It feels like years since the beginning of lockdown on March 23rd and yet somehow, we can’t believe it’s already October! Circus has looked very different this year but our Ruccis community has still found ways to connect, celebrate, learn and grow.
At-Home Workshop Videos and Livestreams
Since it all started we’ve had loads of online classes. We worked out how to livestream on Facebook, which quickly became the highlight of our week. We squeezed in some quick filming before we closed so we could share a collection of slickly edited demos (thanks Lauren!). The coaches had fun in front of the and the students really enjoyed the connection to Ruccis through these videos. When we filmed them, we had no clue we’d be online for this long!
Online Events
We’ve been so excited to see everyone come together for our online events. There were some truly spectacular entries for our Fashion Day events, like Ellery’s kitchen inspired outfit and Merlene’s watermelon sugar music video. It was also so nice to see whole families get together to create something for these events.
We had our first foray into the world of Zoom with our Don’t Try This at Home Cabaret. A huge thanks to Simon for hosting and to our coaches who had to get creative with bringing their acts to life from home. We could tell you guys wanted to get involved so we soon organised the Virtual Student Spectacular, which produced some of the cutest circus acts in the history of circus, as well as creative ideas on trampolines and trees!
Recently we invited you all to the Circus Cook-Up with Steve and not only was it so fun just to hang out together, but it was great to see what you made at home afterwards. This has been a fundraising idea since long before lockdown so it was great to see it finally happen. And we raised over $900 through entry and raffle tickets, so thank you! It was something really different for Ruccis but we can’t wait to do it again. Delicious! Through all these online events we got to see so many creative acts, fabulous outfits and delicious homemade meals. Seeing the huge support from our community in those events has been overwhelming!
3 weeks back at Ruccis – it was fun while it lasted!
We were so grateful to have a brief oasis with a 3-week face to face program back in June where we got to see a whole lot of familiar faces but also to meet some fantastic new students and share our love of circus. We can’t wait to welcome you all back to our training space!
Zoom classes
While we’ve been eagerly listening out for the okay to re-open, we have run a huge variety of zoom classes where we get to share in our students’ successes. Nothing beats seeing a student nail a trick for the first time and cheering them on. Our coaches have gone above and beyond to create class plans that work through a screen and it’s been amazing to see some students make it to every single class! You guys just never stop upskilling! Through the magic of the internet we have been able to run class not just for our regular students but for various primary schools and councils, reaching as far as Horsham and up to 40 students at a time! Our online programming has us thinking outside the box, so we have run some classes that we’ve never run before, like knot tying, yoga and cup and balls magic. With the online format we’ve also been lucky enough to connect with students all the way from Halls Gap and even Newcastle!
We’re starting another block of online classes this Monday – you can book in here.
Even though we’re ‘closed’, we’ve still been working hard to get out all our info to you, teaching and making fun things for social media, and we just launched our online store! Now you guys can have access to more equipment while training at home – great now the weather is warming up! We always love seeing students get into some new skills!
2020 has definitely not turned out how we thought it would, but it sure is nice to look back and see the silver linings. We don’t know what the future looks like but you can be sure Ruccis will keep spreading the circus joy however we can!
Miss you!
Emily & the Ruccis Team