Minty Fresh Circus

Conceived by Monique Martin, Minty Fresh Circus is a US-based circus show performed by an all-Black cast, with a majority-Black creative team celebrating the healing power of Black music & movement, infused with the joy & resilience of those who traversed the transatlantic slave trade.

Grounded in Sankofa (a Ghanaian word encouraging one to learn from the past to inform the future) with an Afro-futuristic vibe, Minty Fresh Circus features movement, music, and circus arts in a time-bending journey of redemption. With choreography and movement by Adesola Osakalumi and Traci Bartlow, the acrobat/dancers will perform a range of movement sourced from the African Diaspora, including percussive dance, ritual movement, Lindy, hip-hop, poppin’ & lockin’, jukin’, Double Dutch, rope jumping, hand games and physical theater. The driving score is recorded and features a combination of mixes by Corey Action with compositions from Soul Science Lab.

Inspired by abolitionist Harriet Tubman and the survival of generations of African Americans, the central question in Minty Fresh Circus is: what does freedom feel & sound like if your only access to it is through your imagination? The journey explores liberation spaces, oasis spaces, and joy spaces where black & brown bodies have found sovereignty. The show celebrates the power of Black music as a healing, alchemical, transformative force; a ritual, a portal to joy and an invitation to tap into your imagination. The energy of call-and-response within Black culture will serve as a circular structure within the arc of the show: the audience will be engaged with, versus presented to.

Structured in nine rituals via spectacular circus and dance skills, this all-ages show will be 70 minutes in length (with 50 minute performances for all-student shows), touring with 7 circus and dance artists plus 2 staff/crew. Minty Fresh Circus will premiere at the Annenberg Center in Philadelphia with 3 performances presented by Penn Live Arts on Jan 31 & Feb 1, 2025. It will be presented by The Kennedy Center for 2 performances on May 8, 2025.

The creation of Minty Fresh Circus has been supported with co-commissions by the following:

Arizona Arts Live, Tucson, AZ, Chad Herzog
Zoellner Arts Center, Bethlehem, PA, Mark Wilson
ArtsEmerson, Boston, MA, Ronee Penoi
Penn Live Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Chris Gruits

Minty Fresh Circus is supported by a grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Theater Project, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Minty Fresh Circus will premiere Jan 31 & Feb 1, 2025, in Philadelphia at Penn Live Arts. It will be presented at The Kennedy Center with two shows on May 8, 2025.

The development of Minty Fresh Circus was supported by:

Lake Placid Center for the Arts, James Lemon
The Apollo Theater, Kamilah Forbes
Samuels Foundation, Mikki Shepard
The MICC, Ruth Wikler, Montreal, CAN
Factory International, John McGrath (formerly the Manchester International Festival), Manchester, UK
La Grainerie, Jean-Marc Broqua, Toulouse, France

Minty Fresh Circus is available for touring. (Presenting theaters will need a height clearance of 21 1/2  feet).

Monique Martin, Creator & Director
Adesola Osakalumi, Co-Choreographer
Traci Bartlow, Co-Choreographer
Soul Science Lab, Composer
Dr. Fredara Hadley, Music Consultant
Kim Cook, Dramaturge and Creative Consultant
Susan Voyticky, Circus Advisor
Corey Action, Music Supervisor