Fewer than 18 hours after planting his feet on the soil of an unfamiliar country, 18-year-old Wawan Kuriawan fearlessly climbed onto a stranger’s shoulders and confidently threw fluorescent rings high into the air.
Wawan is from an impoverished fishing village in Jakarta, Indonesia. This summer, he will stay in the small, river town of Ludlow.
He’s a part of a movement formulated around the philosophy of Paul Miller, founder and owner of Circus Mojo, who uses circus training and performances to improve one’s well-being. He’s also working to revitalize Ludlow by making his headquarters in a former theater and buying a church for future education space.