2026 dates
June 22 – July 12, 2026
3 weeksPast program · Summer 2026
Performance Lab 2026 Recap
The June 22 – July 12, 2026 session has ended. The program details below describe that past session, not an open registration offer. Future dates, tuition, and applications are not yet announced.
Schedule
Mon–Sat, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
Full-day creative processAges
10–18
Audition-only2026 tuition
$3,300 total
$1,100/week × 32026 deposit
$1,100
Past deadline: March 31, 2026Location
28 Eliot Street
Natick, MAWhat this actually is
Performance Lab is closer to a small professional creation residency than to a typical summer program. Students are treated as young artists with something to make — not campers with skills to display.
- Mornings: circus technique, conditioning, and specialty skills.
- Afternoons: rehearsal — building material with the director and choreographer.
- Last week: bring the work to a public performance.
If your student already takes circus seriously and is asking for more than weekly classes, this is where that more goes.
The 2026 program was audition-only. Applications for that session are closed. Email EAC with questions about future programs.
Built for a real audience
Technique in the morning. Creation in the afternoon.
The goal is not to display tricks. The goal is to shape material, rehearse, and learn what it means to perform original work.
From the 2026 session
ALPHABET — the 2026 Performance Lab show
The 2026 company built ALPHABET, an original contemporary circus show, and performed it July 9–11, 2026 in Cambridge, Somerville, and Natick. Browse the show program — the order of acts, the creative team, and the twelve young artists who made it.
Interested in a future Lab?
Email with your student’s age and training background to ask about future Performance Lab updates.
Email for future Lab updates