Flow Fests is bringing FLOW ARTS to the next level of public awareness- we want to make FLOW accessible to the mainstream, especially for its usefulness for LEARNING. Flow Fests EDU is a project to transform k-12 education from the inside out, using FLOW ARTS as a tool to enrich the educational experience and MAKE LEARNING through PLAY last a lifetime.

WHAT ARE FLOW ARTS?
Flow arts are forms of movement and dance that utilize props to enter a state of flow, described by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi as an exhilarating transcendent way of being in which effortless control and peak skill seem to erase a sense of time. Flow arts props include juggling clubs, poi, staff and hoops; dancers manipulate props to add to the expressive qualities of their dance. The result is an awe-inspiring visual spectacle of improvised movement that inspires an audience to reconsider kinetic possibilities.

WHAT IS FLOW?
The Flow State, a psychological phenomenon or aspect of consciousness, was described by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi as an exhilarating transcendent way of being in which effortless control and peak skill seem to erase a sense of time. It's the state of consciousness people describe as being 'in the zone' or 'zen'. The FLOW state has been characterized by a number of factors, including the following components: • Intense and focused concentration on the present moment • Merging of action and awareness • A loss of reflective self-consciousness • A sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity • A distortion of temporal experience, one's subjective experience of time is altered • Experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding, (also referred to as autotelic experience).... basically, FLOW is the state where you are CONNECTED, ENGAGED, AWARE, AWAKE, JUICY, ALIVE, CREATIVE, PRECISE, BALANCED, INSPIRED, LIMITLESS, RESPONSIVE, FOCUSED... it is the optimal psychological state of being!

WHY DONATE?
The scope of this project is huge: we are working with educators and artists to build an entire curriculum of lessons for grades Kindergarten through 12.  Your funding goes directly to supporting the creation of this compendium of lessons, and paves the way for Flow Artists to contribute to the educational landscape and academic conversation around learning STEM-specific concepts.  Additionally, we are working to increase public accessibility of circus arts and dance, to provide opportunities for artists in a variety of movement art/dance disciplines to engage in professional development and higher level training, and to build community nationwide among dancers and 'flow' artists (or object manipulation artists).   

Flow Fests is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non­profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of Flow Fests must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only. Any contribution above the value of the goods and services received by the donor is tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.