Staff
Helen Averley and Steve Cousins are the two full-time company partners and founders of Let’s Circus. From its formal inception in 2006, Let’s Circus grew from their experiences in the international arts industry.
The company’s team is diverse and includes the following.
Helen Averley (MA)
Helen’s diverse creative skills have seen her take on roles as varied as jungle expedition artist, seamstress and circus aerialist. Having taught and performed circus for 15 years, Helen has been a driving force behind many major projects and circus companies in this time. Her current projects include the development of a building-based circus hub in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Steve Cousins (BSc)
A committed exponent for circus participation, Steve’s focus is bringing people together to engage in new experiences and to spread the universal language of laughter. He has an active career as a variety artist, having worked on four continents and is now a significant programmer and producer of events in the UK and internationally.
Robyn Hambrook (BA)
Kiwi expat Robyn joined our team in 2011 as an artist with over 15 years experience in film production, physical theatre and street arts. Robyn regularly leads our community arts projects and is a core designer and trainer in roaming, interactive street theatre.
Joe May (BA, MA, PGCE)
Trained at the famous Lecoq school for physical theatre in Paris, Joe has notched up 25 years of performance experience, from clowning to mask to physical theatre to tragedy. As a fully qualified teacher and HMI acclaimed teacher trainer his work focuses on active learning and providing safe frameworks for the learner to take risks and become empowered, motivated and inspired through tasting real success.
Claire Harvey (PGCE)
As a qualified teacher, Claire heads up many of our Let’s Circus educational programmes, and is one of the region’s finest teachers of aerial circus.
Ethos
Mission
To share circus with the world, and the world through circus. To be the circus that runs away to join you.
Vision
We want to see a thriving circus community, and thriving communities who love circus.
We want to see greater access to circus activities and a greater public appreciation of this intelligent, physical artform. We encourage circus in all it’s forms, contemporary and traditional, circus in theatres, circus in playgrounds, circus in tents, circus in the media. We will support youth circus, leisure circus, community circus and circus as a vocation – we believe in Circus for All!
We want to see public spaces and private places filled with creative physical performances that inspire audiences. We will shape this by creating fantastic opportunities for artists, and delivering marvellous moments for the public.
We will encourage healthy lives and happy hearts. We believe that health and happiness come from physical exercise, intellectual stimulation, social inclusion, creative outlets and from regularly accepting and succeeding in personal challenges. Circus gives all of that. So, Let’s Circus!
Circus Connects People
