Awards & Training

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SARA in major US mentorship placement

Tue, 18 Oct 2016 10:49

Cedric Walker and Freddie Nyathela


The founder and President of the renowned US based UniverSoul Circus, Cedric Walker, recently met with the South African Roadies Association (SARA) President, Freddie Nyathela, in Johannesburg. The pair were discussing opportunities for young South Africans to be part of the UniverSoul Circus 2017 USA touring technical and production crew for 10 months. Young staff employed by the touring show will be empowered with technical and production knowledge and skills whilst on the job and being paid.

The UniverSoul Circus is based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is a world-class live entertainment attraction that has captured the hearts and imaginations of a new generation of families. Now celebrating its 20th year, the circus has become known worldwide as a one-of-a-kind, must see attraction.

UniverSoul Circus is rated by industry leaders as one of the top three circuses in America along with Ringling Brothers and Cirque du Soleil. UniverSoul’s fresh, cool and hip approach to live family entertainment has earned it a coveted spot as one of Ticketmaster’s top ten most requested family attractions, along with other shows, including Disney on Ice, Disney’s High School Musical Ice Show and Ringling Brothers Circus.

Cedric Walker was first bitten by the entertainment bug in the early 70's, working with the musical group called the Commodores, Cedric became their production and stage manager and toured with them around the world. He later worked as a promoter for the Jackson Five.

He struck out on his own in the 1980s when he organized the Fresh Festivals, the world's first rap music tour featuring the likes of Run DMC, Salt n Pepa and The Fat Boys. In the early 1990s, he underwrote and helped produce a couple of highly successful gospel plays, "Wicked Ways" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find."

By the mid 1990s, Walker and his associates began to look for new forms of family entertainment: "The vision was to explore the various talents other than singing and dancing that black performers had to offer," he said. "We wanted to apply our gathered years of experience in the live event industry, to make a difference, to change the industry we lived in, creating growth and opportunity." That vision led him to create UniverSoul Circus

SARA and the UniverSoul Circus first began working together in 2002 and a fruitful relationship ensued for the next seven years that saw a total of 121 people receive ten months of on the job paid for training experience in the USA per year, as part of the UniverSoul Circus technical and production crew. Due to logistical issues, the programme was halted in late 2008. Now, eight years later, SARA is extremely pleased to announce the resuscitation of the programme. “It is alife changing experience for those who make the grade” said SARA





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