Tiffarnish Lewis, a former flying child is the new board president of Circus Harmony, “a non-profit social circus organization based in St. Louis that uses circus arts to motivate social change”. Lewis has been a board member since 2016.
As the new board leader, Lewis’ goals are to have more diversity on the board (which currently has only two people of color) and have more diversity in St. Louis Arches (Circus Harmony’s youth circus performance troupe) during her two-year term.
Lewis said she’s excited about the next two years.
“I pray that I’m successful in this new position and as a former flying child I hope the next generations of flying children understand that I love the program just as much as they do,” she said.
Jessica Hentoff, artistic/executive director and founder of Circus Harmony, thinks Lewis is a great fit for board president because of her enthusiasm and love for the organization.
“There’s no one who cares more than someone whose life has changed,” Hentoff said. “We wanted someone who loved the organization and who is willing to take on the responsibility of being a board president to help move the organization forward and get it even higher than it is.”
Lewis said when Hentoff asked her to join the board there was nothing to think about. She immediately said yes. When Hentoff asked her to serve as the board president she had the same feelings.
“When she asked me to be the board president there was nothing to think about,” Lewis said. “I immediately said yes because this was a program that helped me when I was a kid and now I’m helping them as an adult.”
While Lewis was a student at Jefferson Elementary School in 1988, Hentoff was her gymnastics teacher and offered circus classes to the school. She was one of the children selected to participate in the classes.
“She picked the top gymnasts in our group of kids and I was one of the final ones that she picked,” Lewis said.
Lewis thought the circus classes were for fun. She didn’t know taking them would go as far as traveling and performing with the circus.
She learned new routines, performed in St. Louis and across the United States with the St. Louis Arches and Circus Flora, “a theater company, specializing in one-ring circus production, based on the focused energy of modern and traditional circus arts”.
Jessica Hentoff founded the St. Louis Arches in 1988 and Lewis was one of her students. She created Circus Harmony in 2001 to expand circus arts contributions to more youth in St. Louis.
“[Tiffarnish] was an amazing tumbler,” Hentoff said. “The first trip she took with us working for Circus Flora was the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC. I remember her first time swimming in the ocean. It changes your life because it opens your eyes and broadens your horizons.”
St. Louis Arches and Circus Flora also gave Lewis the opportunity to travel to Detroit, MI and visit the Henry Ford Museum, go to her first Kentucky Derby, and meet August Busch III of the Anheuser-Busch family.
Lewis was involved with St. Louis Arches from childhood until her teenage years. She left the program once her and Hentoff started to have differences. Then she started having children and was unable to return. Although she left, she remained in contact with everyone from The Arches and Circus Harmony.
“I focused on my education and my kids,” Lewis said. “As an adult there hasn’t been one time I haven’t seen Circus Flora and The Arches perform in St. Louis. I was always there. We had a 20th reunion and a 30th reunion. I was at both.”
Three of Lewis’ kids were part of The Arches when they were younger. Now she’s trying to get her 4-year-old grandson to join.
In addition to serving as Circus Harmony’s board president, Lewis works for the City of St. Louis as an audit coordinator for the community development administration. Her job is to notify her department of grants they should apply for.
Hentoff said joining the circus isn’t about what you look like or your background.
“The organization is about teaching children from different neighborhoods to stand on each other’s shoulders,” Hentoff said. “As everyone keeps standing on each other’s shoulders the pyramid gets bigger and stronger.”
Children as young as three can enroll in Circus Harmony classes. The organization also offers classes to adults. Learn more about Circus Harmony and everything it has to offer, by visiting its website https://circusharmony.org/.
