It would be a pity to let those juggling skills get rusty.
Instead of practicing by themselves, stilt walkers, contortionists, and jugglers can join Gemini & Scorpio’s Lost Circus for a night of spectacles and specialties where audience members aren’t just sitting holding their breaths, they’re wearing costumes and makeup, too, and showing off their inner circus freaks.
“Lost Circus is a party. It’s not a show,” said curator Larisa Fuchs, who is a co-founder of Gemini & Scorpio. “There are no assigned seats. The audience is not required to sit and behave.”
Billed as “circus and dark cabaret with a steampunk twist,” the Lost Circus is one of the many social performance extravaganzas hosted by Gemini & Scorpio, originally an online dating service for creative, artistic young people.
It quickly morphed into an events company that put on inventive activities for singles and couples alike, such as art installations, face painting, and photo booths.
“We couldn’t find the kind of events in New York City that we wanted to go to,” said Fuchs. “So we made them ourselves.”
The goal is to entertain, more so in the sense of a dinner party than a show, so there are some rules including an elaborate dress code that encourages dark cabaret, funky formal, Tim Burton-esque looks, and welcomes “stilts and characters.”
“We require costuming at every event,” said Fuchs. “We have to feel they are part of the event. We want to see that you read the invite and you want to be here.”
And like any good party, there’s plenty of steampunk marching band music, gypsy punk accordions, and slapstick curmudgeons performing skits.
Shayfer James, who plays dark, theatrical music, and is planning an act featuring a fire dancer, said Gemini & Scorpio events bring together elements from all corners of the New York City performance world.
“Larisa is great because she puts artists in touch with each other and says, ‘Why don’t you do something together?’ ” said James. “She has great vision.”
Though there will be plenty of planned and unplanned performances by circus aficionados and sideshow enthusiasts, there’s no limit to the oddities and whimsies guests can bring, as long as everyone is excited to be there — and be weird.
“If people want to show up with hoola hoops or flags, they are welcome to,” said Fuchs. “We want everyone to bring their own elements.”
Gemini and Scorpio’s Lost Circus at the Irondale Center (85 S. Oxford St., between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street in Fort Greene, geminiandscorpio.com) Saturday, Aug. 11, 8–9 pm, VIP tea salon, $35; 9pm–late party, $25; after 1 am, $10.
