of artists across all types of media, from painters to performing artists. FAC ended the weeklong celebration with a juried arts showcase June 22-23 outside its new Astor House campus.

Bethel Lindsley, co-owner of the Denver-based Circus Foundry, said her group has performed at the ARTSWEEK GOLDEN since its inception.

For the first three years, the performances were outside the former FAC headquarters — now the Creative Campus — off Washington Avenue. However, June 19 marked the Circus Foundry performers’ third year spinning, juggling and lifting on the Golden Mill patio.

“Our audience is growing each year,” Lindsley said. “ … It’s a great opportunity for (our) students to perform for the larger community.”

Lindsley remarked how there’s a special energy with the performing arts, particularly in that “face-to-face connection” and “shared experience” between artist and audience.

Denver’s Anthony Provost, an aerial hoop performer, believed that studying any art form will make a person more appreciative of other art forms, as that’s been his experience.

“You get to experience an emotion and step into the artist’s life for a moment,” he said of all artworks. “It’s an incredible experience.”

From that connection between artist and viewer, people begin to build a community that incorporates artists and the greater public, Provost continued. He believed that need for community was ingrained in people, and he believed the best way to foster it was through creativity and the arts.

Provost said he loves movement-focused art forms, saying they help channel his need to be creative and active. He’s also described himself as “a total adrenaline junkie.”

Over the years, he’s practiced dance, gymnastics, cheerleading and partner acrobatics. Then, two years ago, he started studying tumbling, lyra and Chinese pole at Circus Foundry.

“I love being on stage and performing,” he said.

Aurora’s Adrienne Altobelli, who’s been practicing aerial silks for eight years, started off her performing arts career in the theater. She said the two are very different ways of self-expression.

For other art forms in general, she said the performing arts require a different mentality, saying “there are a lot more nerves with the performing arts.” But, as she knows from her time painting, crafting and decorating, all artists have similar experiences.

“You’re never happy with the final product, but you have to let it go at some point,” she said of all types of artists.

Altobelli has now performed at five of the six ARTSWEEK GOLDEN shows and hoped the annual performance would encourage others to try their hand at aerial silks, acrobatics and other circus arts. She said she and many of her colleagues do it to “stay in shape and share the joy that is circus.”

Overall, she loved the Foothills Art Center and its annual festival and wanted to encourage artists of all media to follow their passions.

Lindsley felt likewise, saying the arts — especially circus and other performing arts — “are such a great way to bring joy and happiness into the world, to be playful and have fun together.”

Click through additional Transcript photos from the June 19 performance: