Play to Perform – 100 Years of Wonder – Artist in Residency Program
This year’s Artist in Residence brought the circus to Cushman – what a perfect way to celebrate the School’s centennial anniversary while engaging our 8th graders in a week of amazing collaborative and creative work! The Cushman School and Miami Circus Arts (LADD Productions) partnered up for a week that culminated on Friday, March 14th with a spectacular show – 100 Years of Wonder – in the School’s Play to Learn performing arts and athletics center on the main campus.
This was an extraordinary opportunity for our 8th-grade students to train with world-class circus professionals from the Les Ailes du Désir Foundation Inc. (LADD), in collaboration with the Miami Circus Arts Center—right here at The Cushman School.
For an entire week, students immersed themselves in the thrilling world of circus arts, developing confidence, coordination, and teamwork. The training ran daily from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM, providing a unique, hands-on training in a variety of performance skills, including:
- Juggling & Clowning
- Balloon Twisting & Face Painting
- Tumbling & Group Acrobatics
- Aerial Hammock & Aerial Lyra
- Handstands, Acrobatics, & Flexibility
Throughout the week, students were challenged to push their boundaries while embracing the spirit of performance. As we celebrate The Cushman School’s 100-year legacy, this experience highlighted our tradition of innovation and play-based learning, using our Play to Learn Facility as a stage for imagination and discovery.
Grand Finale – Friday’s Circus Showcase
On Friday, March 14, 2025, our 8th-grade students took center stage in a spectacular one-hour circus performance delighting the entire school community. This showcase was a fantastic celebration of their hard work, creativity, and newly acquired skills.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our students allowing them to step outside their comfort zones, express themselves through movement, and experience the magic of the performing arts! APPLAUSE to these amazing student performers who shined under the big top!
“The presentation of the final show is always exciting, but the “behind the scenes“ of the show is where the magic truly happens. With our Artist in Residence program, students are encouraged to explore new activities, push themselves in areas that they have never tried and then work on their new found skills leading to the presentation. Trained by professional performing artists, our students struggle, succeed, learn, and encourage one another as they build friendships and learn to work as an ensemble. By the end of the week, they are eager, proud and ready to perform in front of an audience.”
-Director of Performing Arts at The Cushman School, Ms. Lisa Swanson
“While our Artist-in-Residence experience is not part of the traditional academic curriculum, it plays a vital role in our student’s overall growth and development. This experience encourages responsibility, teamwork, and self-confidence, exposing students to new challenges and perspectives beyond the classroom. It provides hands-on learning that fosters creativity, problem-solving, and resilience—skills that will benefit students in high school and beyond. It also allows students to work with professionals to be inspired and mentored.”
-Mrs. Jennifer Geimer, Director of Cushman’s Upper School
