Dear Cirkus friend: We are writing to ask for your contribution in support of the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus. The continued economic downturn makes this a challenging time. Many arts organizations are being forced by decreased funding to cut programs or staff. At Bindlestiff we are still promoting, developing and sustaining the variety arts despite financial challenges, and we are determined to continue our mission in the year ahead. Some highlights from our 2009 programs include… The Variety Open Stage: In partnership with Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn, we re-launched this monthly performance opportunity (last seen at the Palace of Variety on 42nd Street!) for variety and circus artists to develop their chops or try out new material. Winter Cabaret: At our beloved variety show, hosted at NYC’s Dixon Place, performers from around the world amazed audiences with aerial artistry, magic, music, funambulism, clowning, daredevilry, contortion, and description-defying physical performance. New Vaudeville Revue: In conjunction with the University of Arizona School of Dance, Tucson, we created and performed a new show featuring 4 Bindlestiffs, 40 dancers, and a full orchestra. Variety Arts Studio and Theater (VAST): We launched the research and planning phase of a NYC-based center for the variety arts, which would provide much-needed space for performance, rehearsal, and professional training in circus and variety arts. Youth Programs: Our 7th Cavalcade of Youth season featured 40 performers under the age of 21 and culminated in a performance at Coney Island’s famous Sideshows by the Seashore. We also offered after-school and home school programs and led an upstate Cirkus summer camp in Hudson, NY. Our increased presence in upstate New York is another exciting recent development. Bindlestiff is committed to serve the NYC and Hudson Valley communities where we live and work, and we have grown deeper roots upstate in the past year: We offered after-school circus arts classes in Hudson and Chatham and taught non-credit adult classes at Columbia-Greene Community College. We performed in the Spiegeltent at Bard College's Summerscape Festival (our 5th season!) and at the Foothills Performing Arts Center in Oneonta. We were involved in an array of local festivals— several Hudson Valley Quadracentennial celebrations, Rhinebeck’s Sinterklaas, Hudson's ArtsWalk and GhostWalk, even a Night Circus marking the grand opening of Poughkeepsie’s Walkway Over the Hudson. Please help us continue creating opportunities for artists and audiences upstate, downstate and beyond in 2010! In the coming year, in addition to showcasing and incubating incredible variety talent, we plan to further expand our upstate New York community programs and take the next steps toward establishing VAST. With support from friends and supporters like you, we can realize these goals. If you feel a connection to Bindlestiff, if our unconventional vision and values speak to you, if you consider yourself a Bindlestiff at heart, or if you just love coming to our shows, we invite you to deepen that connection this year by making a tax-deductible financial contribution. Your donation, whether large or small, makes a big difference. You can send contributions by mail or internet. Make payment out to Bindlestiff Family Variety Arts, Inc. and send to PO Box 1917, New York, NY 10009. Online donations can be made at http:// www.bindlestiff.org/menu/donate.html. We’ll see you at the Cirkus! In Play, Keith Nelson and Stephanie Monseu Bindlestiff Family Cirkus co-founders Bindlestiff Family Cirkus PO Box 1917 New York, NY 10009 1-877-BINDLES HTTP://WWW.BINDLESTIFF.ORG